Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-07-28
BOOKS IN THE HOME.
Gathering Together of Library an Enjoy.
able Work-Literature for
the Children.

Not every home can have a library
well stocked with books of all sorts for
reading or for reference That is one
of the Injuries that only the very rich
can evoke by few strokes of the pen.
But the llDtary that comes into existence
IN that way is not the most ENJOYABLE TO
It's owner. In fact, the owner of that
sort OF library is apt to be unfamiliar
with books in general. and bookkeeping
IS more interesting to him than reading
Ills library would be paradise to the
student and true lover of books, but 10
nm IT Is just a portion of his palace
furnished like all the rest to ORDER by
an expert with publishers catalogues as
guides.
Young married people and others
starting out in life who are in moderate
circumstances cannot usually begin with
Il supply of useful books unless they have
been so fortunate as to inherit the IL
| Drary OF some literary relative, or have
| been blessed with wise parents and such
wise training that they learned, very
early III life, to love reading and to coli
! lect and take good care of books. This
class needs no hints about book collect
| ing.
| But there are many who have not been
so happily circumstanced in their youth
/ full days, and they often feel the lack
| without knowing the best way to fill or
overcome it. They long to give to their
children the advantages which never
were theirs, for they realize that without
a good education early in life, people are
ever after handicapped, no matter how
much money they may get for themselves
or inherit from others.
After perfect health there is nothing
on the material plane that makes chill
dren and grown people so independent,
resourceful and happy as an intimate
acquaintance with the best literature.
As no one can read all the books worth
reading at once, so there is no need for
owning them all at once. But there are
some books that every home should have
and use constantly, and depend upon no
outside library for them
| Taking for granted that every home, as
| a matter of course, will have at least one
| Bible and one copy of Shakespeare as
part of its Indispensable furnishing, we
| pass on to the next most important book,
| without which much reading will be be.
reft Of advantages to the reader. What
| is the use of words if one knows not
| their meaning or only has glimmering
idea of their Specification! What is the
use of reading about places on this, our
| globe, il they are not located and pie
| tured on the mental gallery by finding
| them out on some map, if not by seeing
sketches of them? Then an unabridged
dictionary and complete atlas of the
| world are absolutely necessary in every
! household where the family is expected
| to be cultured and read, as we'll as think,
| inteligently.
| Children taught to use these and other
reference books, with very little going
| to school, will be more thoroughly edu-
| Gated when they grow up than other
| children who have expensive schooling,
| but no training III looking up meanings,
| places and everything else that they
come across in their reading which is not
perfectly clear to them.
No. on the list of desirable books is
a classical dictionary. These three should
| be always accessible and faithfully used
| by parents and children alike, for. after
you show a child how to look up any
| thing, it should do that work itself. The
! books ought to be kept in one place, on
| suitable stands, and no one allowed to
lift them about from place to place. That
| is what damages heavy books. In other
words, not use, but abuse, wears them
out too soon.
In this connection it may as well be
said that children should be taught early
just as soon as they handle books at all
the proper way to open and hold a
| book. All heavy books require especial
| care. They should. when too heavy for
| the hand, perpetually rest OH a table or
a stand No one should ever be allowed
| to lean upon an open book Those that
can be handled without effort should be
(
palm of the hand while one is glanclng
over them. This, of course, applies to
| books with nice bindings.
| | shall never forget my first lesson III
| holding a book | was looking at a
beautiful volume held open with both
hands and enjoying its exquisite makeup
all unconscious that the owner was on
tenterhooks while watching me. After
moment he said gently: Cousin l.,
will YOU let me show you how to hold Il
bookT' And then he placed it as | have
described III the palm of his hand, thus
| fully supporting the two sides of the
cover, and let it open without straining
it in any part.
Any standard books of prose and poeti-
cal quotations that are complete come
next in Importance for the family at
home. All the books that one wants to
read can be found in the public libraries,
but, while reading, those books of refer
ence should be very easily reached, and
that is why they ought to be the nu-
cleus of the home library. They make
nice holiday gifts, and have the advan-
tage of growing in Importance the more
YOU refer TO them. In this they differ
essentially from many t'r.ngs that are
| given as presents.
1t is cruel to permit children to grow
up without being acquainted with the
wild flowers that they meet and the trees
that they see as they go about. There
are delightful books giving information
about both in such a simple way thar
whoever knows how to read can find OUT
what they are and to what family in
plant life they belong as easily as they
can look up word-meanings in the die
tionary; and leaf brought home from
Il tree will be the means of revealing the
name of the tree when it is compared
| with its counterpart in the book. written
by an arbOrist.-AlisS NJ. +. Carter in
| Brooklyn Eagle
Monsters from Gulf Waters.