New-York tribune. [volume], November 14, 1920, Page 8, Image 72

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Starting the Children Right Along the Path of Reading
*? T
More Books in the Home Is the Object
Aimed At in the Book Week
for Children
SANTA CLAUS comes twice ? year
for children whose families are
interested In Children's Book
Week. And to-morrow the big
weak begin?.
If pareflte feel the arge to enter into
the spirit of getting good books for
their children they certainly will hive
no complaint to make against the pub?
lisher? thie season. A few years ago the
accusation might have been made that
good reading for children was hard to
get in the books being published, that
the eld stories were all that there was
to turn to. Whether this was true or
sot, it eannot be said of this season.
Both quality and quantity are great in
the offerings this fall in children's books.
And just what is Children's Book Week ?
What the Week Is
"A joint, annual effort to encourage
the love of books among children and
the discussion of children's reading in
commun! ties."
The attention which is being given to
children these days, as to their educa?
tion, their health and their recreation, is
extended to their reading. Child wel?
fare inclndes "more books in the home,"
especially more books for children.
To parents who throw up their hands
over the proposition of finding out what
their children want in reading matter,
of selecting the right diet for them in
books, The Publishers' Wcekiy suggests
that librarians, booksellers and teachers
are near at hand for consultation.
New shops and departments, exclu?
sively given over to the handling of chil?
dren's books, have been springing up on
every hand. These are especially at?
tractive, and the goods they handle
would be sufficient to make them so if no
effort were made beyond stacking these
out for buyers to see. Grown-ups will
find new editions of the books they read
when they were children, in more gor?
geous bindings and with better illustra?
tions. They will also find that there is
better variety in new books than there
was when they were little*.
For Very Little Folks ~
rpO BEGIN with the books of the sea?
son which we have received, those
for the very little people are the first
to consider. These are not so great in
number, but those there are offer de?
lightful material for reading aloud at
bedtime and other times.
A now fictional friend may be intro?
duced to children in The Story of
Doctor Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting,
Frederick A. Stokes, publishers. The
kind, inconsistent doctor is an ac?
quaintance almost any child will ap
' predate. He may not reach the
proportions of Alice or of some of the
fairy tale people, or even of Peter
Rabbit, but he is an entertaining in?
dividual to know, and his adventures
remind one of the yarns children some?
times make up themselves. He over?
comes difficulties in much the same i
nonchalant way a child story-teller ?
slides over discrepancies and sur?
mounts impossible situations.
The animals which are his friends |
?nd pet? play ? large part In helping !
him out, and the doctor really doesn't !
have to worry a great deal when he j
has his sagacious parrot, his sensible ;
donkey ?nd his clever monkey to dc- ?
pend apon in emergencies.
Mr. Lofting knows how to writ? for j
children. He sees his story with their ,
eyes and just tells it to them in their ;
own language, never in any way in
raiting them by talking down to them.
If he has to use a word which may '
bo new to some of his audience he ex
plains it without spoiling the narrative, i
and goes on.
More of Old Granny Fox
ANOTHER ve?ame of the Green,
Meadow Series by Thornton W. ;
Burgess really needs no comment. The
announcement that Little, Brown &.
Co. have published the fourth book
iu the series, and it is about Old
Granny Fox, is enough. The other j
characters known to readers and hear?
ers of the Bedtime Stories, and eape- j
eially Reddy Fox, play some part in j
the stories. What would Granny Fox j
be unless she were trying to catch |
somebody?
A Brownie Robinson Crusoe, by Char?
lotte B. Herr (Dodd, Mead and Com?
pany), is modeled upon the plan cf
| the real Robinson Crusoe story, but
I *lie hero is a Brownie who will appeal
I to little people. His adventures com?
bine some of the knowledge children
I have of the life about them with the
? imaginative life they all live more or
| less in the world of make-believe.
| Stories for Good Children, by Lora
B. Peck (Little, Brown & Co.), is a
j selection of tales from many lands.
? Hindoo, Irish, Chinese, Japanese and !
j Indian stories are represented. They
j ?re short and simply told. Peggy's
I Giant, by M. D. Hillyard (A C.
