Tradition and fiction are scarcely less valuable than biography and
history because of their vivid portrayal of strong and typical
characters. Our own literature, and the world's literature at large,
are a store-house well-stocked with moral educative materials, properly
suited to children at different ages, if only sorted, selected, and
arranged. But this requires broad knowledge of our best literature and
clear insight into child character at different ages. This problem
will not be solved in a day, nor in a life-time.
In making a progressive series of our best historical and literary
products, it is necessary to select those materials which are better
adapted than anything else to interest, influence, and mould the
character of children at each time of life. It is now generally agreed
by the best teachers that these selections shall be classical
masterpieces, not in fragments but as wholes. They should be those
classical materials that bear the stamp of genuine nobility. Goethe
says "_The best is good enough for children_." For some years past in
our grammar grades we have been using some of the best selections of
Whittier, Longfellow, Bryant, and others, and we are not even
frightened by the length of such productions as Evangeline, The Lady of
the Lake, or Julius Caesar.
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