THE FORMATION OF A GOOD READING HABIT.
As the child learns to read by itself, the books from which were drawn the stones it has heard may be given to it, care being taken that every gift shall be adapted to the ability of the little one. The fact that the boy has heard the story of Horatius at the Bridge does not diminish, but vastly increases, his desire to read the "Lays of Ancient Rome." When he comes to the possession of the book, it seems to him like a discovery of the face of a dear friend with whose voice he has long been familiar. I well remember with what delight I adopted the "Sketch Book" as one of my favorites on finding Rip Van Winkle in it.
Below will be found a list of books intended as a suggestion of what should be given to children of various ages. The larger the number of good books the child can be induced to read each year, the better of course, so long as his powers are not overtaxed, and the reading is done with due thoroughness. But if only four or five are selected from each year's list, the boy will know more of standard literature by the time he is sixteen, than most of his elders do. Each book enters the list at the earliest age an ordinary child would be able to read it with ease, and it may be used then or at any subsequent age; for no books are mentioned which are not of everlasting interest and profit to childhood, manhood, and age. Many of the volumes named below may also be used by parents and teachers as story-mines. There is no sharp line between the periods of story-telling and of reading. Most children read simple English readily at eight or ten years of age; many do a large amount of reading long before that, and nearly all do some individual work in the earlier period. The change should be gradual. For the stimulus that comparison gives, story-telling and reading aloud should be continued long after the child is able to read alone; in truth, it ought never to cease. Story-telling ought to be a universal practice. Stories should be told to and by everybody. One of the best things grown folks can do is to tell each other the substance of their experience from day to day; and probably no finer means of education exists than to have the children give an account at supper or in the hour or two following, of what they have seen, heard, read, thought, and felt during the day. In the same way reading solus should lap over into the early period as far as possible. One of the greatest needs of the day is a class of books that shall put solid sense into very simple words. A child can grasp the wonderful, strong, loving, pathetic, and even the humorous and critical, long before it can overcome the mechanical difficulties of reading. By so much as we diminish these, we push education nearer to the cradle. Charles Dudley Warner says, "As a general thing, I do not believe in books written for children;" and Phillips Brooks, Marietta Holley, Brooke Herford, and others express a similar feeling. But the trouble is not with the plan of writing for children, but with the execution. If the highest thoughts and feelings were written in the simplest words,—written as a wise parent tells them to his little ones,—then we should have a juvenile literature that could be recommended. As it is, most writers for babies seem to have far less sense than the babies. Their books are filled with unnatural, make-believe emotions, and egregious nonsense in the place of ideas. The best prose for young people will be found in the works of Hawthorne, Curtis, Warner, Holmes, Irving, Addison, Goldsmith, Burroughs, and Poe; and the best poets for them are Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Burns, and Homer. Books that flavor sense with fun, as do those of Curtis, Holmes, Lowell, Holley, Stowe, Irving, Goldsmith, Warner, Addison, and Burroughs, are among the best means of creating in any heart, young or old, a love for fine, pure writing. P. T. Barnum, a man whose great success is largely due to his attainment of that serenity of mind which Lowell calls the highest result of culture, says: "I should, above almost everything else, try to cultivate in the child a kindly sense of humor. Wherever a pure, hearty laugh rings through literature, he should be permitted and taught to enjoy it." This judgment comes from a knowledge of the sustaining power a love of humor gives a man immersed in mental cares and worriments. Lincoln is, perhaps, the best example of its power.
It is often an inspiration to a boy to know that a book he is reading has helped and been beloved by some one whose name is to him a synonym of greatness,—to know, for example, that Franklin got his style from the "Spectator," which he studied diligently when a boy; that Francis Parkman from fifteen to twenty-one obtained more pleasure and profit from Scott than from any other writer; that Darwin was very fond of Mark Twain's "Treatise on the Frog;" that Marietta Holley places Emerson, Tennyson, and Eliot next to the Bible in her list of favorites; that Senator Hoar writes Emerson, Wordsworth, and Scott next after the Bible and Shakspeare; that Robert Collyer took great delight in Irving's "Sketch Book," when a youth; that the great historian Lecky is said to be in the habit of taking Irving with him when he goes to bed; that Phillips Brooks read Jonson many times when a boy, and that Lockhart's Scott was a great favorite with him, though the Doctor attaches no special significance to either of these facts; that Susan Coolidge thinks "Hans Brinker" is the best of all American books for children, etc. Similar facts may be found in relation to very many of the best books, and will aid much in arousing an interest in them.
