_JUVENILE LITERATURE IN THE FARM HOME_
It may be truly said that the strength and impressiveness of the
personality depend on the nature of the inner thought of the individual.
Now, thoughts are not unlike the trees and the growing grain, or, for
that matter, any other living thing; unless they have proper nourishment
they wither, perish, or dwindle away to a puny shadow of their possible
selves. How shall we measure the strength and force of the human
character other than by the bigness and the purity of the daily thoughts
of the individual? It matters little what the occupation may be--a hewer
of stone, a hauler of wood, a captain of industry, or a governor of a
state--each of these may be mean and little in his respective position
provided his thoughts be sensuous and groveling. On the other hand, each
of these can shine in his allotted place in a light all his own,
provided he have the habit of entertaining clean and inspiring ideas in
his secret consciousness.
Now, one of the larger problems of the rural life is that of supplying
the many hours necessarily devoted to silent reflection with a suitable
form of thought culture. Proverbially, the farmer and his wife and their
children are hurried along with the work-a-day affairs and tend
gradually to acquire the non-reading habit. This is bad for the parents
in that it keeps their minds running around upon a little cycle of hard,
industrial facts. It is worse for the children in that it fails to
supply the proper nourishment for the dream period through which their
lives are necessarily passing. What can be done, therefore, to nourish
and build up the best possible thought activities, especially in case of
the rural boys and girls?
HOW GOOD THINKING GROWS UP AND FLOURISHES
It may not be out of place to show here somewhat more definitely how
attractive forms of literature gradually work themselves into the lives
of the young. In the first place, the young person cannot invent his own
ideas. He does not manufacture his thoughts out of something latent
within his organism. The latent situation consists merely of a nervous
system prepared to receive manifold impressions and to retain them and
give them back through the process of ideation. That is, the young
person thinks only about things that have actually happened in his life.
All he knows has come to him through the avenue of his senses; what he
has seen and heard and felt, and so on, constitutes the "stuff" out of
which his thoughts are made. So he must have the widest possible
experience, while young, in the use of his natural senses.
The literature best adapted to the child would be that which appeals to
the interests predominating in his life at any given time. During his
early years not hard, prosaic facts, but situations that stretch the
truth and sport with the fixed condition of things are especially
appealing to him. He should therefore be indulged in the classic myths,
fables, fairy tales, and the like. The parent will of course be on guard
against his acquiring any seriously erroneous beliefs in respect to such
things, and also against his receiving any serious shock or fright from
the tragic aspects of the tale. Later on, during the early teens, the
boys and girls will become more and more interested in the stories of
the wars of old and in the fact and romance of history. Stories
supplementing the text-book history of the home country may now be
introduced.
As a possible means of bringing the minds of the boys and girls into a
more intimate knowledge of the rural situation, nature studies and
nature stories should be offered. It must be remembered that it is quite
possible for the boy to grow up within a stone's throw of many of the
living things of nature and yet scarcely recognize their presence, much
less know anything definite about them. Therefore, nature-study books
and leaflets written perhaps in story form and containing attractive
illustrations of the birds, bees, flowers, and trees to be found near
about the rural home will prove most interesting and instructive to the
young. Through such helpful literature the mind will gradually acquire
the habit of casting about in the home environment for the description
of possible objects and conditions new to one.
One of the best and most helpful results accruing to the young person
who indulges the habit of reading good literature is this: he acquires a
large vocabulary of words and phrases in which to clothe his secret
thought and with which to express himself to others. All this furnishes,
not merely a splendid form of entertainment for the silent reflections,
but it also gives the thinker a sense of the power and the worth of his
own personality.
TYPES OF LITERATURE
It may be stated as a foregone conclusion that no farm is well equipped
for the happiness and well-being of those who dwell thereon unless there
be an ample supply of good literature in the house. No matter how well
stocked with high-grade farm animals, how productive in point of farm
crops, how well kept the hedges and lanes may be, secret poverty and
littleness of mind lurk in that home if the literature is wanting. So,
first of all, let us lay the foundation by means of enumerating some
periodicals and books of a more general nature.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
FIG. 7.--It is a mistake to try to make bookworms of children. Many of
their best books are "green fields and running brooks," also frequent
opportunity to play together in groups and neighborhoods.]
1. _The best reading._--Of course the Bible might head the list. Whether
or not there be a large "family" Bible, there should be at least a text
of convenient size and form for everyday use. This book should contain a
good concordance.
Then there should come into the home a first-class weekly newspaper;
possibly the local paper will supply this need. Many farm homes now
receive a daily paper regularly.
