PAGE INTRODUCTION ix FOR GIRLS EIGHT TO TEN 1 FOR GIRLS TEN TO TWELVE 6 FOR GIRLS TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 13 FOR GIRLS FOURTEEN TO SIXTEEN 23 FOR BOYS EIGHT TO TEN 32 FOR BOYS TEN TO TWELVE 35 FOR BOYS TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 41 FOR BOYS FOURTEEN TO SIXTEEN 57 FOR BOYS SIXTEEN TO EIGHTEEN 78 FOR BOYS AND GIRLS THREE TO EIGHT 84 FOR BOYS AND GIRLS SIX TO TEN 98 FOR BOYS AND GIRLS TEN TO EIGHTEEN 112 MYTHS, FAIRY TALES, LEGENDS, AND FOLK LORE 130 NATURE STUDY 146 SCIENCE, HANDICRAFT, AND REFERENCE 155 BIBLE STORIES 165 POETRY 171 SUPPLEMENTARY READING 175 INDEX TO TITLES 185 INDEX TO AUTHORS 212 INTRODUCTION It is said that the child is father of the man, and in the matter of reading this is especially applicable. Material delightful to the hearing, but perhaps in a lesser degree to the understanding, of a child of from nine to twelve years of age, yields pleasure also to the adult; while to children of twelve to sixteen or seventeen the same material would be dry and uninteresting; its beauty is not intuitively perceived by them as by their younger brothers. For example, let me cite “Emmy Lou,” by G. M. Martin; “Little Citizens,” by Myra Kelly, and “Uncle Remus,” by Joel Chandler Harris. In these stories there is a bond of sympathy established in the case of the younger child which does not apply to his older brother. To the adult—who has been through the various phases of life incident to the reaching of adolescence and maturity—such stories appeal keenly from a psychological standpoint, so strong is the bond between adult and child.