IN this, the third reader of the series, great care has been taken,
not only in selecting material suited to the needs and ability of the
pupil, but also to arrange the selections so that he may develop the
habit of acquiring interesting facts as he reads.
In the first two grades the children need to learn the mechanics of
reading,—the recognition of words, the ability to find out _new_ words
for themselves by means of phonics, correct pronunciation, enunciation,
inflection, expression, etc., but in this grade especial stress may be
laid on _learning by reading_,—getting the fact and remembering it.
This prepares the pupil for the actual work of studying, when he is
given a book and asked for the first time to “learn the lessons.” The
questions at the end of many of the lessons should be read and answered
by the pupil after he has read the selection. His answers should be
thoughtfully prepared and correctly stated.
Especial attention is called to the fact that the selections in this
book are almost exclusively copyrighted material, and have never been
and cannot be used in other series of readers. This avoids the tiresome
repetition of stories, read first in one book and then again and again
in others.
Many of the selections are valuable from a literary standpoint, and the
pupils will read with real enjoyment stories by Laura Richards, Mary E.
Wilkins, Anna von Rydingsvärd, Helen Hunt Jackson, and other authors,
noted for their skill in writing stories for children.
The selections which deal especially with child life and interests in
other countries will broaden the child’s view of the world, prepare him
for the study of geography, and help him to be a wide awake child, just
the child whom this Wide Awake Series is intended to develop.
* * * * *
The selections, “Little Grandmother’s Shoes,” “Children of
a Sunny Land,” “The Little Plant,” “The Little Goatherds,”
“Great-Great-Grandma’s Christmas in England,” “The Whipping Boy,”
“The Christmas Spruce Tree,” “The Eve of St. Nicholas,” “The Little
Turkeys,” “The Children of Armenia,” “Ahmow,—the Wolf,” “The Emperor
and the Peasant,” and “The Christmas Monks,” are used by arrangement
with the Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company.