Plato, Bacon, Goethe, Spencer, Emerson, and many others of the best are for the most part too difficult to be properly grasped until the mind is more mature than it usually is at sixteen. No precise rules, however, can be laid down on this subject, I have known a boy read Spencer's "First Principles" and Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" at sixteen, and gain a mastery of them. All I have attempted to do is to make broad suggestions; experiment in each case must do the rest.
Literature adapted to a Child Six or Eight Years of Age and upward.
Little Lord Fauntleroy. A book that cannot fail to delight and improve every reader.
King of the Golden River, Ruskin.
"Rosebud," from "Harvard Sophomore Stories."
Christmas all the Year round, Howells.
Mrs. Stowe's "Laughin' in Meetin'." An exceedingly funny story.
"Each and All" and "Seven Little Sisters," by Jane Andrews. Used in the Boston Public Schools as supplementary reading.
Classics in Babyland, Bates.
Scudder's "Fables and Folk Stories." Fine books for little ones.
Æsop.
Rainbows for Children, Lydia Maria Child.
Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell. The autobiography of a splendid horse, and the best teacher of kindness to animals we know of.
Burroughs' "Birds and Bees." In fact, all his beautiful and simple stories of Nature—"Pepacton," "Fresh Fields," "Wake Robin," "Winter Sunshine," "Signs and Seasons," etc.—are the delight of children as soon as they can read.
Winslow's "Fairy Geography."
By Sea-side and Wayside, Wright.
Literature adapted to a Child Eight to Nine Years of Age and upward.
Sandford and Merton, Day. One of the very best of children's books.
Play Days, Sarah Orne Jewett.
Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Cannot be too highly praised.
Stories from King Arthur, Hanson. A good foundation for the study of Malory, Tennyson, etc.
"Winners in Life's Race," and "Life and her Children," by Miss Arabella Buckley. Books that charm many children of eight or nine.
Fairy Frisket; or, Peeps at Insect Life. Nelson & Sons.
Physiology, with pictures.
Queer Little People, Mrs. Stowe.
Kingsley's "Water Babies." A beautiful book, as indeed are all of Kingsley's.
Longfellow's "Building of the Ship."
The Fountain, Lowell.
Ye Mariners of England, Campbell.
Carleton's "Farm Ballads and Farm Legends." Humorous, pathetic, sensible.
Literature adapted to a Child Nine to Ten Years of Age and upward.
Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich. A splendid book for boys.
Boys of '76, Coffin. An eight-year-old boy read it five times, he was so pleased with it.
New Year's Bargain, Coolidge.
Pussy Willow, Stowe.
Hanson's "Homer and Virgil." Brief, clear, simple, clean.
Stories from Homer, Hanson.
Stories from Pliny, White.
Grimm's "Fairy Tales."
Legend of Sleeping Beauty.
Clodd's "The Childhood of the World." A splendid book to teach children the development of the world.
"Friends in Feathers and Fur," "Wings and Fins," "Paws and Claws," by Johonnot. Books much liked by the little ones.
First Book of Zoölogy, Morse.
Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris."
Wordsworth's "Peter Bell."
Mary, Queen of Scots, Strickland.
The Prince and the Pauper, Twain. A book that mingles no small amount of sense with its abounding fun and occasional tragedy.
Literature adapted to a Child Ten or Eleven Years of Age and upward.
Being a Boy, Warner.
Little Women, Alcott. One of the most popular books of the day.
Two Years before the Mast, Dana. Recommended by Sarah Orne Jewett, George William Curtis, and others.
Ten Boys on the Road, Andrews. A great favorite with the boys.
Jan of the Windmill, Ewing. The story of a poor boy who becomes a famous painter.
Hawthorne's "Celestial Railroad."
Little People of Asia, Miller.
Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" and "Wonder Book" should belong to every child old enough to read ordinary English.
Adventures of a Brownie, Craik.
Stories from Chaucer, Seymour.
Stories from Livy, Church.
