Evening star., 1948-11-14
lust Between
Ourselves.
BY Philip n. Love-

OOOkS 1OT DOyS anu SlIlS IlhFc
changed greatly since your father
and mother were your age. And
most of the changes have been for
the better.
The first book can recall receiv-
ing for Christmas was a tiny tots
version of Uncle Toms Cabin"
Although I was more "tiny" than
otherwise, resented being classi-
fled as "tot" and therefore assumed
a dislike for the book that never
outgrew.
My gifts the next Christmas in
cluded two or three Boy Scout books
which liked very much. I still re-
member the name of the author
Maj. Archibald Lee Fletcher. He
must have written a score or more
stories of the adventures of the
Beaver Patrol, and I believe I read
every one of them.
Other books that recall with
pleasure include the Rover Boys
series, the Grammar School Boys
series, the "Tarzan" series, and the
"Yardley Hall" and other series
by Ralph Henry Barbour. The
Frank Merriwell' series and the
works of Jules Verne and G. A.
Henty also were very popular, but
for some reason I didn't like them
Frank Merriwell, 1t seemed to me
was too perfect; the Verne stories
were too fantastic, and the Henty
adventures were just plain dull.
Mr.. Barbour's books had consid-
erable influence on me. Because ]
liked his descriptions of life at
Yardley Hall Prep, I decided I'd
like to 60 to similar school. And
because the Hall" part of the name
impressed me, I enrolled at Calvert
Hall College, place still remem.
ber fondly.
n X \
In grade school, one of my teach.
ers rewarded the class for good con.
duct and satisfactory marks by
reading aloud every Friday from 6
book which she thought we'd enjoy
"Peck's Bad Boy" THE Adventures
OF Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry
Finn" gave the class so much pleas
ure that any one whose poor con.
duct or low marks caused postpone
ment Of the weekly reading period
was put "in Coventry" That meant
he would not be spoken to for a
week. 1t was an idea right out OF
the "Yardley Hail. books.
Another idea from Mr.. Barbour's
books was the secret call, "Harri-
ay." His tom, Dick and Harriet
series made such a hit with my
playmates and me that when we
decided a call was needed, we
simply changed the books Harriet
to the more yellable "Harri-ay.'
whenever any Of us wanted to
round up few companions to 90
to the movies, play a game or just
sit around and talk, we'd stroll
around the neighborhood, calling
"Harri-ay! Harri-ay!"
y 4 u
Many Of the favorite books of
my boyhood still are available, but
few of them have any leadership
Today's books are more varied
better illustrated and, on the whole
more educational.
Adventure stories are not limited
as they were in my day, to a few
series which every one reads;
today's books, especially those for
the smaller fry, place much more
emphasis on pictures; and even in
fiction, authors seem eager to teach
as well as to entertain. For boys
and girls who like to read-and
believe me, any one who doesn't
like to read is living only half q
life-this is, indeed, a time OF
plenty.
Today, the beginning of Chill
dren's Book Week, Is the best of all
possible times to begin compiling a
list Of the books you'd like to re-
ceive for Christmas. On page C-3
the book page Of today's Star, you
will find an article which, I hope
will prove helpful to Vol.