! Black, Ltd., London, and Macmil- ,
I Ian, New York), is one of the best
j stories for little people who like '
! to have persons read to them that we
have ever come across. Like ' Tea
Toys and a Tale, sent to us earlier
in the season by the same publishers,
this story hits just the right atmos?
phere and tells just the details chil?
dren like to have told. We do not ?
assert that these stories are classics
?mong children's books. But we do
know that little people like them par?
ticularly, and that they make decided?
ly wholesome and pleasant reading.
Not the least of the book Peggy's j
Giant are the illustrations, which are
"by Peggy." They are different in
1 subject matter, of course, but they re?
mind one of the illustrations in Kip
i ling's Just So Stories.
i
The Land of the Great Out-of-Doors,
by Robert Livingston (Houghton Mif
flin), contains much description of the
life a little brother and sister spent
in the country. It has a little too much
philosophizing and not enough action
to be as popular with children as
might be. However, the good times in
the book are almost enough to carry
Choosing Books for the Child
The Yearning for a Story May Be Put to
Good or Evil Use
By Thornton W. Burgess
Author of The Bedtime Story Books,
Mother West Wind Series, The Bur?
gees Bird Boole for Children, etc
THE world's greatest asset is in
its children. This none will
deny. As they are taught to
think, so will the desti
riea of nations be shaped. To this
end is the purpose of all edu?
cation. But all too 'often there
is otter failure on the part of the
guardians of the child to realize that
education is not confined to the schools;
that it begins long before the thresh?
old of the schoolroom is crossed foi
the first time and is continuous from
the moment the mind receives its first
impressions.
It is in the home that education be?
gins. It is in the home that the grow?
ing mind receives its deepest and mot
lasting impressions. And it is in th<
home that destiny is shaped for goo<
or ill. The potter at his wheel has li
his absolute control the future of th?
lump of clay. Not all the art of th<
decorator can make of the potter*
handiwork a thing of beauty be it mis
shapen, nor, though he strive, can h
make it lesa than a work of art so b
the potter has molded trae to th
l.nes of beauty.
Plastic as Potter's ?Clay
The mind of the child is as plasti
as the potter's clay. The impression
cf youth will be retained to the en<
And most invariably the earliest in*
pressions are through the medium c
stories, first through the spoken wor
and then through those read from th
printed page. *
And this is because in the heart c
every child is a never satisfied yearr
ing for a story. It is simply an ir
born craving for mental developmen
. stimulated by the imagination, whic
it its birthright and the key to tli
mind. Recognizing this fundament)
fact, it at once becomes apparent ho
vital it is that stories for children t
wisely and carefully selected. The in
press of error Is taken as readily as U
impress of truth, and frequently, b<
cause It stimulates the imagination l
a greater degree, it is ipore lasting.
The all too common ?carelessness i
regard to the character and quality <
the books children aro allowed i
read is, I believe, largely due to fai
ero to anderstand rightly and appr
?data at its trae valae the importan?
of imagination as an active fores, poi
siblp th? most ?aotiva f?rea? la ?ha mat
?
'tal development of the young. The fer?
tile soil of the garden Is as receptive
to the weed seed as to that of the
choicest flower. In like manner, the
child mind -receives error a? readily as
troth.
Plain Facts Don't Stick
The story is the natural medium for
conveying information, because it gains
at the outset two fundamental things?
attention and interest. To try to cram
a child's mind with dry facts is as
useless as for a farmer to sow his
wheat on unbroken ground. They will
remain In the memory hardly long
enough to be forgotten. But present
those facts in such form as to arouse
' interest, and at once the imagination
is stimulated to seize and feed upor
them, and they become as difficult tc
i em ove from the memory as befor<
they were difficult to implant therein
Surround a child with good booki
and you surround him with friends
companions, guides. You create abou
I him an atmosphere for good which wil
endure throughout life. Give him book;
of doubtful or, at best, negative char
aeter, and you create an atmosphere a
harmful as the other is good.
A good mother is careful to the las
degree of the kind and quality of th
food she provides for the growing chile
Alas, that all too often she gives n
thought to the kind and quality of th
food provided for the growing mini
incapable of choosing for itself an
with an insatiable appetite!
