The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-13
BY Mrs. A. c. Ellison.

Nm this foodtime of children s liter
"a ature, it is somewhat audacious
- undertaking to put down in black
and white, and then sign ones name TO
It, s. list of books that every child should
know. It means threading ones way
large amount Of which lends itself
chiefly to the gentle art Of skipping,
Continues to 'efoist itself into fame
by the children themselves. .
Perhaps there will. always be in evil
dence more or less Of this would-be
literature, with it's stilted and wooden
creations to cucumber the earth, but
there will still stand out here and there
certain wayside inns where all children
love to inger while trailing their clouds
of glory thru the swiftly moving years.
AS It Once Was. Z
A few generations ago there was no
distinctive literature for boys and girls,
the masterpiece only'' theory was in
force by virtue of necessity, and the
days when Charles Lambs sister was
'tumbled into a spacious closet Of
good old, English books to browse at
will upon that fair and wholesome
Ipasturage,' was in the days of the few
good libraries, and only the few and the
fttest were meant to survive, but in
this generation when every child looms
into the Importance Of an individual,
lit is desired not only that the fttest
may survive, but that the many may be
made fit. To, this end, various and
earnest have been the efforts to bring
within the range Of every child 'sthis
fair and wholesome pasturage." That
he is entitled to a choice in his reading
Is both wise and just, but the response,
Ibility of rejecting into that choice
what is fair and wholesome, presup-
poses either a good library or dis
terminating knowledge of what consti-
tutes literature, and lacking both of
these little study Of child nature, and
Ia bit Of common sense are not bad sub
stitutes to have in the family.
Famous Mother Goose.
This takes us back to the starting
point, for if left to himself child will
go with unerring instinct to Mother
Goose. I have been. told that there
are children who have never learned to
love these rhymes, but it is onlv fair
to regret their delinqnencies later in
normal or else to hope they Will learn
to regret their delinquincies later in
life. Just wherein lies the wonderful
vitality Of Mother Goose still remains
~ 70 SoCClooJ JuSc why tHe Olu woman
with her broom, little Miss Muffit, the
dish running away with the spoon, and
all the rest of it, are so fascinating and
dramatic, is still one of the hidden
secrets of childhood. Yet after all
has been said, I think it hanks back to
their jingle, land to a certain delicious
absence Of sense and reason. But
whatever the source of their popularity
children have continued to cling to
them with a largeness of love ever
since the ], NsSeswberyss published them in
l765.,. This early edition, called
Melodies of Mother Goose, is out Of
print, but there has recently been re-
printed in fac-simile the Munrroe &
Francis edition with an introduction by
Edward Everett Hale, which includes
all but three of the earlier rhymes
Goody Two Shoes. o
With the publication of the Melodies
was also sent out at the same time
Goldsmith 8 Goody Two Shoes. and
these two books will outlive all the
good little books with neat cuts, =
that have been published since. The
edition of Goody Two Shoes illustrated
by Walter Crane is exceedingly at
tractive and will follow in the trail OF
Mother Goose.
Tt ism t in the least original to say
that children are attracted by colors
and pictures, because everyone who has
observed them knows it to be true and