Children and Their Books | Page 8

efficient means of education of the moral
sentiment, as well as of the intelligence. It is the source of the best
culture. A man may know all science and yet remain uneducated. But
let him truly possess himself of the work of any one of the great poets,
and no matter what else he may fail to know, he is not without
education."
The inspiration and delight derived from familiarity with the best
poetry is one of the most precious results of education. The child
should be made to understand that school training is but the preparation
for the broader education which it is his duty and should be his pleasure
to acquire for himself; and to this end it is essential that he be so taught
that after leaving school he may look not to the newspaper and the last
novel for his ideals, but to the high and worthy thoughts of the classics
and especially of the poets of America. Many of the most inspiring
deeds of our history have been embodied in poems like Paul Revere's
Ride with which every child should be familiar. The works of
Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell and Holmes abound in teachings of the
highest form of American patriotism and in character studies of the

great men who have made our country what it is. The poetry that we
have known and loved in childhood has from its very association a
strength and sweetness that no other can have. It is to be regretted that
children are by no means as familiar with poetry as they should be and
that the old-time custom of committing poetry to memory is not more
general. Bryant has wisely remarked that "the proper office of poetry in
filling the mind with delightful images and awakening the gentler
emotions, is not accomplished on a first and rapid perusal, but requires
that the words should be dwelt upon until they become in a certain
sense our own, and are adopted as the utterance of our own minds."
The value of reading poetry aloud is very great. Few school children do
it well, and it is especially difficult for them to avoid reading in a
sing-song way with a decided pause at the end of every line. "Accuracy
of diction," says Ruskin, "means accuracy of sensation, and precision
of accent, precision of feeling." Reading poetry aloud is therefore an
accomplishment worthy of earnest cultivation. "Of equal honor with
him who writes a grand poem is he who reads it grandly," Longfellow
has said, and Emerson, "A good reader summons the mighty dead from
their tombs and makes them speak to us." To sit still and listen
attentively is a polite accomplishment and to reproduce accurately what
one has heard is as practically useful as it is unusual.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation normalised.
Page 18, "she" changed to "the" (in which the)
Page 23, "rep-spected" changed to "respected" (to be respected)
Page 24, "leis-sure" changed to "leisure" (little refining leisure)
Page 44, "is" changed to "it" (reads it grandly)

End of Project Gutenberg's Children and Their Books, by James

Hosmer Penniman
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHILDREN
AND THEIR BOOKS ***
***** This file should be named 22604.txt or 22604.zip ***** This
and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/6/0/22604/
Produced by Suzanne Lybarger and the booksmiths at
http://www.eBookForge.net
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be
renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set
forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying
and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the
PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge
for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not
charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They
may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practically
ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to
the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ
THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free

distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or
any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full