Evening star., 1938-10-03
Information
On Library
For Young
Find a Magazine
That Is Suited to
Their Interests.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

ONCE children have learned to read
they fill in their odd minutes read
ing whatever comes to hand. and often
what they find is empty, or uninter-
esting, or downright harmful. The
adolescent young person. who is a
senior in high school or college en-
trant, finds enough good reading for
material the adults leave about. 1t is
the in-between group, the junior high
school group, the high school freshman
who needs good reading.
1t is not easy to provide this be-
cause the youngsters tastes are un-
formed. his appetite for excitements
sharp, his power of selection very linn
tied. The books in the library are not
always those he wants, and the books
he owns are few in number and come
rarely. Sprinkled through the year as
Christmas and birthday presents, spe-
cial gifts for special occasions, they
do not reach far. That leaves the
younger readers with the odds and
ends of papers, the funnies, the joke
papers, an occasional magazine.
The magazine is usually suited to the
older readers. The material is beyond
him in vocabulary, in style, in content.
It is usually outside his experiences.
The story, when there is one, is not
the simple, wholesome tale of adven-
t,lre and struggle akin to his own ex-
periences, but the overdone movie sort
of thing that excites without nourish-
ing him In any way.
Now and then we find good maga-
zine suited to these children, and when
we do we ought to get it for their
daily reading. 1t ought to be of handy
size, for the children read it on the
bus, the train, in between games or
lessons. The print ought to be very
clear because it is read under trying
circumstances. The paper ought to be
the sort that lends itself to good ink
and sharp print because these chill
dren's eyes are already sorely tried.
important than all else. For these
youngsters the story is the thing. Now
the story need not always be fiction.
These children are interested in the
news of the world. They like to know
what is going on abroad. Who does
what and who says which, is as i'm
portant to Is years as to 90 They like
to read about people. The men and
women who are the headliners of the
sports world are their heroes. They
like jokes and conundrums, riddles
and puzzles, if they are not overdone.
They are fed up with tests. having
enough of them in school, but they
eral information if they are brightly
written. They enjoy verse, the lighter
sort, and they will read little heavy
prose If it is well spaced and has
point easy to see. They want plenty
OF white space in their reading.
We often shake our heads about the
reading our children do, and about
the limitations of their interests. "All
our children think about is the world
SERIES" lamented scholarly gentle
man. THE children of foreign lands
are keen on politics, religious educa-
ton, the questions of the day. What
Is the matter with our boys and girls?"
Nohing at all. Try them with
magazine suited to their interests and
reading powers and see what happens.
Mr.. Patri has prepared a leaflet
entitled "Changing Habits" in
which he tells parents how to over
come child's unpleasant habits.
Send for it, addressing your request
to Mr.. Angelo Patri, Child Psy-
chology Department of this paper.
Inclose a self-addressed, stamped
(3-cent) envelope.
Copyright, 1889