ts attractions, while at the same
time they are learning those things that count for most in life's great
battle.

Let no one feel in the least uncertain of his power to interest and
delight. Let him have no hesitation in joining in with the children, in
meeting them on their level and in sharing thought and feeling with
them. By being a child himself he most easily makes of himself a wise
and inspiring leader.

CHAPTER II

JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND--ITS CONTENTS AND PLAN

_Journeys Through Bookland_ is what the title signifies, a series of
excursions into the field of the world's greatest literature.
Accordingly, the base of the work is laid in those great classics that,
since first they found expression in words, have been the education and
inspiration of man. But these excursions are taken hand-in-hand with a
leader, whose province it is to explain, to interpret, to guide and to
direct. Suiting his labors to the age and acquirement of the readers he
helps them all, from the child halting in his early attempts to
interpret the printed page to the high school or college student who
wishes to master the innermost secrets of literature. In no small sense
is this leadership a labor of love, for it follows an experience of
twenty years of personal instruction in the public schools and among the
teachers of the country.

_Journeys Through Bookland_ must be considered as a unit; for one plan,
one purpose, controls from the first page of the first volume to the
last page of the tenth. The literary selections were not chosen
haphazard nor were they graded and arranged after any ordinary plan. In
this respect they differ in character and arrangement from the
selections in any other work now upon the market.

Moreover, the notes, interpretations, original articles and multifarious
helps are an integral part and are inseparable. In this respect, again,
is the work original and unique.

Further, the pictures, of which there are many hundreds, were drawn or
painted expressly for _Journeys Through Bookland_ and are as much a part
of the general scheme as any other help to appreciation. Again, the type
page, the decorations, the paper, binding and endsheets, all combine to
give an artistic setting to literary masterpieces and a stimulating
atmosphere for literary study.

The masterpieces which make the field of the _Journeys_ naturally fall
into three classes. First, there is the literature of culture, those
things