El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-10-09
For
Child Are
Better
81 FRANCES DICKsON.

4
l. used 20 read when you were a
chiId2 You have only TO close
your eyes and a whole procession 81
before you-su the beloved kings
and Processes and fairies Of Grimm
and Anderson. al the familiar char
acters Of Mother Goose and. further
along, the Little Lame Prince. Tom
sawyer and Hucl1leberry. Finn. Uncle
Famus and pirates and splendid ad-
veuturcrs OF many names. Or. Der-
haps- = you were q girl. you remem-
her Elsie Dinsmore, that Fupsrhu-
manly pious little giri. and the little
colonel and Alice in y onderlsnd and
dozens Of others who we're as well
Known 70 you as the members OF
your own family.
It IS interesting 20 note ths r-av in
which children's taste in books
changes Many OF the old things are
Just as much IN demand as they were
years ago Louisa II. Alcott e BY
Tar the most popular author, accord
ing 70 the demand made for her books
BY the little girl patrons Of the pub
lie library Joe and Neg and Beth
are stll the best loved OF all the
Characters OF fiction and the library
IN spite Of constant purchasing OF
llese same books can never quite
meet the demand for them
Carefully Selected.
Chlldren's books these days are
more carefully selected than they
used TO be, IN Libraries at least
series are avoided As Mrs Maud
sullivan, librarian says. by the time
an author has conceived fourteen or
fifteen whole volumes about the life
and habits OF one small girl or bog.
the books are apt 70 have become
very mediocre az least So the Motor
Boy series and others Of the same
kind and the endless stories OF school
girls or youngsters At home. abroad.
in the country and so on. that used TO
clutter the shelves Of Libraries, are no
longer % be found there.
Instead. you often find series Of
travel books or biographies and very
are best loved OF All. The children
resd them until they are quite grown
Up and even then relinquish them
reluctantly And, Of course. they con-
rinue to love Eiley's verses and Eu-
gene Fields and kipllnE'8 Just-So
stories and Jungle Book Animal
stories are much liked by the boys,
as are stories Of adventure. They
also like books on electricity or
kindred subjects or On wood-turning.
or something that tells them how TO
work with their hands, how 70 con
Girls Ike ssdeky Stuff
BY the time q girl Is fourteen or ]
fifteen years old. she iust naturally I
gravitates toward the most sticky" ]
Of sentimental novels. according 70 I
1fra Sullivan The heroine cant be /
TOO beautiful nor too good TO please I
the young reader and the more eI-
aEEerated the characters ana cir I
cumstances OF the story. the more !
% Is IN demand Romance spelled II I
capital letters IS what she Graves I
She doesn't realize that her ideas OF 1
H 1r1 HN a
only rsrels IN the elaborate loFe-rnak- !
ing Of the ideal hero"
BOYS OF che same sge ara absolutely I
different IN their tastes
y want a book without q woman /
in ft" they state unqualIfiedlJ. Mrs I
sullivan used 70 lie awake nights /
trying 20 think up new books for one /
o1nnlVorous youth who fatty refused 4
10 read a book wherein women we're I
even mentioned Ihe Librarian net /
this same youth On the street not
long ago. she states. Eer first &C
rrsfrtence With him was many years 1
ago and she was much relieved 20 md I
shat his boundless antipathT toward
women has quite disappeared
HIorranhlen Worked OFF.
So many books are written now
7lavs in which the biographies q
artfsts. musicians, famous men and
women OF all professions are o-s-
Eufssd so claverly Is storiea LnAL
the children read them aFldlTs WIN
out realizing that they are becoming
--sr- vel Informed at the same time
il Is good 20 watch the steadily
r,sfntalued demand for the good old
Standard books. Others appear every
now and then but they have 90 be
erceutioual 10 rival the old ones. ana
nose that we're favorites ten 70
--a-tv-five vearH ago are still
favorites and always VIII be, for they
are real