Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/29

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Children's Home Libraries
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Twain. Tom Sawyer.
Jacobs. English Fairy Tales.
Lang's Fairy Books, (Any colour.)
Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales.
Palgrave's Children's Treasury of Poetry.
Hutchison. Indoor Games.
——Outdoor Games.


This list contains much that is of great value and interest for children, as well as adults. Indeed, it is very doubtful if Carroll's 'Alice' books are not really grown-up children's books. Many children care little for their elaborate fooling, though they politely acquiesce in the enthusiastic appreciation of their parents. There are others which may be regarded as more suitable for adults, but a long experience has convinced the writer that practically any good book possessing literary merit is suitable equally for old men of seventy and young boys of ten, provided they have any intelligence at all. The list above is merely a suggested beginning for a juvenile home library. It can be increased to almost any extent, and it will be supplemented on many other sides by the adult departments of the small Household Library yet to be considered. Every house ought to contain the whole or most of these books. The game and recreation books are mentioned because they are practical, and describe minor handicrafts as well as sports. The collections of fairy tales by Jacobs, Lang, etc., are also important. The child who reads the book version of Jack the Giant-Killer, and afterwards is taken to see it in pantomime form, will have acquired a valuable lesson