What Do The Boys Read?

( Originally Published 1885 )

FEW questions of more vital importance to the proper growth, development, culture, and character of boys are now before the public than the question, " What do they read ?" Perhaps few have been more neglected in the past. It is gratifying to find a new interest now being awakened concerning this subject on the part of teachers, parents, and the public generally. It is high time this matter received a more careful attention. When we find the most demoralizing tendencies and the most direct inculcation of vice and vicious propensities spread broad cast through the mails and other channels, by means of low and immoral papers and pamphlets, wild and highly wrought stories, improbable adventures, prize fights, brutal and vicious incidents, the details of crime spread out in all its revolting features upon the printed page, Indian and frontier life, etc., we may not be much surprised if youthful bands of robbers, burglars, and thieves are found in all our cities and large towns.

Moreover, there is, in the nature of the case, no good reason for such a state of things. There never was a time when the young had easy access to so many and such a variety of good books, suited to all classes and all tastes.

Books, in great number and variety, both new and old, of the very best quality, can be had by all young people. It is gratifying, now and then, to find teachers, as we frequently do nowadays, who are taking great pains to place before their pupils good books.

In a school-room of forty boys, of the age of nine, ten, and eleven years, the teacher a few days ago inquired how many of them were then reading some book. She found by their answers that one half of them were then engaged in reading the following books :

"Arabian Nights' Entertainment," " A Brave Soldier," " A Family Flight through Egypt and Spain," " Gulliver's Travels," " The Young Rover," " Little Men," " Little Women," " Zigzag Classic Lands," "Life of Washington," " The Little Camp," " Hawthorne's Wonder Book," " Tom Brown at Rugby," "From the Hudson to the Neva," " Uncle Remus His Songs and Sayings," " Robinson Crusoe," " Pilgrim's Progress " (by two boys), " Land and Game Birds of New England," " Boys of Seventy-six," " Child's History of the United States."

The above was not the result of any special care. The pupils did not know that the question was to be asked of them. No particular attention had been directed to the subject before making this record, only the pupils had been under good general training in relation to the subject.