In addition there should be available a weekly or monthly summary of the
current events of the nation and the world. The _Literary Digest_, the
_World's Work_, and the _Review of Reviews_ are examples of standard
magazines of this particular class. Either one of them will stimulate
most helpfully the quiet thought of the farmer and the members of his
family and keep one in touch with the most important movements of the
country.
Along with the foregoing, there should be kept constantly at hand a
first-class farm magazine. There are numberless periodicals of this
sort, but perhaps among those of the first rank and those which
especially give definite helps for the boy-and-girl life of the farm may
be mentioned _Wallaces' Farmer_, Des Moines, Iowa, the _Farmer's Voice_,
Chicago, Illinois, and the _Farmer's Guide_, Huntington, Indiana. Also,
the semi-official state paper well known in many of the commonwealths is
usually very helpful.
Look out for trash. There are many papers published, ostensibly in the
interest of farm life, which are in fact cheap and trashy sheets made
use of almost wholly as a medium of advertising quack medicines,
get-rich-quick schemes, and other frauds. A reliable means of testing
the value of any one of these so-called "farm" or "home" papers is to
examine the advertisements. If there be any considerable number of
advertisements which offer sure cures for chronic diseases, confidential
treatments for secret troubles, fortune telling, and attractive
high-priced articles at a trifling cost, then the whole thing is
probably fraudulent and not worthy to come into your home. Also avoid
the paper or magazine which advertises intoxicating liquors. It is very
low in moral tone, to say the least.
2. _Books for children._--In selecting a list of books for farm boys and
girls, we should make little or no distinction between them and the
children of the city homes. Their earlier literary needs are practically
all alike and their youthful minds must be nourished in about the same
fashion. In offering the lists to follow we do not pretend to have
selected nearly all the profitable books available, but rather to have
named a few examples of volumes already found enticing and helpful to
the young mind. The majority of them are standard and well known. While
the price and publisher are given in many instances, often a cheaper
edition may be had.
In order to proceed with greater certainty and economy in purchasing
books for the children, the rural parent is advised to consult some one
near at hand who is thoroughly familiar with children's literature.
Perhaps the superintendent of schools of the town near by, or some local
minister, or some well-informed leader of a mothers' club, may furnish
the desired assistance. It would also be helpful to write for the
general catalogues of a number of the large publishing and distributing
houses and from their lists select a number of suitable titles. Many of
them publish the older classics in very attractive form for ten to
twenty-five cents, the original unchanged and unabridged.
In order to stimulate interest in forming the nucleus of a home library
the farmer should either make or purchase a small set of book shelves.
Important as it may seem to build a first-class house for the
thoroughbred hogs, this matter of the children's reading is even more
important and should be attended to first, before it becomes too late to
catch the attentive ear of the boys and girls.
A SELECTED LIST
The following lists are taken chiefly from those selected by
such well-known critics as Mary Mapes Dodge, Kate Douglas
Wiggin, Edward Everett Hale, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and
Hamilton W. Mabie.
_Ages Four to Six Years_
VARIOUS AUTHORS. Boston Collection of Kindergarten Stories.
J. L. Hammett Company, Boston. 50 cents.
BRYANT. Stories to Tell to Children. Houghton, Mifflin
Company.
HOLBROOK. Hiawatha Primer. 50 cents. Houghton, Mifflin
Company.
EGGLESTON. Story of Great America for Little Americans. 35
cents. Houghton, Mifflin Company.
SCUDDER. Fables and Folk Stories.
STEVENSON. A Child's Garden of Verses.
LANG. Blue Fairy Book.
RUSKIN. King of the Golden River.
FIELD. Lullaby Land.
WIGGIN. The Story Hour.
SEWELL. Black Beauty.
_Ages Six to Seven Years_
NORTON AND STEPHENS. The Heart of Oak Books, No. 1. 25 cents.
Heath.
GILBERT. Mother Goose.
CARROLL (CHARLES L. DODGSON). Alice in Wonderland. $3.
Harper. 35 cents. Crowell.
ANDREWS. The Seven Little Sisters. 60 cents. Ginn.
KINGSLEY. Water Babies.
KIPLING. The Jungle Book.
GREENE. King Arthur and his Court.
_Ages Seven to Eight Years_
GRIMM. Fairy Tales. Translated Mrs. E. Lucas. $2.50.
Lippincott.
GOLDSMITH. Goody Two-Shoes. 25 cents. Heath
AESOP. Fables. Selected by Jacobs. $1.50. Macmillan.
HARRIS. Nights with Uncle Remus. $1.50. Houghton, Mifflin.
BIBLE STORIES. 60 cents. A. L. Burt Company, New York.
