The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
| Table of Contents | |
| Section | Page |
| Start of eBook | 1 |
| WANTED—A RECIPE FOR A BOOK. | 1 |
| INVENTION AND DISCOVERY. | 1 |
| BOOKS RECEIVED. | 2 |
Your editor had an interesting talk a few days ago with one of our best-known naturalists, who said: “Boys and girls are the keenest observers, if they are interested in anything. We naturalists get much of our most valuable information through their quick eyes and minds.”
“And,” he added, “the more they see, the more they want to see and know, and they are constantly coming to me for facts, asking me why I do not write good books.”
“Well, why don’t you?”
“I’ll tell you why. It is because I want to write a book which will tell them just what they want to know, and I do not know what our boys and girls are interested in. If I write about pets, what kind of pets are they most interested in—dogs or cats, horses or birds, squirrels or fishes? If I write about wild animals, must it be about their homes and what they do, or about the best ways to hunt and trap them? Then, again, I am not sure if they are not more interested in hunting for beautiful and curious things on the seashore—shells, crabs, sea-anemones, and such things.”
Your editor believes in asking the boys and girls to say for themselves what they want, and then to give that to them in the best possible way. Therefore he answered: “Ask the boys and girls what they want. Do not ask one or two, but just ask one or two thousand, and give them just what they ask for—no more and no less.” As he cannot write a letter to you all, will you not, each one of you, write a letter addressed to “Naturalist, care of Editor of great Round world, 5 West 18th Street,” and in this letter say just what you would like: a book about birds, pets, bees, wild animals, shells, fishes, or snakes—for he knows all about these things, and can write a book on any or all of these subjects, or, indeed, anything that has to do with woods, fields, or ocean, and the wonderful and interesting things found in them. We hope that our promise to this naturalist, that our boys and girls can and will tell him what he wants to know, will not lead to a disappointment.
[Illustration]
If any of our boys and girls have found their bicycle saddles as uncomfortable as your editor has found his, they will be delighted to learn that there is to be had a sensible as well as most comfortable saddle. The pleasure of riding your wheel for miles without feeling your saddle can only be appreciated by those who happen to have a saddle which fits; the great trouble is that very few people fit the average saddle; and as the saddle cannot be adjusted, perfect comfort is not obtainable. With this new saddle the case is different, for it can be adjusted to fit a large or small person exactly. It also has a contrivance which permits the parts to move up and down so that there is no friction whatever. Our attention was called to it by one of the officers of the navy, who has proved himself an expert in wheel contrivances, and a careful test bears out all of his statements. The saddle is well made and inexpensive ($3.50).
We have received a very attractive little book called “Uncle Robert’s Visit,” which is the third part of the series of books called “Uncle Robert’s Geography.” It is published by the Messrs. Appleton in their series of Home-Reading Books, and presents nature study and geographical knowledge in the most attractive form, being woven in a story of “Uncle Robert’s Visit” to the farm. This particular uncle, like some others we have known, was a fund of information and a source of delight to the nephews and nieces. He went about with them in the fields and woods, and, without forcing it on them in any way, so ordered the conversation that they learned much of nature on each trip. These uncles are treasures, and to those who cannot have them always with them, to read of some one else’s uncle in this attractive form is charming.
The book is well made, a handy size, with a colored frontispiece showing the farmhouse; it is illustrated throughout in a practical way which cannot fail to interest children.
("Uncle Robert’s Visit,” Home Reading Books: D. Appleton & Co., 1897; 50 cents.)
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We wish to acknowledge the receipt of a new and illustrated edition of the old favorite, “Gypsy Year at the Golden Crescent,” by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, illustrated by Mary Fairman Clarke.
(Dodd, Mead & Co., $1.50.)