Lives of the Philosophers, Fénelon. An excellent book.
What Darwin saw in his Trip round the World in the Ship Beagle.
Fairy Land of Science, Miss Buckley. An author who writes for children to perfection.
Animal Life in the Sea and on the Land, Cooper. Very fine indeed.
Darwin's chapter on the "Habits of Ants" (in the "Origin of Species") is very interesting and amusing to little ones, and together with Burroughs' books prepares them to read such works as Lubbock's "Ants, Bees, and Wasps."
Ragozin's "Chaldea." One of the indispensable books for children.
Longfellow's "Psalm of Life."
Longfellow's "Hiawatha."
Lowell's "Under the Old Elm."
Wordsworth's "White Doe of Rylstone."
Lamb's Essay on Roast Pig. A piece of fun always enjoyed by boys and girls.
Literature adapted to a Child Eleven to Twelve Years of Age and upward.
Shakspeare's "Merchant of Venice."
Marcus Aurelius. In a school where the book was at their call children from ten to thirteen carried it to and from school, charmed with its beautiful thoughts.
Hans Brinker, Mary Mapes Dodge. One of the very best stories for children.
Dickens' "Christmas Carol."
Hawthorne's "Great Stone Face." Highly appreciated by the young folks.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mrs. Stowe. A book that every child should have as soon as he is able to read it.
Another Flock of Girls, Nora Perry.
At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald. A beautiful story, with a high motive.
A Hunting of the Deer, Warner.
Crusade of the Children, Gray. A thrilling story.
Bryant's translation of the Odyssey.
Story of the Iliad, Church.
Stories from Herodotus, Church.
Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature."
Half Hours with the Stars, Proctor.
Guyot's "Earth and Man." A most excellent book.
First Book in Geology, Shaler.
First Steps in Chemistry, Brewster.
First Steps in Scientific Knowledge, Best.
Abou Ben Adhem, Hunt.
Scott's "Lady of the Lake."
Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome."
Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn."
Whittier's "Snow Bound."
How they Brought the Good News to Aix, Browning.
Wordsworth's "We are Seven."
Franklin's Autobiography.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech.
Samantha at the Centennial.
Literature adapted to a Child Twelve to Thirteen Years of Age and upward.
Shakspeare's "Julius Cæsar."
Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan. Indispensable.
Meditation of Thomas à Kempis. A strong influence for sweetness and purity.
Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith. Full of fun and good feeling; one of the most indispensable of books.
Cooper's novels, especially "The Spy" and the "Last of the Mohicans." Books that are fascinating and yet wholesome.
"My Summer in a Garden," and "In the Wilderness," Warner. Very humorous.
"The Dog of Flanders," from "Little Classics."
Picciola, Saintine. A great favorite.
The Story of Arnon, Amélie Rives.
Drake's "Culprit Fay."
Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends."
"The Man without a Country," "My Double and How He Undid Me," etc., by E. E. Hale. The cast is extremely funny.
The Hoosier Schoolmaster, Eggleston.
Boots and Saddles, Mrs. Custer.
Stories from Greek Tragedians, Church.
Plumptre's "Sophocles."
Ruskin's "Athena."
Boys and Girls in Biology, Stevenson.
Other Worlds than Ours, Proctor.
Captains of Industry, Parton.
Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal." One of the great poet's finest productions.
Byron's "Eve of Waterloo."
Longfellow's "Evangeline."
Scott's "Marmion."
Milton's "Comus."
"The Two Runaways," "The Born Inventor," "Idyl of Sinkin' Mountain," etc., by Edwards. Very funny.
Literature adapted to a Child Thirteen to Fourteen Years of Age and upward.
Shakspeare's "Coriolanus" and "Taming of the Shrew."
Scott's "Ivanhoe," "Heart of Midlothian," "Guy Mannering," etc. It is the making of a boy if he learns to love Scott. He will make a gentleman of him, and give him an undying love of good literature.
Journal of Eugénie de Guerin. Full of delicacy and quiet strength.
Tom Brown, Hughes. An universal favorite.
Curtis' "Prue and I." One of the very choicest books, both in substance and expression,—especially remarkable for its moral suggestiveness.
Craddock's "Floating down Lost Creek." Most excellent.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson. A story with a powerful moral,—if we give scope to our evil nature, it will master us.
