THE HOUSE OF APPLIED KNOWLEDGE

Established 1905 by Caspar W. Hodgson
YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK
2126 PRAIRIE AVENUE, CHICAGO

The zest to explore is one of the best things
the junior high school can give to its young
people. Exploring means reaching out to
wider ranges; it means eyes open to new
interests, new sympathies; it means fuller
development of personality and character.
The hours which the school devotes to read-
ing and to literature should give the impetus
to the exploring spirit; and it is for this
purpose that the authors have brought
together in the three volumes of Reading
and Literature a rich collection where young
people may browse and explore and start
on leads that will carry them far. Through
these books they will discover that readings
in science, biography, poetry, history, and
various other fields give real satisfaction and
joy. They will set up new standards through
their reading of fiction that has the finest
qualities of style and content. And in
developing a mastery of reading skills they
will be able to carry over to the activities
of daily life an increasing ability to read
with intelligence and penetration

635260

C

HSRL III-3

Copyright 1928 by World Book Company
Copyright in Great Britain

All rights reserved

PRINTED IN U.S.A,

PREFACE

THROUGH the years that these books have been in preparation, the authors have incurred indebtedness to many persons and have drawn help from many sources, some of which are now difficult to identify. The work began in an attempt to locate the literary selections most widely used in the upper elementary grades. From a detailed and exhaustive analysis of the contents of school readers there was derived a long list of poems, stories, and other forms of prose classified by common thought elements and evaluated in terms of frequency of Occurrence. This list was then examined and further evaluated by group of fifty teachers of English and principals composing Mr. Haggerty's university class in Problems of Junior High School English.

The selections that survived this scrutiny with high appraisal were then checked against the findings of many investigators, including Jordan, Bamberger, Uhl, Crow, Knight and Franzen, and Washburne, and were compared with the numerous lists of "best books," "best stories," and "best poems."

From these evaluations there emerged a shorter list of selections which served as the nucleus for the three volumes of Reading and Literature. The content thus derived was then distributed into groups of common elements and enriched by the addition of many new selections in prose and verse. Wide ranges of literature have been searched for this new material with the aim of finding things of compelling interest and value to adolescent boys and girls. First emphasis was placed upon securing selections of maximum appeal to youthful readers and upon representing in the reading content a wide range of human experience and childhood need. For the thing of vital interest it has sometimes been necessary to forego something in literary quality. Nevertheless, the books abound in things of artistic merit and at times we have chosen exquisite bits at the risk of sacrificing something in directness of appeal. The resulting total gives ample recognition to time-tested literary selections and at the same time it offers modern writings for various aspects of adolescent interest. Here are the best of the old and a generous offering of living writers and, withal, a wealth of material that will intrigue the young reader into many hours of pleasure and enrich his life with some of the choicest companions the world has known.

The successful fruition of these studies is due in large measure to Laura Garretson Haggerty. She made the initial studies of school readers and constructed the first list of selections for evaluation. She also read widely for the discovery of new materials and suggested many of the selections that are finally included.

The possibility of testing new materials and new devices for the teaching of old selections was provided in Miss Dora V. Smith's English classes, first at the University of Minnesota High School and later at The Lincoln School of Teachers College, Columbia University. The criterion of usefulness thus available has been abundantly supplemented by the contributions of many experienced English teachers who have composed the authors' classes at the University of Minnesota.

The authors gladly recognize their obligations also to Mrs. Grace Ziegler, to Mrs. Gratia Kelly Habenicht, to Mrs. Mary K. Dwyer Bohan, and to scores of students and teachers who have in ways large and small furthered the completion of these books.

The authors acknowledge with gratitude the courtesy of the many publishers who have given permission for the reprinting of copyrighted selections. The sources of these stories, articles, and poems are indicated throughout the book. The selections from Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes, Franklin K. Lane, Amy Lowell, James Russell Lowell, Walter H. Page, and Whittier are used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers.

Acknowledgment and thanks are expressed also to Virginia Church, Max Eastman, the late Charles W. Eliot, Hamlin Garland, Burton J. Hendrick, Wallace Irwin, Orrick Johns, Richard Le Gallienne, the late Amy Lowell, Samuel S. McClure, Edwin Markham, Christopher Morley, Will Rogers, O. E. Rölvaag, Lew Sarett, Alexander Smith, Henry van Dyke, Edith Wharton, Wythe Williams, Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, and Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young.