Reading in the Farm Home 1079 



children and books 



Read something that the children will like.— Do not try to elevate the 

 children to your point of view; if you do, the reading will be "dry" 

 and the children will not stay to hear it unless they are obliged to do so. 

 If you find that your boy is reading trashy stuff, do not upbraid him, for 

 his taste may be partly your own fault. Read him a good story, and one 

 that is full of the real, living, jumping, hilarious boy. If you have no such 

 story or do not know of one, ask your neighbor or the teacher or the 

 minister, or go to the village library. The boy's or the girl's taste for 

 reading is likely to be determined or directed by the mother. Is it not 

 possible to inculcate in the children such a taste for good things to read 

 that they will not care for dime novels or for hairbreadth escapades? 



Usually the reason why young persons read trashy books is because no 

 older person is taking a real live interest in pointing the way to the good 

 things in fiction. In order that the children may acquire the habit of 

 reading, it is worth while to arouse interest in a subject. It is not enough 

 that the children look at the titles of books that mean nothing to them; 

 it remains for an older person to interest them in a subject, and perhaps 

 to read aloud until a sufficient desire is gained for more. 



That is not an ideal picture which shows the father of the family 

 sitting throughout the entire evening reading the newspaper, the mother 

 silent, darning and mending, and the children playing games. This is 

 a time when the members of the family may be united in one enterprise. 

 Older people are pleased with history, biography, and stories that carry 

 with them real value and strength, and the children have a lively interest 

 in that for which their elders care. It is a mistake to " read down " to 

 children. It is a mistake to ask always whether all parts of a book are 

 within the comprehension of the child. He may not understand all of 

 " Marmion," but he catches the fire and the spirit of the poem, and he 

 enjoys it much more than when, as an older person, he reads from the 

 standpoint of a critic. It is surprising how much children will absorb 

 from mature books that are read to them. Children enjoy that which is 

 strong. Their intellectual tastes will be vitiated by literature that 

 has not in it the element to make it alive. 



An education is desired for children, and too often, in the crowded 

 days and nights of striving for their children's welfare, the parents feel 

 compelled to lay aside the books. There is danger here of pushing the 

 boys and the girls to the front, while the parents go into the background 

 and fall behind the times. It is exceedingly wholesome for the boys and 

 girls to feel that their parents are in advance of them; they not 

 only enjoy their intellectual comradeship, but are benefited by looking 

 to the parents for literary and intellectual leadership. There is a larger 



