The production of a book which is adapted to the use of the youngest
readers needs but few words of excuse or apology. The nature of the work
seems to be sufficiently explained by the title itself, and the author's
task has been chiefly to reduce the ordinary language into words of one
syllable. But although, as far as the subject matter is concerned, the
book can lay no claims to originality, it is believed that the idea
and scope of its construction are entirely novel, for the One Syllable
literature of the present day furnishes little more than a few short,
unconnected sentences, and those chiefly in spelling books.
The deep interest which De Foe's story has never failed to arouse in the
minds of the young, induces the author to hope that it may be acceptable
in its present form.
It should be stated that exceptions to the rule of using words of one
syllable exclusively have been made in the case of the proper names
of the boy Xury and of the man Friday, and in the titles of the
illustrations that accompany this work.