Now at about the age of six the boy creeps like a snail to school where a circular plane is built around him and where he is formally taught according to a curriculum for a period of at least six more years and in many cases for twelve years. But fortunately he still finds opportunity to get speech and knowledge first hand.

There is also a third part to a boy's world that comes to him by inheritance. It lies outside and beyond the other two worlds and the significance of it in his life depends largely on the quality of his imagination and his way of thinking. I do not hold that the school exerts much influence over either the imagination of a youth or his process of thought; but do maintain that it can so order its procedure that open roads may be kept from the everyday world to the world of desire and speculation beyond the plane of school life and in that way help him to find himself as an individual being.

In this outer world is much of the raw stuff of literature. Probably in the reserve and retreat of the home the lad can individually think out and feel out, can actually reproduce from the great scenarios of literature by the aid of his own instinctive tendencies, moving pictures of idealized life much better than can be done collectively in the school room. After school days are over reading must be one of the household gods. In the allocation of functions the school should reserve to itself the imparting of a skillful technique in reading print, an introduction to books of value, and a tactful guidance in choosing what is to be read; but to the home must go to the major portion of the reading of books for recreation.

The school has to carry out its principal task of giving to boys and girls the fundamental tools for acquiring knowledge. This must be done in a five hour day for about half the days of the calendar year. The twilight zone of the boy's life, that time between actual work in the day and sleep in the night, in which he finds the drift of himself as an individual, should be an entrancing field for preceptorship. What shall be done with this leisure time?

Some of it should be budgeted to home reading if the boy is to comprehend the times in which he lives and is to realize himself as an individual. Books are a bloodless substitute for life, but in an age of substitutes they are as good a one as can be provided. In a pioneer age a book or

two in the home lent an air of culture when days were long and full of labor. In an age marked by an emphatic drift to city dwelling places, and with a larger measure of leisure time, there needs to be a more abundant ration of books. Mental outfitting ought to keep apace with electric outfitting in the home. This can be done if the teacher and the school lend a hand in the right spirit. Can the home, the school, and the library devise a cooperative procedure by which boys and girls not only read books in school and during library hours but also learn to associate intimately with books that are an integral part of home equipment, that are in reality lares of the fireside, the beneficent ancestral spirits transmitted thru printed stories? Again I want to vote in the affirmative. There is not the slightest reason why books should not be bought for Christmas presents and for birthday presents for boys and girls! But where shall they be bought and what manner of books should be selected?

Some enterprising lover of good books ought to start chain bookstores that would offer good books in as effective a manner as do Woolworths and the United Cigar Stores their wares. I should not like to see either of these enterprising concerns carry books as a side line. Nor do I care to see drug stores add books to their line of wares. There are many square miles of territory in this country that cannot claim a single bookstore where good books for children are sold. Maybe the school will soon disperse a practical kind of English and equip

boys and girls to take advantage of our great parcel post system for the purchase of books. When such a guide as the "Book Shelf For Boys and Girls" is generally available and when publishing houses are willing to undertake a retail business for the impetus it will give to home reading, territory now unserved by bookstores will be able to secure books for boys and girls direct by mail.

I recall what a stimulation to me as a lad in the foot

hills was the old portrait catalog of a well-known publishing house! And I recall how eagerly every new book was opened that came by mail (it was not deivered in that day) and how much it was cherished in that remote place. Books came as the chance traveler from another land and brought within reach new worlds to explore.

What can a teacher do in helping to solve

the question of reading literature during and after school years? Trained librarians have rendered most commendable service in giving literature of a good quality to boys and girls. They have lead the way for the teacher and have been far in advance of the school in making worth-while books available. But the last decade has seen a marked change in the whole subject of books and reading in the public schools. In the first place the reading of books is coming to be looked on as an adventure, a procedure of exhilaration, a keen pleasure. Over teaching and over analysis and over use of books of adult interest are giving way to a natural reading in a natural environment of books akin to the natural interests of youth. In the second place the teacher is acquiring a better first-hand knowledge of books that will stimulate both mind and feelings. Many a youth is in need of an emotional selfstarter in the design of a book. The work of the teacher is to provide for the child the right self-starter.

