AN HISTORICAL READING LIST FOR CHILDREN
"Don't stop (I say) to explain that Hebe was (for once) the "legitimate daughter of Zeus and, as such, had the privilege to draw "wine for the Gods. Don't even stop, just yet, to explain who the "Gods were. Don't discourse on amber, otherwise ambergris; don't "explain that `gris' in this connection doesn't mean `grease'; don't "trace it through the Arabic into Noah's Ark; don't prove its electrical "properties by tearing up paper into little bits and attracting them "with the mouth-piece of your pipe rubbed on your sleeve. Don't "insist philologically that when every shepherd `tells his tale' he is not "relating an anecdote but simply keeping `tally' of his flock. Just go "on reading, as well as you can, and be sure that when the children "get the thrill of the story, for which you wait, they will be asking "more questions, and pertinent ones, than you are able to answer.--("On the Art of Reading for Children," by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.)
The Days Before History "How the Present Came From the Past," by Margaret E. Wells, Volume I.
How earliest man learned to make tools and build homes, and the stories he told about the fire-makers, the sun and the frost. A simple, illustrated account of these things for children.
"The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo.
A romantic tale of the time of the cave-man. (A much simplified edition of this for little children is "Ab, the Cave Man" adapted by William Lewis Nida.)
"Industrial and Social History Series," by Katharine E. Dopp.
"The Tree Dwellers--The Age of Fear"
"The Early Cave-Men--The Age of Combat"
"The Later Cave-Men--The Age of the Chase"
"The Early Sea People--First Steps in the Conquest of the Waters"
"The Tent-Dwellers--The Early Fishing Men"
Very simple stories of the way in which man learned how to make pottery, how to weave and spin, and how to conquer land and sea.
"Ancient Man," written and drawn and done into colour by Hendrik Willem van Loon.
The beginning of civilisations pictured and written in a new and fascinating fashion, with story maps showing exactly what happened in all parts of the world. A book for children of all ages.
The Dawn of History "The Civilisation of the Ancient Egyptians," by A. Bothwell Gosse.
"No country possesses so many wonders, and has such a number of works which defy description." An excellent, profusely illustrated account of the domestic life, amusements, art, religion and occupations of these wonderful people.
"How the Present Came From the Past," by Margaret E. Wells, Volume II.
What the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Persians contributed to civilisation. This is brief and simple and may be used as a first book on the subject.
"Stories of Egyptian Gods and Heroes," by F. H. Brooksbank.
The beliefs of the Egyptians, the legend of Isis and Osiris, the builders of the Pyramids and the Temples, the Riddle of the Sphinx, all add to the fascination of this romantic picture of Egypt.
"Wonder Tales of the Ancient World," by Rev. James Baikie.
Tales of the Wizards, Tales of Travel and Adventure, and Legends of the Gods all gathered from ancient Egyptian literature.
"Ancient Assyria," by Rev. James Baikie.
Which tells of a city 2800 years ago with a street lined with beautiful enamelled reliefs, and with libraries of clay.
"The Bible for Young People," arranged from the King James version, with twenty-four full page illustrations from old masters.
"Old, Old Tales From the Old, Old Book," by Nora Archibald Smith.
"Written in the East these characters live forever in the West-- they pervade the world." A good rendering of the Old Testament.
"The Jewish Fairy Book," translated and adapted by Gerald Friedlander.
Stories of great nobility and beauty from the Talmud and the old Jewish chap-books.
"Eastern Stories and Legends," by Marie L. Shedlock.
"The soldiers of Alexander who had settled in the East, wandering merchants of many nations and climes, crusading knights and hermits brought these Buddha Stories from the East to the West."
Stories of Greece and Rome "The Story of the Golden Age," by James Baldwin.
Some of the most beautiful of the old Greek myths woven into the story of the Odyssey make this book a good introduction to the glories of the Golden Age.
"A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, with pictures by Maxfield Parrish.
"The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy," by Padraic Colum, presented by Willy Pogany.
An attractive, poetically rendered account of "the world's greatest story."
"The Story of Rome," by Mary Macgregor, with twenty plates in colour.
Attractively illustrated and simply presented story of Rome from the earliest times to the death of Augustus.
"Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," retold by W. H. Weston.
"The Lays of Ancient Rome," by Lord Macaulay.
"The early history of Rome is indeed far more poetical than anything else in Latin Literature."
"Children of the Dawn," by Elsie Finnemore Buckley.
Old Greek tales of love, adventure, heroism, skill, achievement, or defeat exceptionally well told. Especially recommended for girls.
"The Heroes; or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children," by Charles Kingsley.
"The Story of Greece," by Mary Macgregor, with nineteen plates in colour by Walter Crane.
Attractively illustrated and simply presented--a good book to begin on.
Christianity "The Story of Jesus," pictures from paintings by Giotto, Fra Angelico, Duccio, Ghirlandais, and Barnja-da-Siena. Descriptive text from the New Testament, selected and arranged by Ethel Natalie Dana.
A beautiful book and a beautiful way to present the Christ Story.
"A Child's Book of Saints," by William Canton.
Sympathetically told and charmingly written stories of men and women whose faith brought about strange miracles, and whose goodness to man and beast set the world wondering.
"The Seven Champions of Christendom," edited by F. J. H. Darton.
