st literature is
often formed in early childhood. So no child is too young for _Journeys_
and no child is too old. The real things we read over and over with
increasing interest as the years go on. Elsewhere in this volume are
directions for story-telling, and many especially good selections are
named. What the parent shall read aloud is best left to him to
determine; at first he will do well not to read aloud any of the
comments with which the books are fitted. If he finds that the interest
warrants it he can use the comments for himself and ask questions that
will lead to thoughtful consideration of what is being read, even by
very young children. The only thing necessary is that the reading should
be taken seriously and that the parent should be as much interested as
the youthful listener.

There are stories and poems, fairy tales and folk lore, biography in
simple anecdotes of the great favorites of children and toward the end
of the volume a few rather difficult selections for older children. In
this volume as in all of them it is hoped that parents will look over
the table of contents again and again, select the things that seem best
and suit them to the occasion. How beautiful the lullabies are for the
babies, and how much the older boys and girls will enjoy them when read
at baby's side! When the children are interested in the whimsical rhymes
of Stevenson, his biography should be read; and Eugene Field's life is
interesting when his sweet poems are lending their charm to the evening
by the fireside. Some of the fables contain deep lessons that may be
absorbed by the older children while the younger ones are interested in
the story only.

_Volume Two._ The selections in the first part of the second volume are
intentionally simpler than the last ones in the first volume. It is a
good thing for a child to handle books, to learn to find what he wants
in a book the greater part of which is too difficult for him. Oliver
Wendell Holmes thought it was an excellent thing for himself that he had
had the opportunity to "tumble around in a library" when he was a
youngster. Every student who has had the opportunity so to indulge
himself has felt the same thing. There are so many books published every
month and so much reading to be done that a discriminating sense must be
cultivated. No one can read it all or even a small part of it. Older
people will discriminate by reading what they like. Children must learn
to handle b