Asked a seasonal Touchstone of a seasonal Audrey (in Life): “Do you like Kipling?" Answered Audrey: "I don't know; how do you 'kipple' ?" Can the teacher persuade boys and girls to "kipple"? They need to do so as a retreat in these times. The teacher who can "kipple" with ease, who is steeped fathoms deep in poetry and romance, will have little trouble in teaching the literary game. Let us by all means suggest to all our higher institutions learning that they add "kippling" as a subject to the teacher's certificate.

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Human nature as found in children and in youths is now generally looked on by teachers as sound. The grain of disposition cannot be systematically worked against.

We are no longer solicitous if youth temporarily dramatizes wild instinct by occasionally stealing away from the accepted classics and reading yellow backs. Franklin Mathiews maintains that boys need story books that are "wholesomely perilous." In a letter to the New York World in commendation of an editorial on "Why Boys Read Story Books" Mr. Mathiews, who is the librarian of the Boy Scouts, writes:

"Find the stories in which the heroes have the characteristics the boy so much ad

mires-men of unquenchable courage, immense resourcefulness, absolute fidelity, conspicuous greatness. Of course, he is always growing out of his clothes. But while the growing process is going on we should be as mindful to gratify his taste for particular books as for particular clothes-short pants, for instance; and, if carefully led, will he not in time take as naturally to the really great literature as he at last naturally turns to long trousers?

"Obviously tho, as your editorial so ably points out, boys read story books as did Stevenson, 'not for the eloquence or character or thought but for some quality of the brute incident,' and the quality of the brute incident which most appeals is action-there must be something doing' all the time. was an Irish lady who said: 'I like the tears and the laughter laid on with a trowel and plenty of lords and ladies, and I am not ashamed to say so; I get enough of real life in the work.' 'Not the tears, but the laughter and plenty of action laid on with a trowel' is the way the read-blooded boy would put it, and neither would he be ashamed to tell you his opinion."

During his sojourn in school the teacher can and will help youth enjoy himself in the land of books. Then if she will but go

a mile with him so that he may find himself at the end of the day fraternizing with the lares of the fireside, she will have done well in providing for his expanding personality and for the twilight zone of his time thru an adequate domain of the books that he will love. If this influence of the school does supplement the impetus toward the reading of good books to which boys and girls have awakened at home they will be book lovers always. More Printing

THE data of the biennial census of 1923 shows that there has been a 40 per cent increase in the manufacture of printing inks since 1921, the last preceding census year. The paper has not increased by any such percentage, but it seems likely that the percentage of pulp that is being used for printing paper must have increased to explain this great increase of printing inks. total value of the products is now $29,412,000. Nearly 2,000 workers are employed.

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EADING is a peculiar pastime in a way. By that we mean that if one is not accustomed to reading from childhood up, the chances are that a quiet evening at home, spent reading by the fireside, will be a physical and mental impossibility when one is grown up. Off hand you might say that it really makes no great difference if one is a reader or not. But there you are wrong. A great deal of knowledge is unconsciously soaked into the brain thru reading. This is especially true with children. We know a boy about ten years old who lives in the suburbs. A year ago he went around with an air rifle shooting at birds and squirrels and anything else he could hit. A fond relative gave him a book, telling all about birds and beasts in a manner children could understand and enjoy. Now, instead of shooting at the birds and stealing eggs, and trapping the small animals for the fun of it, he builds bird houses, knows the songs of the different birds, and has a wide knowledge of animal life, especially of wild animals. All this he learned thru reading. First the gift book started him on his upward path. Then he got another book on the songs of birds, then another on animal life. This is only one example, but it shows how the public can be educated to do more reading. The same thing could apply to any series of children's books, but it is up to the retailer to educate the public. It was largely to teach children the joys of good

books that Children's Book Week was started.

