The Elson Readers, Book 5
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William H. Elson and Christine M. Keck >> The Elson Readers, Book 5
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THE ELSON READERS
BOOK FIVE
WILLIAM H. ELSON AND CHRISTINE M. KECK
PREFACE
This book is based on the belief that an efficient reader for the
fifth grade must score high when tested on five fundamental features:
quality of literature; variety of literature; organization of
literature; quantity of literature; and definite helps sufficient to
make the text a genuine tool for classroom use.
Quality Literature:
First among these features is the essential that the foundation of the
book must be the acknowledged masterpieces of American and British
authors. American boys and girls may be depended upon to read current
magazines and newspapers, but if they are ever to have their taste and
judgment of literary values enriched by familiarity with the classics
of our literature, the schools must provide the opportunity. This
ideal does not mean the exclusion of well established present-day
writers, but it does mean that the core of the school reader should be
the rich literary heritage that has won recognition for its enduring
value. Moreover, these masterpieces must come to the pupil in complete
units, not in mere excerpts or garbled "cross-sections"; for the pupil
in his school life should gain some real literary possessions.
A study of the contents of The Elson Readers, Book Five, will show how
consistently its authors have based the book on this sound test of
quality. The works of the acknowledged "makers" of our literature have
been abundantly drawn upon to furnish a foundation of great stories
and poems, gripping in interest and well within the powers of
child-appreciation in this grade.
Variety of Literature:
Variety is fundamental to a well-rounded course of reading. If the
school reader is to provide for all the purposes that a collection
of literature for this grade should serve, it must contain material
covering at least the following types: (1) literature representing
both British and American authors; (2) some of the best modern poetry
and prose as well as the literature of the past; (3) important race
stories--great epics--and world-stories of adventure; (4) patriotic
literature, rich in ideals of home and country, loyalty and service,
thrift, cooperation, and citizenship--ideals of which American
children gained, during the World War, a new conception that the
school reader should perpetuate; (5) literature suited to festival
occasions, particularly those celebrated in the schools: Armistice
Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Arbor Day and Bird Day,
anniversaries of the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington, as well as
of Longfellow and other great American authors; (6) literature of the
seasons, Nature, and out-of-door life; (7) literature of humor that
will enliven the reading and cultivate the power to discriminate
between wholesome humor--an essential part of life--and crude humor,
so prevalent in the pupil's outside reading; (8) adventure stories
both imaginative and real; (9) literature suited to dramatization,
providing real project material.
This book offers a well-rounded course of reading covering all the
types mentioned above. Especially by means of groups of stories and
poems that portray love of home and its festivals, love of our free
country and its flag, and unselfish service to others, this book makes
a stirring appeal to good citizenship. Moreover, it will be noted that
wholesome ethical ideals pervade the literature throughout.
Organization of Literature:
The literature of a school reader, if it is to do effective work, must
be purposefully organized. Sound organization groups into related
units the various selections that center about a common theme. This
arrangement enables the pupil to see the larger dominant ideas of the
book as a whole, instead of looking upon it as a confused scrapbook
of miscellaneous selections. Such arrangement also fosters literary
comparison by bringing together selections having a common theme or
authorship.
This book has been so organized as to fulfill these purposes. There
are three main Parts, each distinguished by unity of theme or
authorship. Part I, leading from a wholesome appreciation of Nature,
particularly in its American setting, centers mainly about the
important themes of patriotism, service, and good citizenship; Part II
introduces some of the great tales that typify our love of stirring
deeds; Part III presents some of our greatest American authors at
sufficient length to make them stand out to the pupil. Through these
grouped selections, together with the accompanying biographies, pupils
may come to be familiar with and love some of the great company of
writers that have made the name of America known in the world of
literature.
Attention is called to three special features that keep the dominant
theme of each Part clearly in the foreground: (1) "A Forward Look" and
"A Backward Look" for each main division and important subdivisions
emphasize the larger theme, and show how each selection contributes to
the group-idea (see pages 19, 56, etc.); (2) the Notes and Questions
frequently call the pupil's attention to the relation the selection
bears to the main thought (see pages 39, 75, etc.); (3) the three main
divisions, and the subordinate groups within each main unit, are made
to stand out clearly by illustrations that typify the theme (see
pages 18, 21, etc.) and by topical headings that enable the pupil to
visualize the group-units. By these three means the organization of
the book is emphasized, and fundamental ideals are kept dominant.