Goldsmith's "Good-Natured Man."
Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship."
Ben Hur, Wallace.
The Fool's Errand, Tourgée.
The Boys' King Arthur, Lanier.
Epictetus.
Physiology for Girls, Shepard.
Physiology for Boys, Shepard.
What Young People should Know, Wilder. A book that no boy or girl should be without.
How Plants Behave, Gray.
Goethe's "Erl King."
Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch." A favorite.
The Forsaken Merman, Matthew Arnold. An exquisite poem.
Longfellow's "Miles Standish."
Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel."
The Veiled Statue of Truth, Schiller.
Gütenburg, and the Art of Printing.
Doyle's "United States History."
John Bright's "Speeches on the American Question."
Backlog Studies, Warner.
"Encyclopædia of Persons and Places," and "Encyclopædia of Common Things," by Champlin, should be within the reach of every child over twelve or thirteen years of age.
Literature adapted to a Child Fourteen to Fifteen Years of Age.
Shakespeare's "Henry Fourth" and "Henry Fifth."
Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Holmes; and Irving's "Sketch Book." Two of the best books in all the world.
George Eliot's novels, especially "Silas Marner," "The Mill on the Floss," "Romola," and "Adam Bede."
The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot.
Our Best Society, Curtis.
Bulwer's "Rienzi."
The Marble Faun, Hawthorne.
Sad Little Prince, Fawcett.
Chita, or Youma, by Hearn, a master of English style.
Grande Pointe, Cable.
La Fontaine's Fables.
Plutarch's "Morals."
Ethics of the Dust, Ruskin.
Lady How and Madam Why, Kingsley.
Sketches of Creation, Winchell. Very interesting to children of fourteen or fifteen.
The Geological Story, Briefly Told, Dana.
Ready for Business, or Choosing an Occupation, Fowler and Wells.
Ode to a Skylark, Shelley.
Birds of Aristophanes, Frere.
Alfred the Great, Hughes.
Plutarch's "Lives."
Green's "Short History of the English People."
Demosthenes on the Crown. The finest of all orations.
The Biglow Papers, Lowell. The best of fun and sense.
Sweet Cicely, Holley. Quiet humor and unfailing wisdom.
Higginson's "Vacations for Saints." A splendid example of humorous writing.
Literature adapted to a Child Fifteen to Sixteen Years of Age and upward.
Shakspeare's "Hamlet" and "The Tempest."
Dante's "Inferno."
Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," "David Copperfield," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc.
Thackeray's "Vanity Fair."
Tourgée's "Hot Plowshares," and "With Fire and Sword," by Sienkiewicz. Two of the greatest historical novels.
Carlyle's "Past and Present."
Arnold's "Sweetness and Light."
Ruskin's "Crown of Wild Olive."
Emerson's Essays on "Manners," "Self-Reliance," "Eloquence," "Friendship," "Representative Men," etc.
Mrs. Whitney's "Sights and Insights." A book that is filled with beautiful thoughts and unselfish actions.
Spencer's "Data of Ethics." Indispensable to a complete understanding of ethical subjects.
"The Light of Asia." A book that cannot fail to broaden and deepen every life it touches.
Ten Great Religions, Clarke.
Omar. Superb poetry.
Bryant's "Thanatopsis."
Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." A lesson of the awfulness of cruelty.
Auld Lang Syne, Burns.
Toilers of the Sea, Hugo.
Huxley's "Man's Place in Nature."
Tyndall's "Forms of Water."
Our Country, Strong. A book that ought to be in the hands of every young person.
Bryce's "American Commonwealth."
Guizot's "History of Civilization."
Mill's "Logic." No young man can afford to remain unacquainted with this book.
The Hand and Ring, Green. One of the finest examples of reasoning in the language.
Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is another such example, and his "Gold Bug" is another.
Phillips' Speeches
Webster's "Liberty and Union."
Golden Treasury, Palgrave.
The Spectator. One of the very best books to study, in order to form a good style. Franklin and others attribute their success largely to reading it carefully in boyhood.
The Fable for Critics, Lowell.
The Yankee at the Court of King Arthur, Twain. Fun and sense welded together to make the most delightful book the author has written.