What Shall We Do Now?, Dorothy Canfield Fisher [ebook offline reader .txt] 📗
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"One word more. There is great danger of birds being caught by a cat while they are busy with their food, especially if near the bushes. The only possible protection against this which you can take is to see that your own cat is indoors and is therefore not the offender."
READING READINGAll persons who care very much for reading will find their way naturally to the books most likely to please them; left alone in a library they are never disappointed. For them no advice is necessary. Nor is advice important to those who have opportunities to compare notes on reading with friends who have similar tastes. For instance, two boys may fall to talking of books. "Have you read David Balfour?" one will say. "No; who's it by?" "Stevenson." "What else did he write?" "Well, he wrote Treasure Island." "I've read that. If David Balfour is anything like that, I must get it." He gets it; and thus, either by asking others whose taste he can trust, or by going steadily on through each author who satisfies him, he will always have as much good reading as he needs.
But there are still other readers—who have no real instinct for books, or no memory for authors' names, or few opportunities of comparing notes—for whom a list of books that are worth trying, books which have been tested and found all right by thousands of readers, ought to be very useful. In the following pages a list of this kind has been drawn up. It is very far indeed from anything like completeness—many good authors are not mentioned at all, and others have written many more books than are here placed under their names—but those chosen are in most cases their best, and it will be very easy for readers who want more to find out other titles. The books named are for the most part not new. But before children read new books they read old; the new ones come later. What is suggested here is a ground-work. Moreover, there are so many ways for new books to suggest themselves that to attempt the impossible task of keeping pace with them here was unnecessary.
Girls are such steady readers of what are called boys' books, and boys are occasionally so much interested in what are called girls' books, that the two groups have not been separated. All that has been done is to describe the nature of each division of stories.
Fairy TalesNearly all the best old fairy tales are to be found in Mr. Andrew Lang's collections, of which six are mentioned:—
The Blue Fairy Book.
The Red Fairy Book.
The Pink Fairy Book.
The Green Fairy Book.
The Yellow Fairy Book.
The Orange Fairy Book.
Many families do very well with merely
Grimm's Fairy Tales.
The Arabian Nights.
Andersen's Fairy Tales.
Æsop's Fables.
These are traditional. First favorites among English whimsical tales are, of course,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland By Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking-glass " "of which there is no need to speak, nor of
The Water-Babies By Charles Kingsley. The King of the Golden River " John Ruskin. The Rose and the Ring " W. M. Thackeray.And among other good stories are—
Fairy Tales By Alexandre Dumas. Mopsa the Fairy " Jean Ingelow. Prince Prigio " Andrew Lang. The Gold of Fairnilee " " Twenty Best Fairy Tales " Lucy Perkins. The Bee-Man of Orn " Frank R. Stockton. The Clocks of Rondaine " " Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales " Mrs. Ewing.Lewis Carroll's "Bruno's Revenge," the story which was the beginning of Sylvie and Bruno, is perfect in its way.
Legendary TalesClassical
The Heroes By Charles Kingsley. A Wonder Book " Nathaniel Hawthorne. Tanglewood Tales " " The Story of the Odyssey " Rev. A. J. Church. The Story of the Iliad " " Stories from Homer " "Romantic
The Morte D'Arthur By Sir T. Malory. Tales from Shakespeare " Charles and Mary Lamb. Puck of Pook's Hill " Rudyard Kipling. Stories from the Faerie Queen " Mary Macleod. Heroes of Chivalry and Romance " Rev. A. J. Church. Stories of the Magicians " " Olaf the Glorious " Robert Leighton. Robin Hood " Howard Pyle. Men of Iron " " Canterbury Tales " Chaucer. Robin Hood: His Deeds and Adventures " Lucy Perkins. Ballads in Prose " Mary Macleod. Forgotten Tales of Long Ago " E. V. Lucas. Old Fashioned Tales " " Tales from Maria Edgeworth. Introduction " Austin Dobson. Tales from the Canterbury Pilgrims. Retold " J. H. Darton. The Book of King Arthur " Mary Macleod. Midsummer Night's Dream for Young People " Lucy Perkins. The Wonder Book of Old Romance.Here also we might place Gulliver's Travels.
