Winkie. The long selection from The Swiss Family Robinson is a good introduction to nature study literature and contains all of the book that is worth reading by anyone. The two tales from The Arabian Nights are among the best and are perhaps the ones most frequently referred to in general literature and in conversation. The last story, that 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. We are rather inclined 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.

Volume Four. This is the volume of the legendary heroes of the great nations. Frithiof, Siegfried, Robin Hood, Roland and Cid Campeador are all to be found in this one book, while to relieve the monotony there are interspersed some fine poems and a few tales. The volume, too, gives us a cycle of history that begins in a story and ends in a narrative of an actual historical occurrence, and two stirring patriotic poems. 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 connected in any way, yet still serve to carry out the idea that this volume is largely an introduction to readings in history.

Volume Five. The legendary great, the halfhistorical 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 quaint accounts and Tennyson's noble poems show how great a factor the legends of Arthur have been in literature. Besides the articles that are instructive there are a few that are highly entertaining or merely humorous, for every child has a right to read sometimes for amusement only. It will be seen that some classes of literature have ceased to appear and that others are coming into view. The "spiral arrangement" is nicely illustrated in the reappearance of history and the legendary heroes and in the disappearance of myths and fairy tales, for which there is, however, some compensation in the highly imaginative Gulliver's Travels, an extract from Dean Swift. The Attack on the Castle is a stirring account of a medieval battle and bears more relation to the King Arthur legends than to history. It was not inserted as an introduction to the works of Scott but to bring the medieval spirit to the volume. In The Arickara Indians the boys will begin to find the interest that our aborigines always have for our youth.

Volume Six. The first three selections in this volume form a little cycle on one of the great

heroes of the Scotch, while the two selections at the end of the volume give the best of the legends concerning the national hero of Persia. These complete the series of national and legendary heroes that has appeared in three of the volumes. This is a volume of adventure, of Indians and of history, or semi-historical tales. Reminiscences of a Pioneer, The Buccaneers, Captain Morgan at Maracaibo are examples of this kind of literature. The last two selections are authentic accounts from original sources and are among those things which boys really like, but which have not heretofore been accessible to them. Patriotic poems, somewhat in the same vein, are given where they will be noticed and read. There are several excellent examples of nature studies in literature and several fine stories that have their place in the education of everyone. The best of these stories and one of the finest ever written is Rab and His Friends. A cycle of a religious nature is found in those selections which are named The Imitation of Christ, The Destruction of Sennacherib, Ruth, and The Vision of Belshazzar.

The sixth volume is one of interest and one that will give plenty of opportunity for study to those who have the inclination to follow out the suggestions that accompany the selections. Close study should be upon those things which are already somewhat familiar. The high school student will find his time more profitably spent in working on the things in this volume than in poring over the more difficult masterpieces that

are sometimes prescribed in courses of study. What we desire is power to read, understand and appreciate, and that is obtained by study upon those things that interest us and about which we know enough to enable us to use our minds to best advantage.

Volume Seven. The seventh volume contains several stories of importance, the longest and best of which is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This is a model in construction and furnishes the basis for all the studies that would naturally accompany the most elaborate piece of fiction. On the whole, this is a more mature volume than any that has preceded it and yet there are some selections of a simple character inserted for the purpose of interesting those who cannot yet read very heavy literature. From this point on, however, there is little difference in the grade of the volumes. The way in which the literature is studied marks the difference in rank. In fact, when a person can read intelligently and with appreciation such selections as appear in this volume he can read anything that is set before him. There may be some things that will require effort and perhaps explanation, but it is merely a question of vocabulary and parallel information. Besides the stories, there are selections in every department of literature except those that have been passed in the progress of the plan of grading. The legendary heroes, the myths and the stories of classic literature are no longer to be found. In their place are more selections on nature, more of biography and

history and the real literature of inspiration. Some of the last group appear in the form of fine lyrics which everyone loves but which are made more attractive and inspiring by proper setting and helpful interpretations.

Volume Eight. The eighth volume is one in which biography, which has had its share of attention in every volume, becomes a strong feature, especially in the fine sketches that are given of famous writers. It is a fact that most writers have lived so quietly and in such comparative seclusion that their lives are devoid of the exciting events that make the liveliest appeal to young people, yet every one has done so much for the world and in such varied ways that there are things in their lives that interest and enthrall the mind if only they are properly presented. Our great American writers have been noble men and women and their lives are models worthy of imitation. That is the thing for us to glory in and for our young people to know, for it is not by any means a universal fact that people who can write inspiring literature live inspiring lives. The literature of nature is probably stronger in this volume than in any other and the selections are of the most absorbing kind. It is not expected to give a vast amount of information but to create a love for reading about the great facts in nature and an appreciation of the beauties in the writings of those who love it. This is the last volume in which there is much fiction and it marks the beginnings of the really fine essays which form a large part of the succeeding volume.