The San Francisco call., 1909-02-13
A LITERARY CHAT WITH THE JUNIORS

ciple Of selection may profitably be
exerted. namely, in the direction OF
fostering a common interest In the
family reading circle even at an
early age. Grimm or Hans Christian
Andersen are, of course, recognized
children's classics; but so. in these later
days. are the Just So Stories" alice
In Wonderland" The Rose and the
Ring" There is Of course no special
virtue in a book merely because it is
old. any more than because IT is new.
Yet the older books have at least es-
tablished some claim to attention.
merely by having survived; however.
when a book. published today or to-
morrow. commends itself as worthy OF
permanent place on your shelf, it's
its youth should surely not bar IL out
We must keep steadily in mind the
basic idea that our library shall con-
tain only books that viii actually be
read-and read with pleasure; the min
ute that we place on these shelves vol
umes the reading of which viii be
conscious task. sort OF disguised les
son. then we defeat the main object OF
our whole plan of library building. In
deed. as soon as any book that might
otherwise be enjoyed takes on the as
pect Of a duty, it's charm as literature
is gone; 1t is mentally consigned by
the youthful reader 10 the category
of school books.
The fact that the verdict OF posterity
has enrolled Don Quixote'' and Par
adise Lost and Pilgrims Progress"
among the worlds classics can not
alter our own personal tastes or hyp-
notize US into reading to a finish,
should they happen frankly to bore US.
And there is no surer way TO leave
lasting impression that certain book
is a bore than to force it upon a boy
or girl.
Books, then. which should be in
eluded in a tentative library. are, books
of fiction preferably by authors whose
principal writings are intended for
adult readers, and with whom the
acquaintance once begun viii be re-
newed from year to year with growing &
enjoyment. Stevenson's Treasure ISL
and" needs no argument; neither do
Mark Twain's tom Sawyer" and
"Huckleberry Finn" we can make no
mistake in, adding tom Browns school
Days" which is admittedly the best
story OF school life ever written for
boys. although Rudyard Kipling's
'Stalky and Co." runs it a close second.
The present generation is fast out
growing the old fashioned romantic
type represented by Scott and Cooper;
yet it is. at least. worth the experiment
to include one volume of each. let US
One names The Count OF Monte
Cristo and "The Three Guardsmen"
with more assurance, for the vogue Of
Alexandra Dumas is perennial And
the man Of mature years who can not
look back to golden hours OF bOyhOod
comradeship with Edmund Dantes, with
D'Artagan, with Athos, POrthos and
Aramis, has suffered a loss which no
later diligence can retrieve. In the
line of mystery and detective stories
three volumes must be mentioned. each
in its way inimitable: ''The MoonstOne," Z"
by Wilkie Collins. probably the most
tense and sustained story OF a missing
jewel ever written; the Tales" OF Ed
gar Allen Poe. which revOlutiOniZed the
form OF the modern short story, and
The Adventures OF Sherlock Holmes" T"
by Conan Doyle.
There should also be included Mrs.
Stoves Uncle Toms Cabin" and
The Man Without a Country" by Ed
ward Everett Hale: also The Mill on
the Floss" by George Eliot; The Last
Days of Pompeii." by Bulwer LyttOns
Westward Ho." by Charles Kingsley :
The Marble Faun." by Hawthorne:
Ben Hur," by Lew Wallace
For poetry il is scarcely practicable
to lay down any rule that will fit the
majority of cases. But, at least. Long
fellows poems and Tennyson's "Idyls
or the King are fairly safe venture.
And. of course. Shakespeare must find
a place on the shelf by this time. If.
indeed, it has not been there for some
years.
The following list of books for
children under 12 wears OF age may
safely be recommended:
The Arabian Nights; Lewis Car
rolls 'Alice in Wonderland" and
Through a Looking Glass; Rudyard
Kipling's Just So Stories and the
Jungle Books 1 and II; The Wonder
Book" by Hawthorne; Water Babies.
by Charles Kingsley; Robinson Cru
Soc; Swiss Family Robinson; Louisa
M. AIcotts Little Women. Little
Men," Eight Cousins" and its sequel
Rose in Bloom; Jules Vernes "Twen-
ty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. -
THE Mysterious Island" "A Journey to
the Center of the Earth; Leila. or the
Island; Little Lord Fauntleroy" by
Frances Hodgson Burnett; Hans
Brinker and the Silver Skates" by
Mary Mapes Dodge; Lambs Tales
from Shakespeare; Dickens Christ
mas Tales; Irving's RIP Van Winkle'';
and Wild Animals I Have Known" by
Ernest Seton Thompson.