A well selected juvenile magazine should find a place on every boy’s reading table, not so much for the value of its fiction--which is so variable in quality--as for its news features concerning the things which loom big in the boy’s life--school and college athletic events, Boy Scout meets, new games and sports, the latest improvements in wireless construction, and new ideas in handicraft. It is from such a journal that he obtains information of current events which are commanding the attention of all boys and he thus keeps abreast of the times in Boyville. The book which furnishes entertainment as well as inspires interest commands the attention of the adolescent in the direct ratio that these elements conform to his psychological development. Juvenile fiction is usually interesting to the adult only when read from the juvenile viewpoint. When so read it may prove a fascinating recital of human aspirations and achievements as well as a profound study in the covert psychological impulses which actuate the several characters of the story. “The great problem in juvenile reading for the parent,” to quote Franklin K. Mathiews, librarian of the Boy Scouts, “is to choose from the huge mass of boy’s books the ones the boy will like best and yet those which will be best for the boy.” It is obvious that he will not read what he does not like, but it does not follow that he should be given all books that he likes irrespective of their influence. Rest assured that your boy does not himself select a book because of its high moral tone or its qualities of uplift. He would doubtless side-step it if he suspected such influence. He is looking for thrills, excitement and adventure--something outside the domain of his everyday experience. If he finds them he is satisfied with the book irrespective of its tendencies for good or bad. I am now speaking of the average red-blooded boy and not the halo-crowned youth of supernal goodness. As long as we supply him with the needed thrills coupled with good influence, he will not go after the thrills coupled with bad influence. Juvenile fiction which does not count for character-culture is worthless. As he advances in years and increases his intellectual equipment his love for lurid tales will wane, and if his reading has been supervised, a desire for the best fiction, history, biography, essays, ethics, and poetry will easily and naturally take its place. The limitations of this chapter have prevented more than a brief discussion of the influence of literature in shaping the boy’s character and intellect and the reader is referred to those books which will be found useful by the parent in outlining and directing a course of reading for the boy at his several periods of development from infancy to manhood. The first two volumes given below are especially valuable for their comprehensive lists of suitable books. TITLE AUTHOR