Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1922-02-03
MACH The YOUNG PEOPLE TO
LOVE GOOD BOOKS

And sometimes ,TOr variety | confer
WITH kings and emperors, and weigh
their counselS."
In every oelng should be born a
love Of books, and if it is not born
there II should be placed there artifi-
cially, as a plant is transplanted, then
nurtured and cultivated until it takes
root and becomes a part of the soil
TO which it has been introduced. Com
mence with the children when they
are in their baby hood, to instill a
love of books and reading into their
little minds and desires. This can be
done, and no parent should allow it
to be neglected.
He pourS and broods over his first
pretty picture books, and learns to
love them, first, for the gaily bright
pictures which they inevitably carry.
then for the wonderful things which
they unfold, and the seed of love for
books is sown, needing but to be tend
ed watched and brought to full growth
There are so many wonderful books
true and tried that are an enchantmert
to the boys and girls in every stage of
growth, and are all necessary to
their proper mental development as
is fresh air, sunshine and nutritious
food to their physical well-being.
Many grown-up seschew tales OF fairy
lore as too foolishly flimsy and un-
real to be worthy of a place in the
literary education of the child but let
the fairy stories stay-not one OF
us, but who can look back on the en-
chanted days when we went oft to
u selves, and through our volume
of fairy tales, allowed self to be bliss
fully lost for hours in an enchanted
wood. or threaded the l.alls of some
fairy palace.
"When | became a mar ! put away
childish things" declared the immor-
tai Paul, and so with youth, as to
its search for knowledge, and tbs
then that the reading Of the boy ard
the girl should have the careful and
VIC supervision of some older and
wiser head. The mush in the way OF
cheap novels, and the unWholesome
and over-stimulating books OF adven-
ture hold a lure for the girl and boy
that. if allowed to be INDUCED, may
poison the mind past re.tifyirg, and
DESTROY a taste for all that is really
pula and uplifting in literature.
Select the books that your boy or
GIRL is to read-do not leave it to un-
formed taste, or to the perverted
taste Of some more sophisticated COM
panion. whose tastes and ideals are
perhaps not so high as those you
would have characterize your boys and
girls.
If adv. nture is demanded by the
boy. place the stories of Zane Grey
in his hards-they are wholesome,
and full enough of life to satisfy any
boys thirst for adventure. Give him
Mark Twain's undying. works. let
him form companionship with Tom
Sawyer and H~uckleberry Flnn-the
immortal two who can put spice
enough into any adventure. Any boy
will love the story of David Copper
field in his varied and oftentimes pa
thetic adventures, and Oliver Twist
will become a cor panion to him, who
will be both real and delightful. j.
Fennimore Coopers Leather Stocking
Tales have never been turned down.
bv bow who tried them yet-thev furn-
isb all of the romance and adventure
that any thirsty soul could crave. and
they are inspiring as well. Edgar
Allen Poe is a delight to most boys,
and Conan Doyle has made Sherlock
Homes a livirr and breathing per-
son, whose acquaintance every boy
wants to have. And boys are not as
indifferent to poetry as the common
belief teaches, every boy thrills over
SCOTS "Ladv Of the Lake" and his
thornton" they love the spirit and
rythm, and the setting historical, is
. crying appeal to them.
For girls, it seems an easier task
to map out a course of reading, for
ir them the call for books of a certain
class is not as strong as in boys
there seems to be more a~daptability
found there than among the sterner
sex. ard they are more sWeeplng in
their tastes. Many of the books that
are recommended for boys hold a
charm for the girls alike, and they
are as deeply lost in them.
But in reading for either class, a
turning away from the old writer's
should not be too much encouraged:
there is a tendency in hat direction,
and as far as possible, it should be
checked and the Old writers thetrue and
tried should have and keep their own
places, for much t at is written and
poured over now by the reading pub
lie, will in years to come, have sunk
into oblivion, while the acknowledge
ed writer's whose works have stood
the test, will still be found, each in
the same old place. Nothing can
take the place for young girls, of
the ~splendidly simple and sweet books
of Louisa Alcott-every girl should
have the experience of association
with the Little Women" and Little
Men" of her creating. ard every girl
who misses these, truly misses some
thing needful.
Along in the class of sweetly fic-
ton, comes the works of a modern
writer who will not die-those of