HAWTHORNE. Wonderbook and Tanglewood Tales.
IRVING. Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, or
The Sketch Book.
_Ages Eight to Nine Years_
BALDWIN. Fifty Famous Stories Retold. 35 cents. American Book
Company.
LONGFELLOW. Hiawatha, The Village Blacksmith, The Children's
Hour, etc.
MABIE. Norse Stories Retold from Edda. $1.80. Dodd, Mead.
MILLER. Out-of-Door Diary for Boys and Girls. Sturgis-Walton
Company.
_Ages Nine to Ten Years_
NORTON AND STEPHENS. Heart of Oak Books, No. 4. 45 cents.
Heath.
HODGES. The Garden of Eden. (Bible Stories.) $1.50. Houghton,
Mifflin.
MATHEWS. Familiar Trees and Their Leaves. $1.75. Appleton.
BURROUGHS. Wake Robin.
_Ages Ten to Eleven Years_
HIGGINSON. Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic.
DANA. How to know the Wild Flowers. $2. Scribner.
BLANCHAN. Bird Neighbors. 35 cents. Doubleday, Page.
NORTON AND STEPHENS. Heart of Oak Books, No. 5. 50 cents.
Heath.
CHURCH. Stories from Virgil.
MORLEY. A Song of Life.
STEVENSON. Treasure Island.
_Ages Eleven to Twelve Years_
ALCOTT. Little Women. $1.50. Little Men. $1.50. Little, Brown
& Co.
LUCAS. A Wanderer in London. $1.75. Macmillan.
ALDRICH. Story of a Bad Boy. $1.25. Houghton, Mifflin.
SHAKESPEARE. The Tempest.
SCOTT. Tales of a Grandfather. The Talisman.
EDGEWORTH. Parent's Assistant.
_Ages Twelve to Thirteen Years_
KIPLING. Just So Stories. $1.20. Doubleday, Page.
SETON-THOMPSON. Wild Animals I have Known. $2. Scribner.
WYSS. Swiss Family Robinson. 60 cents. McKay; also Dutton.
PALMER. The Odyssey. $1. Houghton, Mifflin.
GOLDSMITH. The Vicar of Wakefield.
DICKENS. A Christmas Carol. The Cricket on the Hearth.
HUGHES. Tom Brown at Rugby.
_Ages Thirteen to Fourteen Years_
SWIFT. Gulliver's Travels. $1.50. Macmillan.
LONGFELLOW. Evangeline.
DANA. Two Years before the Mast. $1. Houghton, Mifflin.
NORTON AND STEPHENS. Heart of Oak Books, No. 6. 55 cents.
Heath.
LAMB. Tales from Shakespeare.
COFFIN. Old Times in the Colonies.
FRANKLIN. Autobiography.
STOWE. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
_Ages Fourteen to Fifteen Years_
DEFOE. Robinson Crusoe. $1. McLoughlin. $1.50. Harper.
BUNYAN. Pilgrim's Progress.
NORTON AND STEPHENS. Heart of Oak Books, No. 7. 60 cents.
Heath.
AUSTEN. Pride and Prejudice.
THOREAU. Walden.
_Ages Fifteen to Sixteen Years_
COOPER. Leather Stocking Tales.
BURROUGHS. Birds and Bees. 15 cents. Strawbridge and
Clothier.
PYLE. Robin Hood. 60 cents. Scribner.
SCOTT. Ivanhoe. 60 cents. Appleton. Lady of the Lake. 35
cents.
GINN. Lay of the Last Minstrel. 25 cents. Macmillan.
_Sixteen Years Old and Older_
IRVING. The Alhambra. 25 cents. Macmillan.
MACAULAY. Lays of Ancient Rome. 75 cents. Macmillan.
KIPLING. Captains Courageous. $1.50. Century.
NICOLAY AND HAY. Boy's Life of Lincoln. $1.50. Century.
EGGLESTON. Hoosier School Boy. $1. Scribner; also Heath.
In addition to the foregoing, there is beginning to come from the press
a mass of juvenile literature that promises to furnish most practical
inspiration and guidance to the juvenile mind on the farm. Much of this
new rural life literature may be had for the asking or for the mere
price of publication. The following are recommended:--
_The Rural School Leaflet._ Edited by Alice G. McCloskey, and
issued under the general direction of L. H. Bailey at Ithaca,
N.Y.
The Country Life Publications, issued by D. W. Working,
Superintendent of Agricultural Extension, Morgantown, W.Va.
The series published by A. B. Graham, Superintendent of the
Extension Department, Ohio University, Columbus.
The annual reports of County Superintendent O. J. Kern,
Rockford, Ill., and of County Superintendent George W. Brown,
Paris, Ill.