Mesa Better Citizens
More good books in the homes c
America to-day will mean better cit
?sens to-morrow. Never has there bee
a time when there were ao many goc
books as in the present days. Nev<
have the allied arts of the writer ar
the illustrator been so beautifully pr
sented. Also, never has there been
time when there were so many bool
of little or no worth. And the pity ?
it is that these are often as attract!'
in appearance as the books of re
worth, and sometimes more so.
An attractive title and good illu
tratiens are no surety of a good boc
If you select books for the youi
guided solely by these, you are gai
tling with the welfare of your ch:
dren. Know the contents of every bo?
that goes into their hands. If >?
haven't the time to read tho boo
yourself, consult your librarian.
A good book is mental food.
A bad book is mental poison.
'A negative book, neither good n
bad, is a montai narcotic.
the story over, and the illustrations by
Maurice Day are especially taking.
Pretentious Books
A MONG the more pretentious vol- j
urnes for the child's library are two i
published by Duffield & Co. A Child's j
Book of Modern .Stories has been com?
piled by Ada M. Skinner and Eleanor
M. Skinner. It contains pictures by j
Jessie Wilcox Smith, which alone would
make it worthy a place on the child's j
bookshelf. Stories by Louisa A. Al-j
cott, Alfbie Farwell Brown, Juliana Ho-1
ratio Ewing, Mary Stewart and other !
well known story-tallers are included j
in the collection. Just as grown-ups j
have their Best Short Stories for!
Buch and such a year, this collection
may represent to children some of the j
best stories told for them in modern s
times.
The other attractive volume from '*
Duffield is Stories, by Juliana Horatio
Ewing, with pictures by Edna Cookc.
Jackanapes?yes, the very same Jacka?
napes which many of us ha?! in a slim
volume on our own shelf when we were
little?leads the list. "Mary's Mead- j
ow," "A Very Ill-Tempered Family" j
and "Lob Lie-by-the-Fire" and others
are in the collection. .They are longer
than children's stories ordinarily run
Pictures To Be Colored ]
A GROUP of play hooks which will j
???*? be enjoyed by children who like
to dabble in color is Black's Painting
Books (Macmillan). There is some
reading mailer in explanation of the
pictures to be colored. The colors are
suggested and the owner of the book
may become the decorative artist for
his own library. The little books have
an educational as well as recreational
value. The subjects of the books are |
Visual Botttny, Stories from British |
History, Scenes from Many Lands, I
Bible Stories from the New Testament,
Scenes from Land and Pea, and Nursery i
Rhymes. The last has words and
music for little song3.
Another play book is Folk Storyl
Plays for Children, by Margaret Lynch
Conger, James A. McCann Company,
publishers. This containa little dramas
which children may act out themselves
It explains the properties needed and
much of the business for the amateur
actors. The lines ave such as children
might make up themselves except that
once in a while they are really just
too silly. One fears \)\i<t the actors
might have attacks of giggles. Pic?
tures in the book suggest wn s in which
the scenery might be painted on large
sheets of wrapping paper.
Poetry end Jingles
A LL little people like jingles. Some
of them may not care for poetry,
but all of them Hko jinglos, and it Is
well to let all of them have access to
some poetry and dovelop a taste for it
if they will. It strengthens imagina- :
tioi? and cultivates a love for beautiful
expression and beautiful things. The
place Eugene Field and James Whit
comb Riley filled in the lives of some
of us should make p?renla realize the
value of good poetry for their chil?
dren. Besides, school children like to
learn a few good poems, and it adds
to the inspiration to ho able to find
them themselves instead of having to
depend on teacher for all of them. A
number of volumes of children's poetry
have born put out this fall.
The Christmas Child, by Nora Archi?
bald Smith (Houghton Miffiin'i, con?
tains some catchy little Christmas
poems and some very much better
poems for children at just any time
in the year. The Mogfoots, by Marvin
M. Taylor, contains rhymes for small?
er people. These attempt and fall
short of good nursery jingles. Little
drawings by Marjorie Very accompany
each rhyme. The Four Seas Company
are the publishers.
Fn Words and Pictures
A CUNNING little book for children
-*-?- is Amerliar-Anne and the Creen
Umbrella (George W. Jacobs & Co.).