Quality of Literature:
Obviously, a book that is to supply the pupil with a year's course in
literature must be a generous volume. Variety is impossible without
quantity, especially where literary wholes rather than mere
fragmentary excerpts are offered. Particularly is this true when
complete units are included not only for intensive study, but also for
extensive reading--longer units, of the so-called "paper classics"
type, to be read mainly for the story-element. In bulk such units
should be as large as the pupil can control readily in rapid silent
reading, a kind of reading that increases the power to enjoy with
intelligence a magazine or a book.
The Elson Readers, Book Five, is a generous volume in provision for
these needs. Its inclusiveness makes possible a proper balance between
prose and poetry, between long and short selections, and between
material for intensive and extensive reading.
Definite Helps:
If the pupil is to gain the full benefit from his reading, certain
definite helps must be provided. An efficient reader must score a high
test not only on the fundamentals of quality, variety, organization
and quantity of literature, but also on its fitness as a tool for
classroom use. The effectiveness of this Reader as such a tool may be
indicated by the following distinguishing features:
(1) A distinctive introduction, "The Crystal Glass" (see page 13),
gives the pupil an illuminating interpretation of the organization and
literary content of the volume.
(2) Definite suggestions for developing speed and concentration in
silent reading. (See pages 21, 30, 34, 163, etc.)
(3) A comprehensive Glossary (pages 399-418) contains the words
and phrases that offer valuable vocabulary training, either of
pronunciation or meaning. The teacher is free to use the Glossary
according to the needs of her particular class, but suggestive type
words and phrases are listed under Notes and Questions.
(4) A complete program of study, "How to Gain the Full Benefit from
Your Reading" (pages 28, 29), gives a concise explanation of the
various helps found in the book.
(5) The helps to study are more than mere notes; they aid in making
significant the larger purposes of the literature. These "Notes and
Questions" include:
(a) Biographies of the authors, that supply data for interpreting the
stories and poems; particularly helpful are those of Part III;
(b) Historical settings, wherever they are necessary to the
intelligent understanding of the selection (see pages 94, 105, etc.);
(c) Questions and suggestions that present clearly the main idea,
stimulate original discussion and comparison, and bring out modern
parallels to the situations found in the selections;
(d) Words of everyday use frequently mispronounced, listed, for study
under "Discussion" (see page 29, etc.);
(e) Phrases that offer idiomatic difficulty; for convenience in
locating these phrases the page and line numbers are indicated;
(f) Projects, individual and social.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ORDER OF READING
THE CRYSTAL GLASS
PART I
NATURE--HUMOR--HOME AND COUNTRY
THE WORLD OF NATURE
A Forward Look
ANIMALS
Turk, The Faithful Dog Samuel White Baker
Our Uninvited Guest Ernest Harold Baynes
Hunting The American Buffalo Theodore Roosevelt
BIRDS AND THEIR SONGS
The Birds And I Liberty H. Bailey
The Brown Thrush Lucy Larcom
Sing On, Blithe Bird William Motherwell
FLOWERS
The Violet And The Bee John B. Tabb
Four-Leaf Clovers Ella Higginson
Jack In The Pulpit Clara Smith
TIMES AND SEASONS
September Helen Hunt Jackson
October's Bright Blue Weather Helen Hunt Jackson
November Alice Cary
Today Thomas Carlyle
The Night Has A Thousand Eyes Francis Bourdillon
A Backward Look
STORIES IN LIGHTER VEIN
A Forward Look
Adventures of Munchausen R. E. Raspe
The Blind Men and the Elephant John G. Saxe
Darius Green John T. Trowbridge
Birthday Greetings Lewis Carroll
The Wind and The Moon George Macdonald
A Backward Look
HOME AND COUNTRY
A Forward Look
HOME AND ITS FESTIVALS
Home, Sweet Home John Howard Payne
The Grapevine Swing Samuel Minturn Peck
Lullaby of an Infant Chief Sir Walter Scott
The First Thanksgiving Day Margaret Junkin Preston
A Visit from St. Nicholas Clement C. Moore
OUR COUNTRY AND ITS FLAG
The Land of Liberty (Author Unknown)
The Flag of Our Country Charles Sumner
The Name of Old Glory James Whitcomb Riley
The Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key
The Boyhood of Lincoln Elbridge S. Brooks
Washington with Braddock Elbridge S. Brooks
