Roanoke Rapids daily herald., 1948-12-08
CHOOSING
Books For
Children
By GARRY CLEVELAND MYERS, Ph.D.

AS you know, some fine books
for children have been published in
recent years. In planning your
choice Of Christmas gifts, you
should examine some of these books
at your local book store and seek
advice about them at your local
public library. Don't be carried
away just by their color. Ask your
self if they are the kind of literature
you want your child to be exposed to
and if they will continue to appeal
to him. Will he read repeatedly from
the book you choose? If too young
to read, will he keep begging you
to read from it over and over again?
Along with a few of the newer
books, choose as gifts goodly num-
ber of the precious books that have
been enjoyed proftably by children
over the years, books which have
stood the test of time. Naturally the
person at the book store will urge
you to buy just the newer books.
They have more current publicity
and offer bigger returns to the book
seller.
Time.Tested Treasures
If you are not familiar with the
time-tested treasures confer with
your local librarian or your child's
teacher or school principal. Many of
these classics have been brought out
as beautiful reprints. For the child
under five or six number of very
attractive volumes of Mother Goose
are on the market. "The Child's
Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis
Stevenson; when We We're Very
Young" and "Now l Am Six" by
A. A. Milne hardly have an equal
for good poetry. A great favorite
of children just beginning to listen
to rhymes is Johnny Crows Gar
den," by Leslie Brooks. 1t has just
an illustrated line to the page. |
The baby likes to turn the page or
have it turned, often.
Among the never ending charms
for young children Ito hear or read)
are such classics as Little Black
Sambo,' Helen Bannerman; Golden
Goose Book Leslie Brooks; Alice
in Wonderland Lewis Carroll;
Children of the Wild Theresa
Deming; Just-So Stories,' Rudyard
Kipling; Tale of Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter.
Reprint Editions
And here are few of the "tried
and true" many of which are in
beautiful reprint editions, appeal
ing to the child from eight to twelve:
Winnie the POOH A. A. Milne;
English Fairy Tales Joseph Jac-
obs; Household Stories,' Jakob and
Wilhelm Grimm; Story of DR.. Doo-
little Hugh Lofting; Adventures
of Pinocchio,' Carlo Lorenzini;
Heidi Johanna Spyri; East O. the
Sun and West O. the Moon,' Gurden
Thorne-Thomsen; Fairy Tales
Hans Andersen; Through the Look
ing Glass Lewis Carroll; Robinson
Crusoe,' Daniel Defoe; Hans Brink
err Mary M. Dodge; Wind in the
Willows Kenneth Graham; Jungle
Book Rudyard Kipling; Merry
Adventure of Robinhood,' Howard
Pyle; King of the Golden River
John Ruskin; Wild Animals Have
Known Ernest 7. Seton; Treasure
Island Robert Louis Stevenson;
Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark
Twain.
Two selected list of books includ-
ing the foregoing and many others
that are time-tested, along with
some of the more recent books,
may be had in a stamped envelope:
Books from Which to Read to the
Baby and Young Child and Books
for Children Eight to Twelve The
second list has been prepared with
the help of Miss Margaret Clark,
Head Of the Lewis Carroll Room of
the Cleveland Public Library.