02964cam a22003373u 4500 76079 UtSlPG 20260610134748.0 m cr n 260607r20251909utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d 09031948 UtSlPG en iso639-1 PZ Macy, John Albert, 1877-1932 A child's guide to reading Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2025-05-13 Carla Foust, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "A child's guide to reading" by John Albert Macy is a literary guide and reading manual written in the early 20th century. Aimed at helping young readers (and those who guide them) move beyond ephemeral “juveniles” to the enduring riches of literature, it explains why and how to read, champions fiction, poetry, history, and essays, and offers practical lists and examples to steer taste toward the greats without being rigid or priggish. The opening of the work compares a good literary guide to a seasoned Maine woods guide: helpful but never a substitute for the reader’s own effort, judgment, and joy in discovery. It rejects fixed “Hundred Best Books” lists, praises the dictionary, and shows how chance encounters (Mill finding Wordsworth) can shape a life, while cautioning readers to choose books that awaken their best selves. It then argues for reading as contact with the best minds—countering “book-learning” skeptics with vivid examples (Lincoln with Shakespeare, Grant with Scott and Cooper, Napoleon’s omnivorous reading, Franklin’s formative authors)—and urges attentive, sometimes re-read, even memorized engagement. Finally it begins its long section on fiction: defending the novel (with Jane Austen’s wit), explaining plot, character, description, and style through Thackeray’s Henry Esmond, stressing the moral responsibility of storytellers (via Trollope), dissolving the romance vs. realism quarrel with examples from Scott, Dickens, and others, warning against inauthentic dialogue and flabby description, and offering calm, practical advice on choosing novels (and short stories) before launching into a substantial, varied reading list. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: New York: The Baker & Taylor Company, 1909 Books and reading Children's literature -- Bibliography https://archive.org/details/childsguidetorea00macy/page/n9/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76079 116804 116804