SERVICE
Somebody's Mother (Author Unknown)
The Leak in the Dike Phoebe Cary
Casablanca Felicia Hemans
Tubal Cain Charles Mackay
The Inchcape Rock Robert Southey
My Boyhood on the Prairie Hamlin Garland
Woodman, Spare That Tree George P. Morris
The American Boy Theodore Roosevelt
A Backward Look
PART II
STORIES OF ADVENTURE
A Forward Look
STORIES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp
Ali Baba and the Open Sesame
Sindbad The Sailor
Robin Hood Joseph Walker McSpadden
Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe
A Backward Look
PART III
GREAT AMERICAN AUTHORS
A Forward Look
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Biography
The Whistle
An Ax to Grind
WILLIAM GULLEN BRYANT
Biography
The Yellow Violet
The Gladness of Nature
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
Biography
The Huskers
The Corn-Song
WASHINGTON IRVING
Biography
Capturing the Wild Horse
The Adventure of the Mason
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Biography
The Arrow and the Song
The Children's Hour
The Song of Hiawatha
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Biography
The Paradise of Children
The Golden Touch
A Backward Look
SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ORDER OF READING
In The Elson Readers selections are grouped according to theme or
authorship. Such an arrangement enables the pupil to see the dominant
ideas of the book as a whole. This purpose is further aided by A
Forward Look, or introduction, and A Backward Look, or review, for
each main group. The book, therefore, emphasizes certain fundamental
ideals, making them stand out clearly in the mind of the pupil. This
result can best be accomplished by reading all the selections of a
group in the order given, before taking up those of a different
group. The order of the groups, however, may be varied to suit school
conditions or preferences.
It goes without saying that selections particularly suited to the
celebration of special days will be read in connection with such
festival occasions. For example, "The First Thanksgiving Day," page
92, will be read immediately before the Thanksgiving holiday, even if
the class at that particular time is in the midst of some other
main part of the Reader. Before assigning a selection out of order,
however, the teacher should scrutinize the notes and questions, to
make certain that no references are made within these notes to a
discussion in A Forward Look or to other selections in the group
that pupils have not yet read. In case such references are found
the teacher may well conduct a brief class discussion to make these
questions significant to the pupils.
It is the belief of the authors that the longer selections, such as
those found in Part II, should be read silently and reported on in
class. In this way the monotony incident to the reading of such
selections aloud in class will be avoided. However, the class will
wish to read aloud certain passages from these longer units because of
their beauty, their dramatic quality, or the forceful way in which
the author has expressed his thoughts. Class readings are frequently
suggested for this purpose. In this way reading aloud is given
purposefulness.
THE CRYSTAL GLASS
Once upon a time, as the fairy tale has it, there was a mighty
magician named Merlin. He was the teacher of the young Prince Arthur,
who was one day to become the British King. Merlin was old and
wise, and he had the power of prophecy. One of his most wonderful
possessions was a magic glass, a globe of crystal, into which one
might gaze and see distant places as if they were near at hand, and
see the events of past and future as if they were happening right
before his eyes.
No one knows now the whereabouts of this wonder-working crystal, or
what was its appearance. Very likely it seemed ordinary enough, though
a glass of curious shape. Only those who knew how to use it could
learn its secrets; for all others it had no power. But the magic that
once lay in it has been given to certain books, which, like Merlin's
globe, are filled with mysterious power. Such a book you now hold in
your hands. If you do not understand how to use it, it will tell you
nothing. But if you have this understanding, you have only to look
within these pages, and past and present and future will be unfolded
to your gaze.
Here is what you will find if you use this book as a Merlin's glass
wherein to see the wonders which lie concealed within it.
