LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN

PREFACE

This book is about books of literature. Its excuse for being at all is in the over-reading of books that are not literature. Confusion and hurry confront both child and teacher in the land of books. The hope is held that something can be done to lead the child out of this confusion.

There is no greater possibility existing in the child's educational life than the possibility of self-cultivation in the reading of great books. Nor has there ever been a greater need for the quiet reading of such books than in a time of wonderful mechanical invention. Shall a boy fly or shall he read? It seems both fair and possible to say that he may fly but he must read. Whatever be the line of work he chooses to follow, he will have spare hours. His contribution to the life of his community and the rounding out of his individual life are dependent very largely on the wise use of these spare hours. Some spare hours may be given to music or the theatre, some to social entertainment, some to outdoor sports, some to church aid work; but some must surely be given to the reading of great books.

The following pages attempt to set the boy on the right trail, so that when he reaches man's estate he will of his own accord devote a just portion of his spare hours to books of literature. To do this, attention needs to be given to these practices: the learning of a little choice poetry by heart, the learning of a few fairy stories and myths through the ear, the reading and rereading of a few great books, the saving of money to build up a small but well-selected private bookshelf, the practice of reading aloud by the fireside or in the schoolroom. The chances are that a boy so directed will find reading a pleasure and will turn to what is really worth while. The attempt by parents and teachers to bring about an abiding love for books of power is a most commendable attempt; and, if successful, the best contribution to a refined private life. To all such attempts these pages aim to contribute.

The preparation of these pages has been made easier and surer by the generous aid of Mr. Fred L. Homer, of the Central High School of Pittsburgh, and Mr. Homer L. Clark, a business man of Cleveland, in reading a greater portion of the manuscript; by Miss Emily Beal, of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, in information on illustrated editions of children's books; and by Mr. Ernest C. Noyes, of the Peabody High School of Pittsburgh, in reading the proof.

For kind permission to use copyright material the author thanks Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Messrs. Doubleday, Page and Company for "Recessional"; Professor Richard G. Moulton for the arrangement of the selections of Hebrew poetry; Houghton, Mifflin and Company for the selections from Longfellow, Holmes, Emerson, and Whittier; and The Macmillan Company for the selections from Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Clough, and Rossetti.

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