The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1902-01-25
II H f COU r l f r


Indian experiences without effort. In
the days of the Franklin primer with
illustrations of heavy outline pictures
made like those with which George AIDE
illustrates his modern fables, whatever
was lacking was supplied by the col
oratura imaginations of our little
great-grandfathers and mothers.
The kindergarten children of today
are taught with colored balls and little
colored jackstraws cubes and cones.
And parents are suddenly surprised by
their children's exact knowledge of
colors and shades of cOlors. So far as
dren think they are playing. When
books diSplace the kindergarten toys
they, too, are brightly cOlOred, and the
youngsters are broken into the drudg-
cry of learning before they realize the
experiment that is being tried on them
The Holton Primer is a transition
book from the kindergarten to the first
grade. 1t has the binding of a story
book Every half-page is a picture in
black and white or colors of babies,
kittens, dogs, autumn leaves, flowers
fruit, ct cetera. The letter-press is
dOuble-leaded and the type is great
primer. For the tender, uncallOuSed
feet of little children perhaps it is best
that the path of learning should appear
to be lined with flowers and only gently
inclined upwards. They stray into it
at first because it looks more attractive
than any other path. AS they travel
further and further from the starting
point the royal road gets sleeper and
sleeper and to get any view at all re-
quires climbing. There are those who
argue that the kindergarten units the
that the teacher will find a way of in
sinuating knowledge. The sturdy stu
dents that kindergarten children be-
come and the bravery with which they
attempt problems that old-fashioned
pupils had to be coaXed to undertake
is sufficient answer to this criticism.
The Holton Primer, compiled by Miss
NJ. A. Holton, is an attractive book. The
first lessons are made up of gossip
about objects which the child sees con-
stantly about him and with whose
names he is perfectly familiar. He has
already gone part of the way and when
he finds he has been hypnotized into
learning something he is surprised that
learning is so easy and so pleasant.
Child Stories from the Masters" by
Maud Menefee, is a collection of
stories, adapted to children, taken from
the masterpieces of painters, dramat
"Pippa Passes" the story of Mignon
from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister Sieg-
fried from Wagner's Niebelungen, the
story of how Margaret led Faust
through the perfect world, the story of
Saul and David and several others are
told with poetic effect. The mysteries,
poetry, aspirations of life haunt Miss
Menefee's narrative style. The curious,
unnamed influences that tug at a child
and disappear with the beautiful mists
that hid things from our youth, are
strengthened by such stories as Miss
Menefee tells in the way she has told
them. The stories are illustrated by
photographs from pictures by Greuze.
lie Febvre, Rosetti, Watts, Millet, Cor
reggie, and Murillo.
There is a period in a boys life and
in a girls too when the craving for
tales of adventure is only satiated by
stories of heroes of not too fantastic
and mythical a character to be imi-
tated. The average uninspired earthly