First of all, you will see the world of animals and birds and flowers
and times and seasons--the world of Nature. There is a story about a
little girl who wanted to see the King to ask of him a favor. But no
one could see him unless he was accompanied by some friends, for the
King would not trust anyone unless he had proved himself friendly so
that people loved to be with him. Now this little girl was very poor,
and she had no friends. She wandered alone in the forest, and cried
because she had no friends. Just at this time she came into the
knowledge of a wonderful secret by which she could understand the
language of the birds and of all the shy animals of the forest, and as
soon as she could understand them and talk with them, they loved
her, and the forest was no longer a lonely place but was filled with
friends. Some of these friends went with her to the King's palace, and
she now had no difficulty. She knew the language of those who lived in
the forest, and she was no longer poor and lonely. So in the pages
of this book you will learn of the lives of faithful dogs and huge
buffaloes, and the brown thrush will sing for you a song full of
meaning. The modest violet, the jack-in-the-pulpit, even the four-leaf
clovers will tell you stories about the forest and the field, so that
wherever you walk you will be surrounded by your friends. The magic
glass of Merlin will unseal for you this world of Nature.
Merlin's globe also enables you to look into the past and live in
it as if it were the present. You will take part in the first
Thanksgiving Day. You will learn why the flag of our country is called
Old Glory. You will look in upon the boy Lincoln, tired after his
hard day's work on the farm, reading by the open fire in his father's
cabin. You will see the young Washington bravely helping General
Braddock to save his soldiers. So the magic glass of reading will make
the early history of our country real to you, and the past will no
longer be the past but a part of your present life.
If you wish to live for a time in the fairy realm, where there are
buried treasure chests or magic lamps and rings, or if you would like
to make a journey to far-off lands where are many wonders, you have
only to look in this magic glass, and in a twinkling you are whisked
away. You find yourself in a strange country where men and women wear
curious, flowing garments of many colors, where trees and animals are
unfamiliar, and where queer buildings with many towers attract your
delighted eyes. The narrow streets are filled with strange life. You
see a boy with eyes that seem to be looking on strange things. He is
talking with an evil-looking man who bends over him, pointing down the
street and out into the open country at the other end of the town. And
presently the boy goes with the stranger, and you follow, for it is
Aladdin and the magician, and you wish to know the adventure that is
to come.
After this, Ali Baba and the cave of buried treasure and the forty
thieves and Morgiana, the shrewd slave-girl, and the jars of oil
will all appear in the magic glass, and another series of marvelous
adventures will be disclosed to you. And then again, you come to a
rich man's home, and before it, gazing enviously at it, is a poor
tramp. Go up the steps with him and look upon the feast within the
house. There is a queer table filled with food of strange form. And
there is the rich man, Sindbad the Sailor, and you may listen if you
will to his stories of travel to marvelous lands. Thus you travel
to the mysterious East, without effort. You take part in wonderful
adventures, without danger. Your magic glass is the window through
which a world of fairy magic gleams vividly.
At another time you look, and the glass shows an English scene. It is
the greenwood, somewhat out from London. Never were trees so green, or
flowers so fresh and gay, or birds so filled with joy. You listen, and
a gay fellow sings,
"Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And tune his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
"Come hither! come hither! come hither!
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather."
Presently you hear the sound of a horn deep in the forest, to be
followed soon by the coming of a merry crowd. Here is the prince
of outlaws, clad in Lincoln green and followed by a score of lusty
fellows, and at once there are songs, wrestling matches, and merry
jests, till your heart is filled with joy. Little John, and the
Sheriff of Nottingham, and Friar Tuck, and Robin Hood, and last of
all, the King himself--these are the actors in the play that you see
through your magic glass. And so it goes through all these stories of
adventure--they become a part of your experience, and you live more
lives than one. Last of all, your magic glass, which is this book, and
which is always ready to do you service when you call upon it, will
introduce you to a group of great Americans who long ago learned these
secrets and wrote down what they themselves had seen. A patriot who
helped to make our America will tell you several stories of his
childhood. A Nature-loving poet will tell you about flowers and birds.
Another poet will furnish stories about merry times on the farm. A
third will tell you legends of the Indians. Once more the world of
Nature, the world of adventure, and the world of history and legend
will open before you, but this time you will learn something also of
the men who have lived in our America and have written about it in
such way as to show us that, after all, we need no marvelous Eastern
country or desert islands--there is adventure enough and to spare all
about us, if we have eyes to see.
