h or sixth
grade as an introduction to history study, and the romance "Robin Hood
and the Merry Little Old Woman" may be used appropriately in any of
these grades, especially if it is made to supplement a discussion of the
Norman conquest.

Most of the poems up to about No. 342, and a few beyond that, are within
the range of the work for these grades.

_Seventh and eighth grades._ Although pupils in the seventh and eighth
grades may be expected to read simple narrative readily, the teacher
should read to the pupils frequently. It cannot be too much emphasized
that reading aloud to children is the surest way of developing an
appreciation of the best in literature. In poetry especially this is a
somewhat critical time, as the pupil is passing from the simpler and
more concrete verse to that which has a more prominent thought content.
The persuasion of the reading voice smooths over many obstacles here.
Outside the field of poetry, the teacher's work in these grades is
mainly one of guidance and direction in getting the children and the
right books in contact. Children at this period are likely to be
omnivorous readers, ready for any book that comes their way, and the job
of keeping them supplied with titles of enough available good books for
their needs is indeed one to tax all a teacher's knowledge and
experience.

The demand for highly sensational stories on the part of pupils in the
upper grades is so insistent that it constitutes a special problem for
the teacher. It is a perfectly natural demand, and no wise teacher will
attempt to stifle it. Such an attempt would almost certainly result in a
more or less surreptitious reading of a mass of unwholesome books which
have come to be known as "dime novels." Instead of trying to thwart this
desire for the thrilling story the teacher should be ready to recommend
books which have all the attractive adventure features of the "dime
novel," and which have in addition sound artistic and ethical qualities.
While many such books are mentioned in the bibliographies in the latter
part of this text, it has seemed well to bring together here a short
list of those which librarians over the country have found particularly
fitted to serve as substitutes for the dime novel.

Alden, W. L., _The Moral Pirate_.

Altsheler, Joseph A., _The Young Trailers_. _Horsemen of the
Plains._

Barbour, Ralph H., _The Crimson Sweater_.

Bennett, John, _The Treasure of Peyre Gaillard