It is "told in words by Constance
He ward and told in pictures by Susan
Beatrice Pearse." The pictures are
even more important than the reading
matter. The story could be made up
from the pictures. One of the favor?
ite practices of little people who can?
not read is the reconstruction of
stories that are read to them from
the pictures in the book.
Ever since Alice went to Wonderland
writers for children have imitated some
of the devices with which Lewis Car?
roll was so successful in interesting
young readers. Peggy in Toyland, by
Archibald Marshall (Dodd, Mead & Co.)
proclaims Mr. Dodgson's influence in
bpots through the story as well as in
the tille. Peggy is a little girl who i?
very fond of dolls. Some of the part?
about dolls and little ciris with their
dolls are distinctly original. She will
be liked especially by children wh?
play alone with their toys.
Many Fairy Books
T^AIRY books have been numerous
this fall. The old ones have been
reprinted in beautiful editions. Fairy
tales by authors known for other than
children's writings have been brought
out, and some of these editions hav*(:
been mentioned in The Tribune earlier
in the season. Among the most at?
tractive books are The Happy Prince
by Oscar Wilde, and Princes^ Pirlipa*
tino, by Alexandre Dumas, bith pub?
lished by Brentano, and Grimm's Fain,
Tales, published by Scribners. The
Children of Odin, by Padraic Colum
published by Macmilian, is another ol
the best of those collections of folk?
lore. It tells the Norse legend lr
simple style, and Is a clear arranco
-__-. ?I
merit of these intricate stories. The
illustrations by Willy Pogany are in I
color, and they, too, catch the spirit
of the Icgend3.
The famous collection of fairy tales
by Edouard Laboulaye, folk talcs of
Bohemia, Spain, Italy, Brittany, Fin?
land and Russia, is published in good
si vie by Harpers. The introduction
by Kate Douglas Wiggin to Laboulaye's
Fairy Book gives an interesting touch
to the edition:
"There was once a green book, deli
ciourdy thick, with gilt-edged pages
and the name of the author ;n gold
script on the front cover.
"Like an antique posy ring, it was a
'box of jewels, shop of rarities; it was
a veritable Pandora's box, and if you
laid warm childish hands upon it and
held it pressed close to your ear you
could hear, as Fandora did, soft rus?
tlings, murmuring?, flutterings and
whisperings from the fairy folk within.
For this was a fairy book?Edouard
Laboulaye's Tales, and its heroes and
heroines became first the daily com?
panions and then the lifetime posses?
sion of the two little girls to whom
it ^belonged."
"The daily companions, and then the
lifetime possessions" are what fairj
stories contribute to all children whe
have access to thc-m. The Laboulay?
stories were translated by Mary L
Booth and the Harper volume is illus?
trated by Edward G. McCandlish.
i Other good fairy books received an
The Green Forest Fairy Book, b?
Loretta Ellen Brady (Little, Brown ?S
Co.), Tales of Wonder and Magic, bj
Katharine Pyle (Little, Brown ?fe Co.)
The Magic Whistle, by E. Gordoi
Browne (Dodd, Mead &. Co.), and the
latest Oz book, Glinda of Oz, by L
Frank Baum (Reilly & Lee, publishers)
Beautiful Gift Books
HPHE new type of animal stories whic
are being written for children, wit
a certain attempt at quaint personifica
tion of the people of forest and meadow
had it"i inspiration either consciously o
unconsciously in Uncle Remus, by Jo?
Chandler Harris, These stories ' c
Bre'r Rabbit and Bre'r Fox told to th
Iittlo boy by the old colored man hav
been published in a splendid gift editio
by Appletons. The original illustration
by A. B. Frost and E. W. Kemble a<
company the stories. The introductio
to the book was written by Thonu
Nelson Page, and he expressed the fee
lng which many of us have about tl
place Joel Chandler Harris fills in t>
world of chi'dren's stories:
"The creator of the most delightf
world that American childhood hi
known, and of the charming populatic
that inhabit it to the great pleasure ar
edification of those grown-up people wl
know the language. . . .
