LIST OF BOOKS
The following list of books, arranged according to grades, is designed to supply the children of the five grades, from the fourth to the eighth inclusive, with excellent reading matter in the form of complete masterpieces of American and English literature. It includes, besides the books for regular reading lessons, a large list of collateral and closely related works for the children and also for teachers.
The books of these lists contain a rich and varied fund of finest culture material, first of all for the teacher, and, through her spirit and enthusiasm, for the children.
Besides the general discussions of these books in the preceding chapters, a few additional explanations are necessary to make plain the grounds upon which this particular selection and arrangement of books is based. The whole purpose of the preceding chapters is to throw light upon this list, and to qualify the teacher for an intelligent and efficient use of these books as school readers.
1. The books apportioned to each grade or year are divided into three series. The first series is carefully selected to serve as regular reading-books for that grade. Almost without exception they are complete works, or collections of complete poems, stories, etc. Many of them are very familiar and have been much used in the schools. The number of books for each grade is large, so as to have room for choice and adaptation to each class.
The second series consists of closely related collateral readings derived from a much wider range of books in literature, history, and science. Many of these books of the second list are not so strictly masterpieces of literature, but of a secondary rank as prose renderings of the great poems, myths, and stories of other languages, also American and European history stories. These materials are well adapted for the reference studies and home readings of children. They all deal with interesting and worthy subjects of thought in a superior style. Many of these books, however, are great and permanent works of literature. They are materials, also, which the teacher should be familiar with. They should be constantly referred to and discussed in connection with the first series. It is quite probable that some teachers will prefer books of the second series for regular reading in the place of some suggested in the first series.
The third series consists of books for teachers, including great works of literature, history, and science, which will enrich the teacher's knowledge and contribute to a broader enthusiasm and culture. The writings of some of the great essayists, as Ruskin, Carlyle, Emerson, Kingsley, Motley, Lowell, Huxley, Macaulay, and others, are peculiarly fit to broaden the teacher's horizon and ennoble his purpose. Some of the best poems and novels suitable for advanced study are mentioned. There are also books which deal in a comprehensive and critical, but sympathetic, way with important literary topics, as the myths and great epics, the age of chivalry, and the lives of the most eminent writers. Some of the best works of biography and history are also suggested for teachers, and a number of the best professional and pedagogical books for teachers, dealing with literature, reading, and child study.
2. This list of books is of course tentative. There are other literary works as good, perhaps, but not a few difficulties stand in the way of the best selection. A few of the best materials are scattered in books not available for school purposes. Some of the finest of our longer classics have not been tested much in school use. There is, however, an abundance of choice English works, complete, well printed and bound, in cheap, schoolbook form. The chief difficulty, after all, is in selecting and arranging the best of an abundant and varied collection of excellent literature. This inspiring problem lies but partly solved at the threshold of every teacher's work. It requires extensive knowledge of literature and experience in its use in classes. A masterpiece may be read in several grades, and teachers will differ in judging its true place. Schools and classes differ also in their capacity and previous preparation for classic readings, so that no course of reading will fit all schools, or, perhaps, any two schools. Many principals will prefer to use the books one or two grades lower, or higher, than here indicated. Every teacher should use such a list according to his best individual judgment as based upon the needs of his school. This list was discussed and partly made out in conference with a number of experienced superintendents, and much variety of opinion was expressed as to the best grade for the use of a number of the selections.
3. The books chosen for each grade are designed to be a suitable combination of prose and poetry, of short and long selections from history, science, and letters. Variety in subject-matter and style is required in each grade, although certain strong individual characteristics are expected to appear in the literature of each year's work. Many of the shorter poems fit in well with longer masterpieces in prose and verse. Some of the epics, myths, and historical episodes are told in both prose and verse. The children may well meet and study them in both forms. If from four to six larger masterpieces could be read each year, and these could bring out the style and quality of so many authors, if a number of suitable shorter pieces could be read and related to the former, the many-sided influence of literature would prove each year effective. Literature is the broadest of all subjects, both as a basis of culture and for the unification of the varied studies. It touches every phase of experience and knowledge along its higher levels, and overlooks the whole field of life from the standpoint of the seer and poet. The classic readings should aim at the completeness, variety, and elevation of thought which literature alone can give. Every year's literature should open the gates to meadow and woodland, to park and fruitful fields, into rich and shaded valleys, and up to free and sunny hilltops and mountains.
4. The list of books for each year includes two or three books of miscellaneous collections of classics in prose and verse. Many of the selections are short and some fragmentary. Such are the three volumes of "Open Sesame," the "Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics," "Children's Treasury of English Song," and "Book of Golden Deeds." In each of the books named is found a variety of material suited perhaps to two or three grades. In most of the books just named it is not intended in our plan that all the selections should be read through in succession. It will be better for the teacher to select from those collections such choice poems, stories, etc., as will enrich and supplement the longer classics, and give that added variety so needful. Many of the finest poems in our language are short, and should not be omitted from our school course. They should be read and some of them memorized by the children. It would be well if the teacher had in each grade one or two sets of such books of choice miscellaneous materials from which to select occasional reading. The regular readers used by the children would consist of the longer masterpieces, which would be supplemented by the shorter selections. In this way greater unity and variety might be achieved within the limits of each grade.