Reading is fun

Abstract

WHEN SELECTING books for young readers it is important to keep in mind the interests and capacity of the several age groups. For example: the very young child, from 2 or 3 to about 5, is interested, particularly, in picture books, preferably brightly colored, and in rhyme and in jingly verse-hence the enduring popularity of the Nursery Rhymes. Of the many excellent titles published in the fall, for this age level, the following are my choices: Look by Zhenya Gay contains 12 full-page, distinctive drawings in color, of baby animals. This book, with its one line captions, will appeal to the very youngest child on your Christmas list. All Together, a collection of 144 poems by Dorothy Aldis is chock full of gay, lilting verse about people and things that interest youngsters. Parents will enjoy reading these, aloud, and the child will, very quickly, learn them by heart. Two alphabet books that are certain to be popular are A for the Ark by Roger Duvoisin which depicts, in gorgeous colors, the animals as they go in to the Ark 2 by 2 according to the initial letters of their names; and Ape in a Cape by Fritz Eichenberg with its full-page brilliant pictures of such subjects as: Bear in Despair, Rat at Bat, and so on through the alphabet. A clever story with exceedingly funny pictures is First Prize for Danny by Margot Austin. It tells of young Danny who made a huge mud pie, put it in a basket and, with his dog and cat, set out for the Fair. As they went along the basket became heavier and heavier and Danny got the surprise of his life when the judge of Most Unusual Entries uncovered the basket. Children, from 4 to 7, will enjoy this story, and The Great Othello with text and pictures by Tony Palazzo. Othello is a circus seal who, with the whole world at his feet, is unhappy because he is not allowed to associate with other seals. But his fame is really in his favor because the King of Sealdom happened to see him on a tele-