WHAT BOOKS DO CHILDREN LIKE?

Te Ao Hou, December 1957, Page 58

Miss Bowsher, of the Christchurch Public Library addressed delegates of the Maori Women's Welfare League during their conference in Christchurch earlier this year. As many Maori groups are now thinking about starting libraries, or encouraging their children to read books, this talk is reprinted here. WHAT BOOKS DO CHILDREN LIKE? by Dorothy K. Bowsher An ability to read has not always been an essential qualification for getting on well in life or for taking one's full share in the life of the community. Plenty of people in centuries past lived quite happy lives without being able to read and write, but they led very simple lives quite different from those of our so called civilized world. In a modern community it is essential to be able to read and write in order to earn one's living. But far more important than this is the fact that reading offers us a fuller life. I suppose for Maori children literature begins when they hear their parents telling traditional tales which later on they will perhaps read for themselves. But right from the beginning I think the Maori child is at a disadvantage where books are concerned since many of these traditional tales, particularly the family ones, are not written down—at least not in a simple enough form for young children to read easily. The pakeha child begins his literary experiences with the Mother Goose rhymes. These rhymes have been told to and read by the European child for centuries and are the heritage of the New Zealand child. A pakeha child going to kindergarten or to the infant school arrives on the first day of his school life feeling rather lost amongst so many other children and in the strange unfamiliar surroundings of the school room. He may know something about school life from his elder brothers and sisters, or it may be a totally new world for him. But sometime during that first day he will hear the teacher recite familiar nursery rhymes in which he will join. That helps to overcome the feeling of strangeness—here is something he knows about and can do. In the same way the teacher may read a familiar and well-loved story and the pakeha child says ‘Oh. I know that story’, and straight away feels more at home. All this helps the pakeha child to settle down quickly into the new routine of school life A Maori child if he knows no nursery rhymes and has never heard any of these well-known stories feels very lost when he is thrust into an infant class with pakeha children who, if they have had this background of books in the home, are much better equipped to start their school life. Feature of the Christchurch conference of MWWL was a bookstall arranged by the Christchurch Public Library along with some local bookshops. This was intended to help the women who discussed the problem of bringing more books into Maori homes. Between sessions delegates browsed through the books and bought some of those for sale. (Leicagraph Studios Photograph) Two very good collections of nursery rhymes are Lavender's Blue by Kathleen Lines and Mother Goose Rhymes with pictures by Arthur Rackham. To the child who has lived with books from Mother Goose on through Little Black Sambo and Peter Rabbit books have pleasant associations and words hold no terrors. To the child who has never been read to, books will be strange. It is important to keep the child interested in books

until he knows how to read. In other words to make children familiar with the shape of books and to show them that books are fun. To do that there must be picture books to share with children and stories to read aloud. Books like Lois Lenski's Little Farm, for instance—a story that has meaning and significance for Maori and pakeha alike in its simple account of Mr Small's daily work on the farm. In the same series there is The Little Aeroplane which appeals to all small boys. Most little children like stories about animals such as Angus and the Cat, and the other titles in this inexpensive series about the adventures of a little black dog. The reading habit, like a great many other habits, starts in the home at an early age. The home is the greatest influence in a child's life because those early years that a child spends with his parents are the formative years. What about the cost of books? This may sometimes seem a lot, but a book isn't done with after the first reading. It is pored over many times by all the children in a family and is indeed literally loved to death. Don't forget too that many parents don't hesitate to buy a toy costing as much and lasting half the time. These first picture books have a great effect and a lasting value and are worth every penny of your money. And there are books which are not so dear. The Story of Ferdinand for instance (a delightful picture book about the adventures of a bull) is 3/3, and the Puffin picture books are the same price. Incidentally, because a book has hard covers doesn't mean that it is always a good book and because the Puffin picture books have only paper covers it doesn't follow that they are badly written, with poor illustrations and print. There are some excellent stories and books of fact and information in the Puffin series. Small children are completely dependent on their parents for books. Unless parents make an effort to obtain books, either buying them or borrowing them from a public library, children under school age do not see books at all, and when they have got the books in the house they must then use them with the children. And that can be just as much fun for the parents as for the child. When the child is older he or she may be able to borrow books through the school, or go to a public library on his own, but until a child is about ten, the parents must take the initiative in supplying him with books. Don't forget too, that many children don't read easily and freely until they are about nine, and they do appreciate sitting back sometimes and having a story read aloud to them instead of having to struggle with the mechanics of reading before they can get to the actual story. A lot of the fairy tales and the tales of legendary heroes are wonderful for reading aloud. The collection of English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs which contains well-known stories that all pakeha children love, like Cinderella, Dick Whittington, and Jack and the Beanstalk, are good for