Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-04-30
Old-Time Books For Children.

Inere Is an Idea tnat there never was
time when there was so much done
for children as now. No doubt infinite
time. money and pains are spent on the
getting up of new toys, new games and
new books, but L doubt very much il
the child of to-day is really as well of,
especially y in the matter of books, as the
child of a generation ago.
L know / shall be told Immediately,
think of the great minds, which are oc-
cupying themselves with the task of
entertaining children, and of the de-
hghtful magazines devoted entirely to
their amusement; but, knowing all this,
and enjoying, as all grown-up children
must, the books and stories written fo1
little folks, L still cling to my belief,
that the few books, which were offered
to the children of twenty-five years
ago were equally interesting, and were
| of style, which is really not equaleG
by anything given to the children now.
There are many who will smile as
they think of the extremely moral and
dIdactic tone of the stories in '.Par.
ent's Assistant" and its compeers, and
wonder If that is what / mean. To
this 1 will promptly reply that this is
exactly what L do mean. Now-a-days
our children have bright stories o,
children,-real, live children,-who get
into scrapes, who are not always truth
full, but who are so bright, ''cute," and
and winning that they must be loved
they have stories of adventures and
impossible daring; but they do not have
the stories with the simple moral tone
the absolute line between right and
wrong, with the reward of the former
and punishment of the latter, that were
IN MI i Il
renee" FThe Little Merchants and
THE Orphans" of the Parents As
sistant." Children do not know whe1
story is moral and didactic; they car.
only for the interest of the tale; and be
fore they are spoiled by course O
modern childish literature, they take
deep interest in the abstract mora
question of the story. The reading o
these old-fashioned tales. together with
the stories of the Abbotts and Mis-
Edgeworth, gave moral backbone Il
the children of those times, which tn,
writing of the present day Is not at al
calculated to impart
''Then, the very little ones, to whom
rhyme seems the proper vehicle OF
written amusement, what have they
to take the place of the Songs for the
Little Ones at Home?'-slmple child
like dltties, every one with its moral
attached. and every one W tn its simple
teaching of kindness, charity, love anG
gratitude. / can remember how deaI
they were to my childish heart, anC
how my daughter preferred this booi
to any of the more modern collections
Indeed, as a general thing, the moderI
collections of poetry for children are
far beyond the understanding of those
for whom they are supposed to be writ
ten, and always give one the impression
of having been written TO challenge the
admiration of older minds, with theil
quaint fancies and unchildlIke con
ceits.
The literature for the young of tn,
present day Is not calculated to rous,
the same admiration for right, and dis
like for wrong, the same belief IN tn,
doing of simple duty, the same sense o.
justice, of kindness and gratitude
which the writing of the past was In
tended to arouse and did arouse; tn,
moral ard didactic element is left out
and L cannot but feel that this is an IT
reparable loss. These lessons, learned
in childhood, fixed upon the mind wheI
young, will last through life to
greater or less extent. If L were tc
write of Books which have helpeL
me, should place first upon the list
Abbott's ''Timboo and Joliba," read al
the age of five, and L regret, that it il
likely to help very few of these children
of the present day HOusekeeper'.
UecEIu