"In the South in that time there we:
few children's books. Books wero mai
-
ly for grown folks and entirely for white
folks. In the main, intellectual and
imaginative food was handed down and
given out orally and by word of mouth
as was done in the Ancient Days."
Another luxurious reprint received
last week is Robinson Crusoe, by Dan?
iel Defoe (Cosmopolitan Book Com?
pany). The book is handsomely bound
in blue and has color illustrations
throughout by N. C, Wyeth. It will
make a splendid gift for boys or for
girls, and Robinson Crusoe is another
of those fictional characters without
whom children's educations are some?
what lacking.
A de luxe edition of Old French
Fairy Tales, by Comtesse de Segur
(The Penn Publishing Company), is
almost as much an art book as a book
of children's stories. The color illus?
trations by Virginia Frances Sterrett
are exceptional in their delicate tint?
ing and their graceful, imaginative line.
It contains five series of short tales
about certain central characters, Blon?
dine, Good Little Henry, Princess Ro?
sette, the Little Gray Mouse and Our
son. They are beautifuMy simple ir
conception and style.
The Courtship of Miles Standish
Longfellow's poem, with an introduc
tion by Ernest W. Longfellow and pic
tures by N. C. Wyeth, with a tercen
tennial dedication, is published b:
Houghton Miftlin; A Nursery Story o
the Bible, by Louise M. Pleasanton
with colored and black and white il
lustrations by Florence Choate an?
Elizabeth Curtis, published by Fred
crick A. Stokes Company, and A Boo.
of Boyhoods, by Eugene M. Fryer (E
P. Dutton & Co.). Any of these woul
make a gift book in which childre
would delight.
Heroes and Heroines
A TREASURY OF HEROES AN
** HEROINES, by Clayton Edward
Frederick A, Stokes, publisher, coi
tains biography of the great figures <
history whose lives offer interestir
contributions to children's education
A few famous fictional heroes an
heroines are also included in the co
lection. The illustrations are by Flo
ence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis.
Other books with an educational pu
pose combined with that of entertai:
ment are The Boys' Life of Lafa
ette, by Helen Nicolav (Harper
Bros.); Boy Heroes in Fiction, by In
.McFee (Crowell) ; Girl Heroines
Fiction, by Inez McFee (Crowell), ai
Boys' Book of Sea Fights, by Chcls
Curtis Fraser (Crowell).
For the Outdoor Boy
QUARTERBACK BATES, by Ral;
Henry Barbour (Dodd, Mead
Co.), is the story of a seventeen-yea
old high school boy who has made
reputation as a footb?? player on t
school team. Like most boys who p
something a little out of the ordina
"Reading Maketh the Full Man
9 y
.on nennmsion ?>/ \j andren's ?ook Vreeic Ucmim^ttee
This Season's Offerings for the Little
Folks Include Many New Books
and Old Favorites
over in a .small town school, he has been
! made so much of that when he. enters
; Prep school he finds it difficult to empty
I his mind of the'eonceit stored in it. His
; one ambition in athletics is to make the
1 Parkinson football team, and a' 91
i many trials he is successful.
Leslie W. Quirk's bock. The Boy
Scouts of Lakeville High (Little, Brown
! & Co.), is the third volume of the Black
Eagle Patrol series. It is the story of
?a season of athletic games. The Lake?
ville boys, with the exception of one
i lad who has no athletic skill, hold a
: grievance against the Black Eagle Pa
j trol, which the Scouts find hard to
'smooth over, but they finally win the
I whole school's confidence, and in the
end everybody wants to become a
1 Scout.
Another ?Scout story. Coxswain Drake,
of the Sea Scouts, by Isabel Hornibrook
Little, Brown & Co.;, is a tale about
; how, during the summer vacation which
1 opens on an island off the Massachu
i :icttn coast, Lonny Drake, the loafing
| street corner boy joined the Scout3 and
? made good.
The Real West
j WfILLIAM S. HART, in his book Injun
** and Whitey (Houghton Miffiin
Company, the first of his Boys' G
j West series, tells us a story of t?
as it rtyilly is.
Soolook Wild Boy\ by Roy ?.. Snell
?Little, Brown & Co.;, is the story of an
Esquimau orphan.
