The Washington herald., 1920-12-01
Dorothy Dix's
Excellent .Aduice
Copyright, 1920, Wheeler
Syndicate, Inc. 3
oHILDREN,s BOOK WEEK.

OF all the different weeks" we
are called upon to celebrate, none
Is more worthy of observance than
Childrcn's Book Week, for there Is
no other talismnn that we can put
into the hand of the young that will
SO surely protect them against the
sings and arrows of outrageous
fortune as a book will.
: No one who has a good book can
ever lack for brilliant society. or
for entertainment, or amusement. He
has always a congenial companion
to whom he can turn. secure Of
finding the same warm welcome
smiling up to him from the printed
page; certain always OF getting the
old thrill of adventure, or the brave
words OF cheer that put fresh cour-
age into the faint heart, or the mes
sage Of wisdom that directs Alright
his faltering footsteps.
Books are the real FAIRY tales
come true, for they have but to wave
their magic wand, and. presto. ali
our dreams come true. Are you
born to dire poverty, one of those
unfortunates who must ever listen
to the wolf bowling at the door,
open book. and all the wealth of
the world is yours. You may feast
on nightingales' tongues on plates
OF gold In, a baronial hall. You may
roll around in a twenty-thousapd-
dollar car. and swathe yourself m
silken robes as you step from your
perfumed bath, while your valet de-
cides which one of your forty-seven
dinerent varieties of suits he will
put on you.
shabby little old maid, who earns
her living by her needle, and 10
whom no breath of romance has
ever come? Open a book, and you
become young and beautiful. a
Helen whose face launches a thou
sand ships. Suitors sigh at your
feet. The very air breathes love
and passion, and you glow, ana
thrill. and tremble at the coming OF
your lover. and half swoon with Joy
as his strong arms close about you
and your heart finds its home on his
breast.
Do you long to travel, and are
you held fast to some particular
spot which you can never hope to
leave? Open a book, and the whole
wide world is yours. You may sail
through tropic seas, and sniff the
cherry blossoms Of Japan, and
watch the never-ending procession
through the streets of Pekin, and
the faithful come down to pray at
the Ganges, and roam the boule-
wards of Paris. and listen to the
bells of ST. Paul in London.
1t is. therefore, of the utmost i'm
portance that children should have
a love of books inculcated in them
in their earliest youth, and should
be taught the habit of reading
them.
Most parents seem to be of the
opinion OF Dogberry, that reading
and writing come by nature, and in
the guise of a talent. such as a tenor
voice, or an ability to draw pic
lures that can be recognized at
sight. Therefore, they rejoice and
brag about il, when little Johnnie
and Mary are bookworms. but they
feel they have no responsibility
when Johnnie and Mary prefer balls
and dolls to perusing the nice little
volumes they got on their birth
days. The parental attitude is that
some children are "bookish" and
some are not. just as some children
have curls and some have straight
hair. 1t is fate. Kismet, And
they let it go at that.
The truth is that very few chf.-
dren are born with a love of books
1t Is one of the graces of life that
has to be cultivated in them, like
speaking the truth, and kindness TO
dumb animals. The point is that it
can be cultivated in them, and that
once we have established the habit
OF reading, IL is the most unbreak-
able habit in life.
The boy who loves to read can
pass n pleasant evening at home.
He doesn't have to foreCather with
the gang on the corner. The girl
who can find pleasure in n book.
isn't out on a perpetual still hum
for any kind of a beau who will
take her around to dance halls and
any place of amusement where
there is something doing.
The reading man Is never the man
who wanders away from his home
fireside as soon as he swallows his
dinner, to seek for diversions. The
readiVg woman is never the woman
whose idea of earthly bliss is to
chase around from cabaret to cab
aret. and restaurant to restaurant
Perhaps even the most middle
aged and married of people have
their passing moments when they
yearn for adventure, and Whit OF
romance. but il they are reading
people. they do not follow the beck
oning finger in person. They get
down their favofite novel and take
their romance vicariously through
their most alluring heroes and hero
ines. And all is well.