New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-11-11

The Newberys Of London began pub
hshing books for children in l745. The
Melodies Of Mother Goosc," frst col
lected BY Oliver Goldsmith. and "Goody
Two Shoes" written by him in col
liberation with Mr.. Newbery himself
these two books have outlived all the
other volumes issued by the Ncwbery
press, and they have been kept alive
and hoisted into fame and favor year
after year by the children themselves
Man and many book that never would
have found its way into lists" made BY
grown folks has Stumbled into i'm
mortality" because 1t has been dis
covered, loved, read and reread. then
passed on to others, by these we'll
nigh infailible little critics
"a court as Of angels.
A public not TO be brihed,
Not to be entreated,
Not to be overawed."
Charles Lambs belief in turning the
child loose in the rich pastures of liter
ature to browse where he pjeAses is
the one, on the whole, that commends
itself most to mo. But it implies, oil
course, the possession Of q good and
varied library. Given this library
from which you have removed two OIL
three dozen books which it is not wise
for young people to read--at any rate
too aoon--and the child will do all nee
essary selection, and not unwiseiy. He
will make a few mistakes in ch osing
but so should We. we must remember
II we chose for him. He may begin
but he will never go on, reading q book
which is entirely beyond his compre-
hension. and the mere dip into" some
thing vast, remote, mysterious, may
stir his imagination and set his mind
to work on wider lines MANS reach
is greater than his grasp, else what
heaven for?" The child is sure ia
neglect something if left 10 himself
you urge. and thai ia true For one
thing, ne Is sure, nine times out Of ten,
to neglect the Juveniles" with their
little dummies and effieies filling un
good room that might be occupied by
flesh and blood heroes and heroines.
Mighty little need, indeed, have chill
dren OF the reading age for many books
of this sort, which food and deyastate
the earth at holiday time because fond
parents, gift bearing sunts," and fat
uous old bachelors think that chill
dren like them. The best Of them
have, indeed, their allotted space nd
place, but 1t - small and circumscr bed
me bottle may represent a necessary
stage in nursery life, but if you should
see six-year-old child imbibing nour-
lshment by that means you would
have reason to suppose there was some
thing wrong-not, indeed. with the bot
t.e, which Is virtuous enough in itself
but which in this instance is certainly
misplaced matter"
Preliminary Training
One never grows to love and conpre.
mend the very greatest things without
some pretlm. mary training in matters
OF taste and style and form. some lc-
gltimate exercise of ones nobler pow
ers' some experimental flights into
spiritual and intellectual heights. We
used to think that birds few becaus Sc
they had wings; we now surmise that
perhaps they have wings because thew
tried to hy
nope nobody is asking himself or
herself, Just what does she mean bv
juveniles'?" because there is neither
time nor space for full explanation.
but, broadly speaking, l mean deter
minedly childish books written dow n
to the child's level by peop'e Who could
not possibly write up to it il they tried
There are IN existence plainly of fresh
evergreen and er-youthful books
books which all oAildren love-simple
S'Hioi, kIdCtOuS, lcNaDie, splendid
vital. sweet. good and heroic. But such
books, although universally popular
among young readers, are not what is
mere stigmatized as Juveniles In
deed, You will note one thing. that
older people can always read with
pleasure the best children's books. For
instance. it would not bore you at this
moment 20 be Shut UP for a day or
two with nothing but Robinson
Crusoe." "Esop's Fables" Arabian
Nights" kingsley's Water Babies"
"A ice in Wonderland" Hawthorne's
wonder Book" and "Tanglewood
Tales John Burroughs Birds and
Beasts" THE Seven Little Sisters. "
Hans Christian Andersen's and Grimm s
FAIRY Tales" Two Years Before the
Mast TON Brown al Rug -" Lambs
shakespeare Tales" Kusk'n' tx M
of the Golden River" "The Jungle
Book" the simpler poems OF Scott.