Fourth Down, by Ralph Henry Bar
hour (D. Appleton &. Co.), is, as its
name signifies, another football book by
] Mr. Barbour.
Making- Good, by Captain G. B. Mc
; Kean (the Macmillan Company?, is y,
'? story of ranch life in western Cariada.
Scouts of the Desert, by John Fleming
Wilson (the Macmillan Company), is a
I Boy Scout story of the Mojave Desert.
The Pursuit of the Apache Chief, '?*
I Everett T. Tomlinson (D. Appleton &
? Co.), has as its- setting the Arizona
?canyons in the country of the Apaches.
Dick Arnold Plays the Garne, by Earl
| Reed Silvers (D. Appleton & Co.), is
another story of athletic prowes?.
Reddy Brant, by W. C. Tuttle (the
I Century Company), is a series of stories
! about a fourteen-year-old orphan.
The Boys' Book of Magic, by Here
! ward Carrington (Dodd. Mead & Co.),
contains card tricks, magic stunts, ven
i triloquists' feats, etc.
At the Sign of the Two Heroes, by
lAdalr Alden (the Century Com*-*..
i the adventures of three ___,''
the shores of Lake Champlain
The Blue Pearl, by Samuel *W
[r. (the Century Company), i8 "?"
Boy S??ut story of the <^o_8 0f ,7
??: west. " **
Martin Crusoe, by T. C. Bridge, (n,
court, Brace & Howe , givesabayW
veritui ? ?ard Island.
*. Office Floy, by Ha?'
s- Latham millan Compas?) ^
the story of a boy who had to get k'
"n?l work for his 1:\ ;.ng.
Mark of ?he Knife, by CUtv
H. Ernst (Little, Brown & i_v ?.
? : story m which athletics are \
most ii i ? ' * idventares,
Border, by ETera.
T. Tomlinson CD. Appleton ?-Co.i.is"
story of United States army life on f>
-i border.
Boy'' Book of Model Boats, h? E_i.
mond F. Yates 'the Century Compare"
ten/ how to i. ik? all kinds of boats' '
A pretentious volume called The Bo*
Scouts' Year Book, published for fc
Boy Stouts of America, has been isssti
by D. Appleton & So.
Girls' Books Have Changed
jP1 IRLS' tve changed ?
la * ? "teen years. Not i>
nany - t Is iylike, .-..
little girl - written. Thc
"' "? ' ""'ire and good
Limes.
T easure Mountain, by Edna Turo,-;
e Century Company), is an excitit
tale ufa girl's adventures in the atone
tains o I Virginia.
a B, and Ernest Cet.
Lathrop, Li ? ird Compatv
of a girl ' up in thi rni:
? -
A H am .-Vr.ool Girl, b?
la Brazil (Frederick A. Stokt
i Girl at th
Gabh ~. by Angela Brazil, are gor>
?tories of girh ' schoo
Little Friend L>. dia. by Ethe! C
Phillips (Houghton Mifflin Company
is the - ?..-; . ttle orphan w_
finds a hoi I has many pleasar.
?
Elizabeth, Her Folks, ar.d Eiizabet:
. . Barbara Kay (Doubi?
day, Page & Co.C are about the sarc
heroine. *i ig to the *'Elh;
beth, Her Books," ?eries and this yosn
lady is a friend whom other girls wi
_b_b_b_H
Trusting to the Child's Taste
Within Certain Limits individual Judgments
Should Be Considered
i "Ther$ teas a child went forth every
day;
And the first object he look'd upon, that
'object he became;
And that object became part of him for
the day, or a certain part of the
day, or for many year,*, or stretch?
ing cycles of years!'?Walt Whit?
man,
DURING the years of childhood
decisions and rules made b*?
grown people surround a child
pretty carefully.* Certain
kinds of food are best for hin;?they
have been tested and proved best; cer?
tain studies are necessary; in well
ordered households, fixed bedtimes an 1
rising hours for the children are in?
variable. A certain code of manners
for children has been worked out by
fathers and mothers. This must be
observed for the sake of peace?if not
for the sake of the future and society.
