Evening star., 1935-12-09
He Put in His Thumb and Pulled Out Plum Has Modern Interest
GoodBooks
Always Are
Acceptable
Choose Those That
Are Educational as
Well as Pleasant.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

bH ANGELO EAIhAs
RooKs are fine gifts, good Christi
mas presents. The dffnculty lies
in selecting the right one for the
right child. There are so many good
books for children, so wide a Variety
that choosing one is really an UNDER
taking.
'If only knew which one he
needed, or what story books he has.
hate to buy just any book"
II the child attends school above
the fifth year, try giving him dc
tionary. We find that few school
children have q dictionary Of their
very own. There may be a big un-
abridged dictionary, but the very size
of it is discouraging to the child OF
II years and under. And it is hard
to find the right thing among SO
much material. The children In tHe
last grades of the elementary schools,
those attending junior high schools,
need sharp definitions They are lost
among the riches of the great un-
abridged. Try them with junior
dictionary. =
The best have found for this Puf-
pose are the Winston and the Thorn.
dixie. Both Of them have brief, clear,
understandable definitions, easily
found, easily used by the children.
The list is a very long one and covers
all the words that such children can
ever be asked to use. and enough more
TO keep him busy should he like, to
search for new words on his own.
1 offer the dictionary as a good
book for Christmas for the school
child for several reasons, among them
the children's need Of such reference
book in their home work, and their
need of an enriched vocabulary. This
first reason is thoroughly understood
by any family having children In
school beyond the fifth grade. The
second reason is not so pressing upon
the mind as the first. Tortured by
questions as to the spelling Of this
word, the meaning of that one, a
sentence for the correct use of a list
of unusual words, the parent gladly
reaches for the helpful book. But he
is not so pressed by the starved vo.
cabulary of the children as to seek
help. If the child is promoted every
term there is no apparent cause for
worry.
Promotion is not enough. There
must be quality in the education of
the children if that education is to
serve them well in time to come. An
educated person is known by his
speech first. Listen to your children
and Judge for yourself of the quality
Of their speech, remembering that
speech is a fair indication of the cul-
ture of the mind.
How many words does he use to
explain a simple matter? How often
does he have to depend upon gestures,
facial expression and such phrases as,
"You know what mean" "and things
like that" that dingus, thing-a-ma-
jig," 'you said it, some guy" all
to cover the lack Of the right word
for the situation.
We think with words. If the words
have no distinct meaning the thinking
is not clear. If thinking is not clear,
behavior cannot be accurate, clean-cut
and effective. "In the beginning was
the word" After he gets the right
word he clothes 1t in action. Consider
the speech of the children and II there
seems to be room for enrichment,
clarity and accuracy, invest in junior
dictionary as a Christmas gift.
Then help the children use it. Play
games with it. Be interested in
hunting up new words and finding
fresh values in the old ones. Speech
is q valuable index Of the mind.
.- CCopyright, 1889 :