The sun., 1910-05-21

So long as children are to DO provided
with their reading outaide q school
by books Specially prepared and put
10 the shape Of school books 10 fault can
b. found With the selection made by
James Baldwin in Stories of the King
CAmsrican Book Company. This con-
taina the Arthur legends taken from vari-
oua sources aud forms a consecutive
narrative told in claar. simple language
The elect on a child's education Of turn
ing him loose. Il he n old enough to en-
10Y the stories. on Sir Thomas Mallory =
-MOrte d'Arthur" or even on Tennyson' =
-ldyls of the King mighf bs incalculably
greater Ia tho eyes Of Old fashioned
people There n no doubt. however
that in this form he will bscOme sc-
dnainied with oil the stories and will be
able 70 discuss them in the manner the
modern eduCatiOn dsInnnds.
Even more jusiiiinbls. 5ecatae the
smaller children are out u reach of bic
books. IL Florence V. Farmers Naturs
Myths of Many lands CAmerioan Book
Company. The author has drawn on
Europe. Asia aud America Tor hsr stories
they are well told in very simple words
and the seleoti0n 10 good. We could only
wish that thew WsFs presented a. anus
ing stories and not as Nature Myths
and that they appeared in a mere pic
ture story book and not in an eclectic
reading book
The iifth book ~ a series u geographical
readers, Around the World CSilver.
Burdett and Company. deals with tho
British Empire and with Italy The text
has been written by Stella w. Carroll
Tolman and Ia edited by Clarence 2
Carroll The extent Of the British Empire
permits a good deal of geographical
variety. for the description not only covers
Great Britain but an the possessions a
vast extent 20 be included in one small
book. Italy too. 80 long az ancient Rome
Is considered. seems rather confined in
seventy -four small pages, full of pictures
The information. however. j. such A. the
little ones can understand.
4 further contribution TO colonial his-
tory is made by James Otis in Peter =
New Amsterdam and stephen u Phila-
delphia' CAmsrican Book Company, The
former young mans adventures occur IN
tho period when the city Waa transferred
from the Dutch 10 tho EnGlish. and We
reRret that the author should have looked
uith such disfavog on brave Old Peter
stuyvesant. The other tale Describes the
beginnings of the City oT BrOtheriy Love.
We detect 10 Il the authors temptation
10 Join IN wedlock his typioal young
ColOnials
II IL pleasant 10 think that youth should
study books which nothing could tempt
us 10 open. Voltaire. ~ a French man oT
lettsru. wrote Tragedies which ths COmetie
Francaiss occasionally performs, which
eli have heard n and few men Rad His
.Zaire- ~. e. Heath and Company.
BostOn) has been edited by Prof. Charles
". Cabsen Of Syrac,Iss University. The
editor has written an excellent little in
troductian on VOltairs and on the play
and has provided sensible notes college
studsnts may now anticipate the pleasure
Of reading VOltaire's most famous tragedy.
In dramatic Rsader for Grammar
Grades (American Book Company Mari
eta Knight has turned portions of stories
into dialogue form and has added scanes
IN verse from william Tell and Julius
Cesar" Tie work Il done skilfully. The
auihsrs sslsStsd include Riissin. GeorEa
Macdonald. Osorgs Eliot. Dicksns, Viot0r
Hugo. Dinah Maria Mulook. Hawthorne
and Poe. an much simphhsd. What part
theas readinRs play in school education
- oannot ten; a. any rate they aFs taken
from Eood literature.
A colleotion ~ papers by several handa
hns beon edited by Henry Turns Bailey