And here is the greatest charm of all. It is good to know about this
magic glass of reading, so that we shall never want for the joy it
can bring. But while we use it, we shall find our sight made pure and
strong, so that when we no longer have the crystal globe, we can walk
in field and wood, and along our streets, and see, wondering, the
beauty of the world in which we live.
PART I
NATURE--HUMOR--HOME AND COUNTRY
Better--a thousand times better--than all the material wealth the
world can give is the love for the best books.
THE WORLD OF NATURE
A FORWARD LOOK
If we have eyes to see, the world of Nature is a fairyland. Further
on in this book you will read how Aladdin--a boy who was led by a
magician to a cave in which were all kinds of wonderful objects--came
upon a garden underground wherein grew trees filled with extraordinary
fruit. "Each tree bore fruit of a different color," we are told: "The
white were pearls; the sparkling were diamonds; the deep red were
rubies; the green, emeralds; the blue, turquoises."
Now with this compare a story about a great American author, Ralph
Waldo Emerson. Emerson loved all the forms of Nature. He wrote of
the bee, of the wild flowers, of the storm, of the snowbird, and of
running waters. And in talking of the magic of a river he reminds us
of Aladdin's fairy fruits:
"I see thy brimming, eddying stream
And thy enchantment,
For thou changest every rock in thy bed
Into a gem.
All is opal and agate,
And at will thou pavest with diamonds."
Now we may suppose that Aladdin often waded through the brook and
noticed the shining pebbles and heard the tinkling music of the water
as it rippled over stones in the stream. He noticed the pebbles, but
did not look at them. He heard the murmur of the waters, but he did
not listen. But when the magician uttered his magic words, and the
earth opened, and Aladdin saw a little ladder leading down into a deep
cave, and in that cave found curious trees bearing curious fruits, he
was so surprised that he looked more closely, and all that he saw was
full of wonder. Now the poet is like the magician. His words open the
door of enchantment for us if we care to enter.
For the poets have been lovers of Nature, and they help us to see
the beauty that lies about us. One of them calls the stars "the
forget-me-nots of the angels." Another writes of the song of the brook
as it goes dancing and singing down into the river, until we hear the
music of the waters in the melody of the poet's verse. Through such
stories and poems of animals and birds and flowers and of the seasons
of the year as you will find in the following pages, your magic glass
of reading will open up the fairyland of Nature.
For magic wonders are not limited to the fairylands that we read about
in the Arabian Nights or in the tales of Cinderella or of the Sleeping
Beauty. There is the enchantment which put the princess and all her
household to sleep for a hundred years until the prince came to
release them. There is also the enchantment of the frost, that stills
all the life of brook and lake and river, and holds the outdoor world
in deep sleep until the breath of spring comes and releases the
prisoners. There is the enchantment which Aladdin controlled by his
lamp and his ring, so that at his bidding giant figures appeared to do
his will; there is also the enchantment of the snow, of the fire,
of the lightning, of the storm; or there is the equally marvelous
enchantment by which the rose unfolds from the bud, the apple grows
from the blossom, and the robin from the tiny blue egg. Only we must
see and listen when the magicians lead us to the fairy world of
Nature. Aladdin had passed the entrance to the magic cave a hundred
times and had seen nothing. So men pass the fields and see nothing but
the corn and the wheat and the cotton, and in the autumn they see the
harvesters gathering the crops of the fields. But the poet looks on
these same fields and gathers another crop from them, and this he puts
into a song, and this song opens for us the world of Nature.
ANIMALS
TURK, THE FAITHFUL
Samuel White Baker
TURK'S FAILURE
When I was a boy, my grandfather frequently told a story concerning a
dog which he knew, as an example of true fidelity. This animal was
a mastiff that belonged to a friend, Mr. Prideaux, to whom it was a
constant companion. Whenever Mr. Prideaux went out for a walk, Turk
was sure to be near his heels. Street dogs would bark and snarl at the
giant as his massive form attracted their attention, but Turk seldom
noticed them. At night he slept outside his master's door, and no
sentry could be more alert upon his watch than the faithful dog.
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