The children of to-day, like the children of former days, read because they find in books such stuff as dreams are made of; and, in common with the children of all times, they must needs make dreams. Like the boys and girls of most eras, they desire to make also other, more temporal, things. To aid them in this there are books in quantities and of qualities not even imagined by the children of a few generations ago. The book the title of which begins with the words "How to Make" is perhaps the most distinctive product of the present-day publishing house. No other type of book can so effectively win to a love for reading a child who seems indifferent to books; who, as a boy friend of mine used to say, "would rather hammer in nails than read." The "How to Make" books tell such a boy how to hammer in nails to some purpose. I happened to see recently a volume called "Boys' Make-at-Home Things." With much curiosity I turned its pages,--pages illustrated with pictures of the make-at-home things of the title,--glancing at directions for constructing a weather-vane, a tent, a sled, and a multitude of smaller articles. I thought of my boyfriend. "Do you think he would care to have the book?" I inquired of his mother over the telephone. "Well, I _wish_ he would care to have _any_ book!" she replied. "If you want to _try_ this one--" She left the sentence unfinished, unless a sigh may be regarded as a conclusion. I did try the book. "This will tell you how to have fun with your tools," I wrote, when I sent it to the boy. Except for a laconic note of thanks, I heard nothing from my young friend about the book. One day last week I chanced to see his mother. "What do you think I am doing this afternoon?" she said. "I am getting a _book_ for my son, at his own request! He is engrossed in that book you sent him. He is making some of the things described in it. But he wants to make something _not_ mentioned in it, and he actually asked me to see if I could find a book that told how!" "So he likes books better now?" I commented. "Well--I asked him if he did," said the boy's mother; "and he said he didn't like '_booky_' books any better, but he liked this kind, and always would have, if he'd known about them!" Whether my boy friend will learn early to love "booky" books is a bit doubtful perhaps; certainly, however, he has found a companion in one kind of book. He has made the discovery quickly, too; for he has had "Boys' Make-at-Home Things" less than a month. It was an easy matter for that boy's mother to get for her son the particular book he desired. She lives in a city; at least three large public libraries are open to her. As for book-shops, there are more within her reach than she could possibly visit in the course of a week, much less in an afternoon.