Problem Of Selecting Books For Children

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28974, 15 August 1959, Page 2

Problem Of Selecting Books For Children

(Specially written for “The Press’’ by MARGARET E. HADDON-JONES)

To some, selecting books for children is a pleasure, to others, it is a rather frightening problem. It is not always easy to choose the right book for a child even for a person in close touch with both children and books.

What, then, do we look for in making our choice of a book to buy? Taking the physical attributes first—we are attracted in the first place by a striking title, an effective dust-jacket We pick up the book. Has it a strong binding? Is the paper good, the print clear, and not too small? Are there good illustrations? Are there ample margins so that the eye can rest on the page with pleasure? Is the book well stitched? Is it a delight to handle? One might consider these questions to be of little importance, but if that book is to be a friend for life—a precious possession always treasured—its format is of considerable importance. Impact On The Child

The difficult part of selection is in assessing the impact that the book will make upon the reader. Will it be read with pleasure? Does it contain something that will broaden the recipient’s horizons? Is it the right book for him either • now or in the immediate future? Is the story well-told, in direct language? Is there plenty of action? If it is a fairy-tale, myth

or legend, does it come from an authoritative source? Do the illustrations fit the text, and do they give the story a greater vividness than it would have without them?

Without knowing the child’s interests and abilities and his background of experience, it is difficult to answer these questions satisfactorily. Even a woman of such wide experience of children and children’s books as Dorothy Neal White had surprises in her own child’s reactions to some of the books shown to her. Dorothy Neal White, the children’s librarian in the Dunedin Public Library and a mother, is the author of books about children’s books. No Hard And Fast Rule

What rouses no interest today may well be a firm favourite next year or even in a month’s time. There can be no hard and

fast rule about the appeal of books to the individual child but there are many books that have stood the test of time and are general favourites. A collection of these—“ The Books of the Century,” selected by the British Library Associa-tion-will be on display at the exhibition next week. Another, the “One Hundred Best Books for Children,” the result of a survey conducted by the “Sunday Times” in association with Kathleen Luies, will be on display in the children’s department of the Canterbury Public Library. Also in the children’s department there will be a small display of books for adults interested in reading about books for children. One of these is ‘‘Books Before Five” by Dorothy Neal White. It would be enjoyed by many mothers with young children. Written in the form of a diary, it is a record of the books Mrs White read to her first child, giving “a mixture of her views and mine about the picture books we shared.” Besides giving much information about books it gives a fascinating picture of the development of her child up to the age of five. A short quotation will give the flavour of the book as a whole:— “Of new books, her main interest has been in Lois Lenski’s ‘Little Train,’ one of the series of books Mr Small whose role op this occasion is Engineer Small. How well Lois Lenski makes these books! She describes clearly and precisely all those processes necessary before a train is ready for a journey, water into tanks, coal into chute, the linking of carriages, the oiling and polishing—it has all the fascination of a documentary film. . .

“After we returned from the holiday, Carol played trains regularly . . chairs, coal-scuttle, doll's bed and pram, cushions, rugs, everything she can lay her hands on is commandered and made into a train which stretches the whole length of the livingroom. During the last week I have been interested to see that this train game has been transformed with the addition of new elements from the Lois Lenski book. . . . Passengers’ interests are forgotten as Carol oils wheels, shovels coal, reads her orders, pulls a whistle cord, and makes off from the sofa station for the tunnel under the table." Provocative Account

A provooative general account is given by Lillian H. Smith in “The Unreluctant Years, a Critical Approach to Children’s Literature.”

Dr. Ernest A. Savage, who has made a long and careful study of the reading habits of boys and girls, in an article “The Questioning Reader," says: “Poor literature can never be read too little, fine literature never too much. Bad books are intellectual poison.” The main thing is that the child has easy access to plenty of good books, for, as John Cleavinger says in “School Libraries in a Democracy,” “What we read is not in itself the ultimate end. .it is the result in life-values that is the important thing about reading.”

During children’s book week, which will open in Christchurch next Tuesday, booksellers and tne Canterbury Public Library will have special displays of children's books. Also, the Christchurch Children’s Book Week committee will again have an exhibition of children’s books in the Amuri Motors showroom. To give parents guidance in selecting books for their children, Miss Margaret E. Had-don-Jones, children’s librarian at the Canterbury Public Library, was invited to write this article.