know the joy of the ownership
of books and there is no better way to interest him in them, than by
giving them to him one by one as he reads them. He should have a place
where he may keep them in safety and should be taught to respect them
and to keep them clean. His books should have all the charm that
pretty and durable binding, clear type and bright pictures can give
them. When trash is served up in so many alluring forms something must
be done to make literature attractive. It is not enough that the child
is reading what will do him no harm, his attention should be
concentrated on the permanent classics which are suited to his
comprehension and taste. He who does not read Aesop and Robinson
Crusoe and the Wonder Book in youth will very likely never read them
at all. There are a number of books like The Pilgrim's Progress, which
are constantly referred to but seldom read. A great deal of the time
and mental energy of children is wasted. The total freedom from books
and from all other refining influences during vacations is as
unnecessary as it is deplorable. An hour a day wisely employed and
directed during the summer would give a boy or girl an acquaintance
with Longfellow or Hawthorne, that would be a joy and inspiration in
all after life. The study of the author's biography in connection with
his works has an educational value which nothing else can replace.
Consider the influence of a thorough acquaintance with Longfellow or
Lowell. The atmosphere which surrounded them, the things that
interested them, the sources of their inspiration, the way in which
the common experiences of life grew beautiful under the influence of
their poetic imagination would be a civilizing force throughout life.
That chance is to but a small extent a factor of success, that nothing
is attained by the brightest mind without that infinite patience and
labor which in itself is genius, the brave way in which such men met
trial and adversity:--these are lessons which are not studied as they
should be.

Because the imagination is developed early, children are able to find
a real delight in poetry even when it is beyond their complete
understanding. Sir Walter Scott says:--"There is no harm, but, on the
contrary, there is benefit in presenting a child with ideas beyond his
easy and immediate comprehension. The difficulties thus offered, if
not too great or too frequent, stimulate curiosity and encourage
exertion."

As a melody once heard k