READING TASTES OF CHILDREN

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27131, 29 August 1953, Page 3

READING TASTES OF CHILDREN

BRISK DEMAND FOR NONFICTION

VARIED REQUESTS TO LIBRARIANS

The voracious reading of today’s children means brisk business for librarians. Children’s book week this year has given hundreds of parents a fresh insight into the literature that can be borrowed or bought but, beyond their own circle, they probably do not know the scale of modern book services to children or the problems posed for librarians. The Country Library Service in Christchurch will supply to schools bulk collections at the rate of one book a pupil from standard one to form two. The collections are changed two or three times a year. Last year, no fewer than 16,500 issues were made in this way to schools between the Opihi river and Kaikoura.

Supplementg this supply is a request service by which pupils, through their schools, may obtain specific requirements. From Canterbury, Marlborough, and the West Coast, 14,000 of these requests were handled last year by the Country Library Service in Christchurch.

The Canterbury Public Library, dealing with direct calls by children, is issuing more than 300 books a day. The total reaches 400 on Fridays and Mondays. Besides these public loan collections, the Primary Schools’ Library Association has its own school stocks, and the children have their own literature. A considerable volume of business is thus created for booksellers.

Popular Topics What are the children reading? Miss Jean Wright (Country Library Service) and Miss Dorothy Bowsher (Canterbury Public Library children’s department) agree that the books in demand are more solid and worthwhile than parents or even teachers may believe. Sometimes they are told that children today read only juvenile fiction or that they are not interested in reading at all. Both agree that “make and do” books and many others have a greater appeal than fiction, and the librarians find that they often have to dip into adult collections to give satisfaction. Books about horses are “eternally popular” in both libraries. The librarians attribute this to children’s natural affection for horses, but they also think that the growth of pony clubs has stimulated interest considerably. The sort of simple story about “Bonny Black Bess” is still widely sought, but requests are increasing for on show-ring riding and show horses. Girls seem more interested in horses than boys. “Space travel” is the latest enthusiasm among boys. Miss Wright said: “It is a rage which, I am afraid, is spreading even to adults.” Miss Bowsher had the same experience, but said that parents need not be unduly alarmed, because many of these books, though imaginative, were well written with a fair grounding in science, so that they approached in merit the writing of H. G. Wells. Coventional aircraft, even jets, are suffering a slight decline in favour in face of such opposition. Hobbies books are in demand at both the Country Library Service and the Canterbury Library. Model building of aeroplanes, boats, and railways, and many other pastimes are studied so keenly that the librarians often go to their adult stocks for information required. Stamp collecting is having a “minor boom,” and the demand for reference books and catalogues often taxes the supply. Differences in Preferences Outside these common trends, the two libraries report somewhat different preferences among children. There is no distinct indication that this is governed by the fact that the Canterbury Public Library serves mainly Christchurch children, while the Country Library Service is attending to needs in rural communities. Miss Bowsher said the Canterbury Public Library had difficulty in supplying all the needs of younger children. Picture books and those to be read to small children were in good supply, but for those about standard two or three, who were just beginning to read a lot on .their own, there was a definite shortage. Large type and simple stories were needed to meet vocabulary limitations. American imports at present suited this need best. Though there might be American customs mentioned, the tales were usually based on familiar domestic affairs.

Travel and biography, Miss Bowsher said, attracted more interest than some might imagine. Even though there had been no major expedition with popular heroes for a long time, accounts of Arctic and Antarctic exploration were read eagerly. Miss Bowsher was nonplussed this week by a boy aged about 10 asking for a book on Captain Scott for his brother, who was not quite five. A new series of stories on scientific travel and exploration was the best recommendation in this field for the average primary child, Miss Bowsher said.

Balancing the boys’ interest in modelling—though both sexes are keen on it—girls ask the Canterbury Public Library for a lot of books on ballet and music. Older boys avidly read “The Kon Tiki Expedition,” “The Wooden Horse.” Clostermann’s air war stories, and a “cadet version” of “The Cruel Sea.” New Zealand natural history books suitable for children provided a field to which writers should give more attention, Miss Bowsher said. Her assistants interjected that requests for information on birds, spiders, crabs—“any living creature”—were one of their biggest problems. “Leave Repairs to Library”

Libraries allow for wear and tear on books by children. Miss Bowsher said that damage was lighter than might be expected. Repairs should be left to the library. Miss Bowsher said the motive of parents in sticking up torn pages or bindings was appreciated; but trained assistants, with the proper materials and skill from experience, could usually do a quicker and more efficient job. “Grubby fingers” made the most common marks. The Country Library Service’s

special requests from children provide a lot of amusement for the staff and also a lot of searching. Horses, stamp collecting, flower arrangement, woodwork, and “motor-car and motor-bike racing” are common topics, but assistants were startled with a request for direction on “how to become a publican.” Their fears were allayed by subsequent requests for works on “how to become a blacksmith” and “how to become a veterinarian,” which indicated that one school class was doing a project on careers. A request for information on “secret writing” nearly stumped the service until a brochure on codes and ciphers was produced. “How to train a donkey” was a problem until it was ascertained that horse practice was generally suitable. The Country Library Service also learned from a request for “calls for cattle dogs” that shepherds employ something quite different.

Since the Coronation, books on the Royal Family have been out on loan continually. Stortage of N.Z. Histories

Very little had been written on the Maori for young children, and the same applied to New Zealand history generally. Miss Wright said. Semiclassics had a big following, stimulated by extracts printed in the “School Journal.”

Miss Wright firmly believes that children will read worthwhile material if interesting books are offered. She has noticed many teachers weaning pupils from comics by requests for the better cowboy stories, which in turn lead to adventure and exploration, popular science, and useful hobbies. “Even the so-called backward reader will benefit if he is interested,” Miss Wright said. “If a child is battling, he loses heart T f he becomes engrossed in a topic or a hobby, he will read on for himself.”