In fact, children have little chance
for the exercise of individual choice
except in their games and play, which
are to them the most vital part of
life. Games are indeed often taught by
older people, or "led" by directors, but
those that art? most fun are really dis?
coveries of the children themselves
Sliding down haystacks (a farmer usu?
ally stops this irately because of youi
destruction); playing hide-and-seek ir
a eornfield, where you almost get lost;
if you are a city child, "catching" ride;
on sleighs, sometimes "hitching" witl
your sled and rope, sometimes jumping
on, both full of danger; skating or
' rubber" ice under the bridge where th<
ice is thin. No grown-up could hav<
watched your recklessness without ai
least flinging out a rope to save yoi
from drowning.
But you didn't drown. You wer?
pretty close to the edze, but childrei
have an unaccountable sense of th?
line between the fun of a little dange:
and destruction. With plenty of out
of-doors and a few restriations in re
gard to playmates most children cai
be trusted to discover the best fui
for themselves.
And so with reading. Books hav?
unlimited possibilities as children'
friends and as recreation. Childrei
lucky enough to have many book
around them, to hear stories, folklore
poetry, history, read aloud, grow u;
with this literature a part of then
Many children miss this experienc
either because they have not enoug'
books or because their reading is to
closely limited by parents or teachers
and they do not have a chance to exei
eise their own choice, to develop an
follow tastes of their own.
A mother may tire of reading Th
Elephant's Child over and over to
five-year-old boy every evening for
month, but if she is wise she wi,
sacrifice her impatience to the child
delight, realizing that he is sure t
know when he has had enough of
and that by that time appreciation c
the fun, the exaggeration, the play <
words and caricature of youthfi
egotism in the story will have bee
absorbed by the listener. His scn.-t
of humor, his penetration of hania-.
psychology, will be keener, though ii
will be many years before he calls
his love of The Elephant's Child by
- : analytical tern's. At eig&t year,
old perhaps the Swiss Family Robin?
son for a few weeks complete'."
, obliterates all the myths, history
; stories, fairy taies and poetry that a;?
usually delightful. And this book mav
prove pretty tiresome to the pares:
who is reading aloud. But when it:
joy has been exhausted temporarily
. another book of adventure ?3 de?
manded, and parents must know As
to suggest. ?
When a boy starts to read to hir>
i self he often will read nothing but
i modern boys' stories. They are easier.
i less complex, perhaps, than book? of
; biography or history. He'd rather
? you'd read aloud to him, from S?*
I Henry Newbolt perhaps or some other
author whose books you like too. You
! can't understand his interest in th;
| stories that are to you trivial. Hs
tells you he likes them because s'
five books in the series are about "Jim
and Dick," the twins, and he feel? ?s
if they were real boys.
But you are relieved at his te?:
for Palmer's Translation of the Odr5
st y. He makes you reread many times
the sentence, "As the early rosy-fin?
gered dawn appeared ... the mer;
took their places at the pins, ?a**
sitting in order smote the foaming
water with their oars." He likes the
sound of it. And you realize that he
knows Odysseus and Penelope **i
Telemachus; they thrill him far more
than "Jim and Dick." He knows theo
well, because of the myths you re?fl
him when he was seven and eight ?rc
nine years old. In school, allusions to
characters of myth and history have
always been familiar to him; w*e
stories are pnrt of him. He has Hv#>
with them through all his boyhood
And he will go on into adult life wi*
a feeling for good books, a sense that
they belong to him.
A big responsibility this ? &*'
fathers and mothers an<T aunts ?n<
uncles and big brothers and sisters
shall not only give children a chance
to love books, but also surround the?
with a generous supply of a variety o*
books, so that the children may <k
velop taste of their cwn.
Children's Book Week, held annual'-.'*
in November, Is an opportunity to P?>
special attention to children's reading?
especially to the books of the child?
around us. The bookstores are havinf
special displays of the new books w'11"
ten for children as well as beautif?
editions of the older books loved tt
children for generations.
The public libraries are holding ?***
hibits of books recommended for gi'ts
cr.d the children's libraries are offer?
ing their advice to all who would kno*
more about books for children. T*'
women's clubs are taking up the ?o
ject of children's reading at their N*
vember meetings, in many cases a*
ing discussions of the books chil?r*B
love. ??