Hendrik Loon - The Story of Mankind

The main thing in teaching history, is that the pupil shall remember certain events ``in their proper sequence.'' The experiments of many years in the Children's School of New York has convinced the author that few children will ever forget what they have drawn, while very few will ever remember what they have merely read.

It is the same with the maps. Give the child an ordinary conventional map with dots and lines and green seas and tell him to revaluate that geographic scene in his or her own terms. The mountains will be a bit out of gear and the cities will look astonishingly mediæval. The outlines will be often very imperfect, but the general effect will be quite as truthful as that of our conventional maps, which ever since the days of good Gerardus Mercator have told a strangely erroneous story. Most important of all, it will give the child a feeling of intimacy with historical and geographic facts which cannot be obtained in any other way.

Neither the publishers nor the author claim that ``The Story of Mankind'' is the last word to be said upon the subject of history for children. It is an appetizer. The book tries to present the subject in such a fashion that the average child shall get a taste for History and shall ask for more.

To facilitate the work of both parents and teachers, the publishers have asked Miss Leonore St. John Power (who knows more upon this particular subject than any one else they could discover) to compile a list of readable and instructive books.

The list was made and was duly printed.

The parents who live near our big cities will experience no difficulty in ordering these volumes from their booksellers. Those who for the sake of fresh air and quiet, dwell in more remote spots, may not find it convenient to go to a book-store. In that case, Boni and Liveright will be happy to act as middle-man and obtain the books that are desired. They want it to be distinctly understood that they have not gone into the retail book business, but they are quite willing to do their share towards a better and more general historical education, and all orders will receive their immediate attention.

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.-- (``,'' 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.