What one child read, and why

Abstract

Whatever the future vocation of the child may be, nothing that he can acquire in school will bring him greater pleasure and profit than the habit of reading worth-while books. As is the case with most habits at which we aim in the educative process, this one is complex. It involves the ability to enjoy reading, the habit of reading, the ability to discriminate between books on the basis of value, the habit of so discriminating, and the habit of choosing for reading those books which one judges to be of greatest value. These abilities and habits are interrelated, but the possession of one does not necessarily involve the possession of the others. They are progressive in nature, and exist in children in varying degrees of Educators assume that children are seriously hurt by reading certain kinds of books. Stone' says: Probably more juvenile criminals have resulted from secretly hidden copies of Nick Carter, Diamond Dick, and the like, than from any other source. Elizabeth Smith2 puts it more mildly: Unguided reading is likely to be of very little value . . . in the child's development. Raymond3 does not take issue with these statements, but says that interest is of primary importance. He is willing to start a boy on Diamond Dick, if by so doing he can arouse interest. Bonnie Gilbert,4 at the Chattanooga High School, tried the experiment of letting children read what they pleased, only seeing that they came into contact with good books. She thinks that they gradually developed better taste and climbed the reading stairway. Out of a vast amount of experimentation and thinking, certain definite principles of procedure are crystallizing. Mr. Hatfield5 summarizes the best thought on the problem briefly. On one item, at least, teachers seem fairly well agreed. Educa-