First Grade Readers 



A Survey and Criticism 



William Gould Vixal 

 The Rhode Island Normal School . 



ATURE-STUDY teachers will concede that 

 first grade readers are not supposed to be 

 nature readers or for nature-study. How- 

 ever, as the large majority of stories in 

 these books are about plants and animals 

 the books have a decided relation to nature- 

 study. Librarians, kindergarteners, and 

 literature teachers will not agree with this 

 article. Their experiences certainly cannot 

 be ignored. What position do science teachers take in regard 

 to first grade readers? 



The following statistics were gathered from thirty-three of the 

 best and most used first grade readers. Over 50 per cent of the 

 stories in these readers are about animals. Only 33 per cent of 

 these animal stories are true to nature. The other 66 per cent 

 are either fables or personifications where the animals act and talk 

 as human beings. For every five animal stories there is one plant 

 story and one geography story, such as: — The wind, the rain, 

 or the Eskimo. Out of fourteen stories related to some special 

 day nine are devoted to Christmas, three to Thanksgiving, one to 

 St. Valentine's, and one to Hallowe'en. Only two books have 

 any biography and these honor Dupre, Millet, Abraham Lincoln, 

 Confucius, Washington, King Midas, and Columbus. The 

 other subjects consist of a little fiction, such as: — Dolly's Ride, 

 or Helping Father, and stories about inanimate objects, such 

 as : — A top, a drum, or a sled. Only four books out of the thirty- 

 three give any attention to our flag or to patriotism. 



A study of the accompanying table will be of interest to all 

 naturalists. For instance: The cat is written about more than 

 any other animal. Out of thirty-eight cat stories fourteen are 

 of the fairy type (includes myths, legends, mother goose, and 

 fables), fourteen are about cats who talk as human beings, and 

 ten are true to cats and their doings. It is only fair to state that 

 the majority of these cat stories which cannot be classified as per- 

 sonifications or fables are of the following style: "See mamma. 



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