Verse and PoetryOur first acquaintance with poetry is made through nursery rhymes. Many collections of nursery rhymes may be had. And there are also a number of very charming picture books of simple verse, suitable for small readers, such as Miss Kate Greenaway's
Mother Goose.
Marigold Garden.
Under the Window.
A. Apple Pie.
Mr. Walter Crane's
Baby's Opera,
Baby's Bouquet,
and various toy books.
Four favorite books of comic verse are Edward Lear's
Book of Nonsense.
More Nonsense.
Nonsense, Songs and Stories.
Four books, more recent, which come nearer to poetry than anything already mentioned, are—
Verses for Children By Mrs. Ewing. Sing Song " Christina G. Rossetti. Lilliput Lyrics " W. B. Rands. A Child's Garden of Verses " R. L. Stevenson.A large collection of verse of the kind already described, with the addition of ballads, open-air rhymes, animal verses and other matter—intended to pave the way to real poetry—exists in
A Book of Verses for Children.
Another Book of Verses for Children,
compiled by E. V. Lucas. After these, we come to collections containing real poetry, two excellent ones being
The Blue Poetry Book By Andrew Lang. A First [Second and Third] Poetry Book " M. A. Woods.There is also
Lyra Heroica By W. E. Henley,a collection for boys. Selections from Tennyson, Browning, and other poets, intended for children, have been made, but most young explorers of poetry like to have the complete works and hunt for themselves. Other popular books of poetry are—
The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics. Poems Every Child Should know. Mr. C. R. D. Patmore's Children's Garland from the Best Poets. Miss Agnes Repplier's Book of Famous Verse. H. E. Scudder's American Poems. The "Original Poems," and Others By Jane and Ann Taylor. National Rhymes for the Nursery " George Saintsbury. The Ballad Book " W. Allingham. Lays of Ancient Rome " Lord Macaulay. Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers " W. E. Aytoun. The Percy Reliques. A Thousand and One Gems of Poetry. Scott. Longfellow. Hood.Many boys also like the humorous stories in Barham's Ingoldsby Legends.
Books About ChildrenTo this section, which is suited more particularly for girls, belong a large number of stories of a very popular kind: stories describing the ordinary life of children of to-day, with such adventures as any of us can have near home. Years ago the favorites were—
The Fairchild Family By Mrs. Sherwood. Sandford and Merton " Thomas Day.But these are not read as they used to be, partly because taste has changed, and partly because so many other books can now be procured. But fifty and more years ago they were in every nursery library.
The Swiss Family Robinson,
the most famous family book of all, will be found in the adventure section, to which perhaps really belong
Feats on the Fiord,
The Settlers at Home,
by Harriet Martineau, although these two, and
The Crofton Boys
may be included here. Here also belong Maria Edgeworth's
Moral Tales for Young People.
The Parent's Assistant,
which, although their flavor is old-fashioned, are yet as interesting as ever they were.
Another writer whose popularity is no longer what it was is Jacob Abbott, the author of a number of fascinating stories of home life (on farms and in the country) in America in the middle of last century. The Franconia stories are these:—
Beechnut.
Wallace.
Madeline.
Caroline.
Mary Erskine.
Mary Bell.
Stuyvesant.
Agnes.
And this is the Rollo series, intended by Mr. Abbott for rather younger readers:—
The Little Scholar Learning to Talk.
Rollo Learning to Read.
Rollo at Play.
Rollo at Work.
Rollo at School.
Rollo's Vacation.
A list of other books, which come more or less rightly under the head of "Stories about Children" follows, the earlier ones being better suited to younger readers, and the later ones to older, the age aimed at in this chapter (and indeed in the whole book), ranging from five to fifteen.
By Kate Douglas Wiggin:—
Polly Oliver's Problem.
Timothy's Quest.
By Louisa M. Alcott:—
Little Women.
Good Wives.
Eight Cousins.
