Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-11-12
| lust Between
Yourselves
BY Philip II. L0vs,

|. OF course you read books. Every
boy and girl does. But how many
do you read twice7
The question Is prompted by the
fact that another Children's Book
Week begins today. It's = time when
national attention u focused on the
kind Of books boys and girls ought
to read.
They ought to read good books, Of
course. But there seems TO be no
agreement Is to what constitutes 4
good book.
Some people say the only WORTH
while books are those which teach
q moral lesson-that honesty Is the
best policy. that hard work ID al
ways rewarded, etc. Others feel that
such books are too preachy."
Some prefer books that are excit-
|ing-adventure, crime and the Like.
Others say that such books have
= bad eject on young people.
Some root for educational books
works Of fact or fiction that teach
something worth learning. Others
say that the purpose Of leisure read
Ing Is to entertain, that the place
for educational reading Is In the
schools.
Everybody is right, Of course-and
OF course everybody is wrong, too.
~
That is to say it's q good thing for
books for girls and boys to carry q
moral or educational lesson and It's
also q good thing for them to be
sufficiently exciting to be OF inter-
est.
What good is q moralistic or edu-
cational book that Is 80 dull that
nobody can finish reading It? But
on the other hand what good is a
highly readable book that under
values virtue or knowledge?
The ideal book, 1t seems to me, Is
the one that teaches q lesson In
living, that transmits worthwhile
information-and at the same time
Is 50 exciting, so readable, that no
normal boy or girl would want to
NY ~ OVWu.
There are such books-but, alas,
not too many.
~ ~
Some books are written for no
other purpose than to entertain.
They are worth reading-once.
Some are written to teach q les
son-or, II you prefer. to preach q
sermon. They are also worth read
ing-once.
Some are written to convey knowl-
edge, to educate. They, too, are
worth readins-once.
But the real test Of any book is
whether or not 1t Is worth more
than one reading.
The books worth reading over and
over again are, as q rule, the ones
that contain all the ingredients
necessary to make them well-round-
ed-entertainment value, moral
value, educational value.
How many Of your books posses.
all those qualities? How many art
read and reread, year after year?
II you have 100 books and only .
are worth reading more than once
you have a very poor library. indeed
II 10 merit rereading, you have {
fair library. And II Is are worth {
second reading. your score is about
as nearly perfect as anybody's.
OF course, this is not to say tina,
you should not read books that 70,
won't want to read again. Tha,
would be silly: you can't possibly
guess what youn want to rereac
until you've read It's But YOU car
do your casual reading with the aic
Of the public library, and then buy
only those books which you know
to be worth keeping. And that way
tyou1l build . worthwhile, library. Of
your own.
A*+
In last weeks j. S., Doris GLADDEN.
IA, author of the prize winning
poem, "A Woman's Place" was list.
ed as q student Of Eastern High
School. This was q printers error
Doris attends Banneker Junior High
| School