the most stimulus for the other pupils to read the book. But better based criticism can be made on this extended recitation than on small units of reading; the child is put on his exhibition mettle; he has practice, moreover, while presenting the introduction and conclusion of his incident, in oral composition, both in its details and in its larger aspects of choosing and grouping; his taste in selection of good material is tested; and the other children are stimulated not only to emulation of the best, which should be recognized and generously praised, but also to read the books from which the selections are taken. The teacher must, of course, before undertaking such an exercise, throw away any notion that the end and aim of his work is to "cover" any specified reading book. This device is for teaching reading and stimulating interest in books, which, while being read, will likewise teach reading. President Hall declares that what is acquired from this reading is not examinable. In the sense that no one can find out by examination exactly what has been gained from this reading, which should be done with all the rapidity at the command of the child, he is undoubtedly right. But if the teacher can by some means find out whether the child has got the essential points of the book and help him to an appreciation of some of the finer points which may be easily overlooked, he is rendering a distinct service and is helping to form good habits for all future reading. This sort of test is best held orally, not as an examination but as an informal talk about the book. Such questions as "What did you think of Harvey when you first met him in 'Captains Courageous'?" "Why did you like Baloo in 'The Jungle Book'?" "What was the one thing that did most to make you like Rab in Dr. Brown's story?” “Why could M'Adam and his son, in 'Bob Son of Battle,' never understand each other?"-such questions open the way for an easy talk in which the teacher can point out such excellences as he himself enjoyed and can also draw out the child to talk freely and frankly about his own likes and dislikes. The Ownership of Books Nowadays every school has or is accumulating some sort of library. But at the same time the private ownership of books should be encouraged; nothing can quite take its place. In the words of Dr. Reyer: "Every youth should have his or her own library, which, however small, should be select. To seal some knowledge of their content with the delightful sense of ownership helps to preserve the apparatus of culture, keeps green early memories, or makes one of the best of tangible mementoes of parental care and love." Some Good Reading It is hardly in place here to give a catalogue of books for a model school library; but appended is a list of good books arranged with an eye to the ease and avidity with which a boy addicted to poor reading or to none will enjoy them. It will suggest the kind of hearty, wholesome book of which we have been speaking. Children vary marvelously in taste and in the rate of its improvement; but few boys or girls will be inclined, after having enjoyed these or similar books, to revert to the poorer kind; that is, if good reading is kept accessible to them. Stevenson: Treasure Island. Poe: Selected Tales, such as The Gold Bug, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Murders of the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget. Conan Doyle: Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Kipling: Captains Courageous. Barbour: The Quarter Back, Behind the Line, etc. Defoe: Robinson Crusoe. Swift: Gulliver's Travels to Lilliput and Brobdignag. Pyle: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, etc. London: The Call of the Wild, White Fang. Davis: The Bar Sinister. Brown: Rab and His Friends. Kipling: The Jungle Book, The Second Jungle Book. Seton: Wild Animals I Have Known, etc. Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Stevenson: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, St. Ives, Kidnapped, David Balfour. Smith: Colonel Carter of Cartersville. Tarkington: Monsieur Beaucaire. Harland: The Cardinal's Snuff-Box. |