Rose in Bloom.
Spinning-Wheel Stories.
Little Men.
Jo's Boys.
An Old-Fashioned Girl.
Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag.
Comic Tragedies.
The Little Pepper Series, and the Elsie Books.
By Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett:—
Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Editha's Burglar.
The Captain's Youngest.
Sara Crew.
By Mrs. Whitney:—
We Girls.
Faith Gartney's Girlhood.
The Gayworthys.
Leslie Goldthwaite.
By Gelett Burgess:—
Goops, and How to be Them.
More Goops, and How Not to be Them.
Goop Tales.
The Lively City o'Ligg.
The Burgess Nonsense Book.
This section is necessarily more incomplete than any of the others, since it is impossible to keep pace with the great number of stories of this kind which are published every Christmas. But a few more may be added:—
Stories Told to a Child By Jean Ingelow. The Lost Child " Henry Kingsley. Helen's Babies " John Habberton. The Treasure-Seekers " E. Nesbit. Holiday House " Catherine Sinclair. Deeds of Daring done by Girls " N. Hudson Moore. Children of Other Days " " Paleface and Redskin " F. Anstey. The Silver Skates " M. M. Dodge. Molly and Olly " Mrs. Humphry Ward. Sweetheart Travelers " S. R. Crockett. Sir Toady Crusoe " " Sir Toady Lion " " No Relations " Hector Malot. Jogging 'Round the World " Edith Dunham. A Little Daughter of the Revolution " Agnes Sage. A Little Colonial Dame " " The House of the Red Fox " Miriam Byrne. The Would-be Witch " " Little Barefoot From the German of Auerbach. Indian Boys and Girls By Alice Haines. Japanese Child Life " " Little Japs at Home " " Jap Boys and Girls " " According to Grandma " " When Grandma was Little " " What Grandma Says " "Here also belong many of the stories of Miss Yonge, and we might perhaps place Uncle Tom's Cabin here too.
Boy and Schoolboy StoriesIn this section are placed stories of modern boys, either at home or at school, and their ordinary home or school adventures. Among the best are—
Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain.and
Bevis By Richard Jefferies.Others are—
The Story of a Bad Boy By T. B. Aldrich. My Boyhood " H. C. Barkley. The Swan and her Crew " G. C. Davies. Captain Chap " Frank R. Stockton. The Tinkham Brothers' Tidemill " J. T. Trowbridge.The best school story will probable always be
Tom Brown's School Days By T. Hughes.Among the books of this kind meant rather for grownup readers, but read also by boys, are—
Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain. Frank Fairlegh " F. E. Smedley. The Interpreter " Whyte Melville. The Human Boy " Eden Phillpots. Vice Versâ " F. Anstey. Adventure StoriesThis is the largest group of books usually described as "for boys," although girls often read them too with hardly less interest. The first place in this class will probably always be held by Defoe's
Robinson Crusoe,
and it is likely that most votes for second place would go to
The Swiss Family Robinson.
After these we come to modern authors whose books have been written especially for boys, first among whom is the late Mr. R. M. Ballantyne, the author of, among numerous other books,
The Coral Island.
The Gorilla Hunters.
The Dog Crusoe.
The Pirate City.
Ungava.
The Wild Man of the West.
The Iron Horse.
Fighting the Flames.
Erling the Bold.
Martin Rattler.
The Fur Traders.
The Red Man's Revenge.
Many of Ballantyne's readers make a point of going through the whole series of his books. The other titles can be collected from the advertisement pages at the end of these volumes. With R. M. Ballantyne is usually associated the name of the late W. H. G. Kingston ("Kingston and Ballantyne the brave," Stevenson called them in the verses at the beginning of Treasure Island, another book which comes high in this section). Kingston's stories were also very numerous, but it will serve our purpose here to mention only the following six:—
Peter the Whaler.
The Three Midshipmen.
The Three Lieutenants.
The Three Commanders.
The Three Admirals.
From Powder-Monkey to Admiral.
Several authors have carried on Ballantyne and Kingston's work. Chief among these are Mr. G.
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