Booksellers now make Children's Book Week one of the high spots of the year and arrange to have speakers and special ex

hibits in their shops, feature children's books on their tables and in their windows. Fireside Reading

Charles E. Lauriat & Co., Boston, Mass., had a fine Children's Book Week window last year. In a corner was a fireplace of imitation red brick, with a white wood mantel, of Colonial style. On the mantelpiece were two old-fashioned brass candlesticks, and a more modern chime clock. In the fireplace burned a log fire of small birch branches. The fire was simulated by a red electric light under the branches. A brass fireguard stood in front of the fireplace. Lying on a small rug, on his stomach, was a little boy, intently looking over a picture book. At the left of the fireplace was a small rustic bookcase, filled with books, and another child, a little girl, was selecting one of the books from it. At the right of the fireplace (looking at the street) was another child, seated on the floor, looking over a picture book. All were little tots, the boy on the floor being apparently about eight years old. Large dolls could be used if wax figures cannot be borrowed. Scattered over the floor of the playroom were a dozen or more picture and play books of various kinds. On a side wall was the poster of Children's Book Week, 1923. Over the mantelpiece was a woodland scene of fairies and pixies, in colors.

A window of this description is the joy of every mother who chances to be passing. If her children are quarreling at home because it is too rainy to go out, she thinks, "Why can't I have a peaceful nursery instead of a noisy one?" Then she examines the window carefully and finally decides to

make some radical changes at home and get her children interested in reading. This means sales. Or, if the mother who is passing has already got her little ones into the reading habit, the window will remind her that little Bobby has been asking for a new book of a series, and Betty wants a new picture book.

A Peaceful Nursery Scene

William Filene's Sons Co., Boston, had a Children's Book Week window that was a bit out of the ordinary. Instead of having merely a display of children's books, they showed a children's playroom, fitted out in white, with a little bookcase filled with children's books. Several children were in the room, but not all of them were reading. Two sat at a table playing with a game, another was seated at the corner of the same table playing telephone. A little girl lay on her "tummy" looking at a picture. book, while a small boy sat in a low chair, evidently very interested in a book on his

knees.

In a family consisting of five children, a mother knows well enough that it is too much to expect that all of her brood will be quietly reading, so a window showing such a scene would fall flat. The reason this display of Filene's attracted so much attention was because it was so true to life.

Reading in the Sitting Room

When we were youngsters the entire family would gather in the sitting room after dinner. Father and mother would sit at the table in easy chairs, reading. Our two sisters would be at another table doing their lessons, and we would sit in our little chair and read tales of wonderful adventure. Sometimes father would read aloud from a book of jungle tales. Nearly every night the same peaceful time would be repeated, and to us, looking back, those times were the happiest of our childhood.

So it seemed very natural to us to find a small girl reading while sprawled out on a rug in a window display arranged by Abraham and Straus, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y. The setting was arranged as a living room in a nice home. A book was propped up against her hand. The naturalness of the pose commanded attention.

Making Use of a Show Card Hahnes, Newark, N. J., used the following showcard in its window:

"Children's Book Week

From Nursery
Rhyme to Grown-Up Time."

Two large bookcases at each side rear of the window were filled with books. At each side of a reading table were two smaller bookcases. Tiny tots, being cared for by older children, were busily looking at their picture books. At the rear were older children deeply interested in their story-books.

Use of Book Shelves

Bamberger's, Newark, N. J., made excellent use of book shelves. At the rear was a large board draped with blue plush. Two white shelves were over this, filled with juvenile books. Nursery rhyme draperies were at either side of the shelves. Down in front were numerous books on glass stands.

Using Dolls to Trim Window Snellenburg's, Philadelphia, Pa., used dolls instead of large wax figures, in its juvenile book window. Dressed dolls were seated on tiny chairs with small books on their knees. Toy books were grouped about the floor.

A Nursery Rhyme Window

Arnold's Fairyland, Cincinnati, Ohio, showed an interesting window for Children's Book Week. A fireplace, made of a light grey crinkly substance that looked like pressed paper, appeared at the center rear. Logs were in the fireplace, with a red electric light bulb underneath them to look like fire. Upon the mantel shelf were card-board doll characters of Little Boy Blue and Little Bo Peep, with a red candle in between the two figures.

