The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1906-06-06
Mothers Place.
CHILDREN'S READING.

rev subjects more vitality interest mothers than
'e SUBJECT OF their children's reading What books
snail give my boy at the age when his focuItios
are alert and he is taking in new imnressions J
iOIihng habits OF thought that shall abide with hin,
through life? What books shall I choose for 49,
ii''e girl under twelve and what shall [ select for
her sister IN the early teens? These questions ORC
constantly asked and for several reosors IL 49,
difficult to answer eJ arc
Inere are differences in children Some matrro
amer cnan Others A child who lives in an atmos
Phere OF books, who hears them discussed ord VI
Is III close contact with intellectual people in tb
Hohe' tlres OF merely juvenile reading ver1 r,,oL
'Ooiei IMAM does her little neighbor who has had
no such advantage. Children do not invariably oaro
lQi DooNs ana 1T Is no especial sign of dulness or
sluPiulty II books are not their tools ONLY . fo,
weeks ago a young woman wrote IN mo So+o;Ii
e struggles she had undergone in irving TO becone
iesleu IN reading Her bent for doing tbinos
PiacUIcal character, and she complained that
ueither In TACT nor in fiction was there anv+bir
that held her attention. | confess that for ~ 4L
grudglngly equipped for culture [ have great com
passion. 10 me it seems as if she were coIorbIind
u "e"i or III some way shut out from the deenest
ana choicest pleasures ever opened to yo,,or -
men, Yet there are scores and bundrods % g.: VI
lnoeihgent adults who regard reading as Nero
Pastme and think it almost sinful to spend davibt
hours over book sO
II your children love reading Won have onI -
guide them Alright, and if Won are in d,,bt y ~
"haC Is best for them, advice is not ont of You,
ie"I" 10 not force children to spend hours over
U"' "hlch is dull and abstruse and which does NOT
please and charm them. But do not limit them ~
DUCKS IhaC are planned with a view TO arnrsor,o,4
alone. 1t Is usually safe to trust a Good nub1isb
anu ~ give ones confidence to a good author How
snail we define good in this relationq perbo,e ~
IN this way: good publisher is a man with = oon'
Sciehce "A good author, from the standpoint of tbo
parent who IS choosing books for children l. ono
VINO Is not sensational, vulgar or sentimental Cr
talh very successful books for children from tI t
ISler standpoint have been open to the cbaroa of
poUl sensatlonallsm and false sentiment A r,otlor
should look over the books her children road
book or story that does not stand the tost of
reading aloud in the family is not a GOOD bool, TOR
boy girl. 7U JUN ioI
what one reads in childhood colors the mind and
gives 1T tone The seeds of lifelono faith mo-, ~
sown in the mind of a child or the seeds of JouI4
may ne implanted there through what is read in
early years. 'e"u III
Llsts OF books are not easily furnished for tb
reason stated already that children's mental ro,
ana chiIdrens mental needs vary ACCORDING 10 on
NIohment and education. But almost everv cbid
WIZ read with pleasure any book bv JuIiar ,t
h"lng' or Louisa Alcott or Kirk Munroo Kin
ing s jungle books should be read bv over,, oLi1J
~ properly guided, children will find n1oasrro -
fIolssarts Chronicles, in Tales from Sbarosro,
anu III Une literature of romance that gathers around
history OF walter SCOTS Tales of a Grandfather
arc as entertaining to the children of to-day nc tb
were to those for whom they were ORIGINATE i3
Ten. = r. Crockett has done good service for o,,
cnIdfen by writing for them some stories Of yvoIt
scott IN a less diiIuse and more modern st,l ~
that Of the great author "''"
falIy stories ana Imaginative lore sbouId mot L.
aehed children. We the better orr live I
lor entering into the wonderful realm of forcv at
''o"'ng Wnat the d-eamers dream and the poets 500