r instance the selections from the writings of Lewis
Carroll, and one or two of the poems.

The long selection from _The Swiss Family Robinson_ is a good
introduction to nature literature and contains all of the book that is
worth reading by anyone. The two tales from _The Arabian Nights_ are
among the best in that collection and are perhaps the ones most
frequently referred to in general literature and in conversation. The
story of Beowulf and Grendel is a prose rendering of the oldest poem in
the English language, and valuable for that reason. While it is rather
terrifying in some of its details its unreality saves it from harmful
possibilities. Parents and teachers are inclined rather to overestimate
the unpleasant consequences of reading terrifying things when they are
of this character. Few, if any, children will read the story if it
displeases them and those who do will not retain the disagreeable
impression it makes for any great length of time.

In this volume we begin our acquaintance with the legendary heroes of
the great nations. _Frithiof_, _Siegfried_, _Robin Hood_ and _Roland_
are all in this book, to be followed by _Cid Campeador_ in Volume IV.

_Volume Four._ In this volume, with many fine poems and tales
interspersed, is found the continuation of the legendary hero stories
begun in Volume III, also as a natural sequence, a cycle of history that
begins with a story and ends in a narrative of an actual historical
occurrence. These may be found in the six selections beginning with _The
Pine-Tree Shillings_. The article on _Joan of Arc_, the story of
_Pancratius_ and the account of _Alfred the Great_, though not related
in any way, yet still serve to carry out the idea that this volume is
largely an introduction to readings in history.

_The Attack on the Castle_ is a stirring account of a mediaeval battle.
It prepares the way to the mediaeval spirit made more prominent in the
next volume. In _The Arickara Indians_ the boys will begin to find the
interest that the aborigines always have for our youth.

_Volume Five._ The legendary great, the half-historical personages that
have been for so many centuries the inspiration of youths of many lands
are found again in this volume in the person of the Greek heroes and, at
much greater length, in England's famous King Arthur. The story of his
Round Table and its knights is told in an extremely interesting way. The
spirit of Sir Thomas Malory is retained in his