BOOKS FOR BOYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18945, 17 February 1925, Page 7

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

Sir, —" M.J." has entirely misinter- \ preted a portion of my letter. ; I did not j assert that the works of Wodehouse and Zane Grey were "thrill yarns," or that; those authors were on a par with Stevenson, Verne or Marryat. However, J do ; say that the average modern boy prefers the incomparable humour of Wodehouse . and the powerful Zane Grey fiction to | "Coral Island," ■" Midshipman . Easy," etc., which were in their . heyday ■ when M.J. was a youth. He should, realise that, fashions in literature with the young folk j are just as "confined and changeable as with "the old. ' My personal experience .after 1 eight years' school life and two years* • civilian.life, where I have'come in contact ■ with boys of all ages,'ranging from 10 to j my own age, is that the cheap "tec. " and "thrill " yarns take second place to Scott, Hugo, Pumas, Weyman 'and many other historical writers. Every hoy's home, contains one or more' volumes of "Chums," or "8.0.P.," the contents of which have been pronounced by school teachers and writers of the day to be perfectly fit for juvenile reading,' being,neither detrimental to the' morals or minds of boys. 1 have also noticed that the boy who reads "penny dreadfuls" usually has never had an opportunity to read standard works. Place a book of Dumas or "Treasure Island" before him, and the cheap press will be abandoned, ■ Just Eighteen.