The Wisconsin Arbor and Bird Day Annual, issued by State
Superintendent C. P. Cary, Madison, Wis.
The Extension Departments of many of the state universities and nearly
all of the state agricultural colleges are now issuing a series of small
pamphlets on such matters as stock judging, grain breeding, soil
testing, and home economics. This literature should be given the widest
possible circulation in the country home, as it will prove helpful both
to the young and to the parents in their direction of the young.
_Literature on Child-rearing_
Parents who are seriously in earnest in the matter of developing the
lives of their children will find great assistance and much inspiration
through the reading of books and magazines on the child-rearing
problems. In fact, it may be put down as a practical certainty that the
work of child training cannot go on effectively and continue in its
interest except one have some aids of the kind just named. Therefore,
the interested parent should cast about for the books and magazines that
promise to serve in the solution of the particular problems at hand. It
happens that the author has collected a large number of books and
periodicals of this class and that he has made a somewhat critical
examination of them.
In listing the titles below, a word or phrase is used to indicate the
contents or purpose of the text.
1. Periodicals on Child-rearing
_The American Baby._ American Publishing Company, 1 Madison
Ave., New York City. $1 per year, 10 cents per copy. Contains
much detailed and most helpful instruction on the care of the
child.
_American Motherhood._ Coopertown, N.Y. $1 per year, 10 cents
per copy. Helpful and sympathetic. Especially strong in
respect to health and sanitation and in methods of
instructing children in regard to the secrets of life.
_The Child-Welfare Magazine._ Official organ of the National
Congress of Mothers, 147 North 10th Street, Philadelphia. 50
cents per year, 10 cents per copy.
The educational pamphlets published by the Society of Sanitary and Moral
Prophylaxis, 9 E 2d Street, New York City. Excellent monographs, each
treating some urgent child problem in relation to morals, sanitation,
and the like.
The Home-training Bulletins, prepared and issued by William A. McKeever,
Professor of Philosophy, State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kan. 5
cents each. Each of these pamphlets contains about sixteen pages and
covers a particular home-training problem. The numbers thus far issued
are:--
1. The Cigarette Smoking Boy.
2. Teaching the Boy to Save.
3. Training the Girl to Help in the Home.
4. Assisting the Boy in the Choice of a Vocation.
5. A Better Crop of Boys and Girls.
6. Training the Boy to Work.
7. Teaching the Girl to Save.
8. Instructing the Young in Regard to Sex.
Others are in course of preparation.
2. Books on Child-rearing
HOLT. Care and Feeding of Children. $1 Appleton. Most helpful
and practical.
CURLEY. Short Talks with Young Mothers. $1.50. Putnams.
Helpful from the medical side.
HARRISON. A Study of Child Nature. $1. Chicago Kindergarten
College. Excellent. A standard help.
ALLEN. Civics and Health. $1.25. Ginn & Co. Most helpful on
the side of sanitation.
HALL. Youth. $1.50. Appleton. A great book on child study by
one of the world's leading authorities.
KING. Psychology of Child Development. $1. University of
Chicago Press. A Fundamental work for those who wish to make
a scientific study of child life.
RITCHIE. A Primer of Sanitation. 60 cents. World Book
Company. A clear, helpful presentation of the facts.
CHANCE. The Care of the Child. $1. Penn Publishing Company.
Full of detailed information about infants, especially.
MANGOLD. Child Problems. $1.25. Macmillan. Presents the
matter ably and in the light of the freshest information.
CALL. The Freedom of Life. $1. Little, Brown & Co. A great
and inspiring book. Will give rest and poise to tired
mothers.
GULICK. Mind and Work. $1. Doubleday, Page & Co. A companion
book to the one above, only more suitable for the father.
SALEEBY. Parenthood and Race Culture. $2.50. Moffat, Yard &
Co., New York. A remarkably instructive volume on race
improvement.
REFERENCES
How to Direct Children's Reading. Mae E. Schreiber. Annual
volume N.E.A., 1900, p. 637.
A Suggestive List for a Children's Library, 483 titles. Helen
T. Kennedy. Democrat Printing Company. Minneapolis.
A Mother's List of Books for Children. Catherine W. Arnold.
A. C. McClurg & Co.
Children's Rights. Kate Douglas Wiggin. Pages 69 ff. "What
shall Children Read?" Houghton, Mifflin Company.
Fingerposts of Children's Reading. Walter Taylor Field.
McClurg & Co. Gives extensive lists.
Books for Boys and Girls. Brooklyn Public Library, New York.
A carefully selected list of 1700 titles, 200 of them being
especially marked for their value.