A

The wallpaper was a mottled grey. broad shelf above the fireplace was extended across the entire back wall of the window. Upon this ledge was every imaginable child's book standing upright. There were also large character cut-outs of bookland, like "The Pig that Went to Market," "Puss in Boots," "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," above the ledge. Hanging on the walls were large illustrations out of popular books. In front of the fire-place were two small rockers. Large size dolls to represent little girls were in these chairs, with books open on their laps. One of the dolls had reading glasses on. (We think this an unfortunate addition, for it might lead mothers to believe that reading had made it necessary for the child to wear glasses.) A child's desk of white ivory was in one corner of the window with a chair facing it. A doll was sitting at the desk with a book open in front of her. Books were arranged thruout the window, on the floor and intermingling with them were a game or two and some little toy animals.

The Circus Clown

Stewart Kidd Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, arranged for the personal appearance of Jack Welsh, the famous circus clown from Robinson's Circus in its Children's Book Week Window from If o'clock until 5:30 every day.

Mr. Welsh did some very clever stunts, attracting such a large crowd that after the first hour a private policeman had to be employed to keep a passage open. At one time people were clear across the street and actually blockaded the street cars. Between two and three thousand people visited the store to look at the books; a great many books, especially medium-priced ones were sold at the time and the store noticed a greatly increased Christmas business in children's books.

Sixteen signs were prepared, the text of some of which is reproduced below, and these, with the aid of a baton, Mr. Welsh used to wonderful advantage. Each sign was numbered and as the different numbers turned up, the clown would go thru his grimacing and pantomime, at the same time pointing to the reading matter on the card. Some of his signs read:

This is Children's Book Week. Nationally Observed by Writers and

Sellers of Children's Books.

A Movement for more and better Books in the home. Generously supported by the Stewart Kidd

Book Shops.

Books are Children's Playmates. See that they have Lots of Company.

You are cordially invited to inspect the Pre-Xmas Display of Undiluted Joy for Children Downstairs. Bring the Tots with You.

Taste Cultivation

The Jacobin Co., Peoria, Ill., used a window fitted up like a living room. A medium size rug was on the floor. In the center was a library table holding a reading lamp. At one side was a morris chair, at the other

was a comfortable looking rocking-chair with a footstool in front of it. In the back of the window was a bookcase filled with beautifully bound books. On the floor with his back resting against the bookcase was a small wax figure of a boy. Other books were lying on the floor. On an easel was a large show card reading as follows:

"Cultivative Your Children's Taste for Good Books, While They Are Young."

The Knight and the Dragon Bon Marche, Seattle, Wash., had a window that appealed to youths of all ages. A painted backdrop depicted a high mountain. In the center of the window was a large cloth and cardboard dragon, his red tongue and flaming eyes the result of an electric fan concealed in his body, which caused a piece of red cheese cloth and red ribbons to appear as flames. His red eyes appeared to open and shut thru the use of small red electric globes, which automatically turned on and off. At the right of the dragon was a knight in full armor, with a sword in his hand. The whole window was trimmed with imitation rock and gave the effect of a cave. One could just imagine the dreadful fight the Knight would presently have with the fiery dragon. At the extreme left of the window, off by itself, was a fireplace, over which was a mantelpiece holding a collection of children's books, including the story illustrated in the window, "St. George and the Dragon."

The Bed-Time Story

Hamburger's, Los Angeles, Calif., used the bedtime story appeal in its Children's Book Week display. In the center of the floor was a figured rug. Rose silk hangings were draped around a mirror at the center rear. At the right was a rose shaded bridge lamp. Seated in a comfortable chair, near the lamp, was a young woman holding a large story-book. Leaning on the arms of the chair were two small children, listening intently to what she was reading. Nursery furniture of a restful gray was placed about the window. Juvenile books were displayed on the window floor.

Different Methods That Can Be Used There are many different ways in which an appeal can be made to juvenile readers. You can appeal either to the child himself or to the mother. Either way is equally effective, as long as the window is true to life and interesting enough to hold the attention.