(H^atneU UttioerBttg SItbraty at^ara, ISittu $nrk .LM.i^cU\^/W..£X Cornell University Library Z1037.A1 J82 Children's interests in reading / by Art olin 3 1924 029 552 704 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029552704 Children's Interests in Reading By Arthur M. Jordan SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRE- MENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, IN THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Published by ®*ar^pra (EaUtQt. (EDtembia Mnitwrattg New York City 1921 Children's Interests in Reading By Arthur M. Jordan SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRE- MENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, IN THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Published by STparljffrH (2oUf g^. Clolttmbia Imtiprattg New York City 1921 Copyright, 1921, by Arthur M. Jordan [\sx\4-t>'^ FOREWORD TO-DAY the cooperation of others is essential in every under- taking. This is no less true of studies in Education and in Psychology than of studies in other fields. It is a real pleasure to render my thanks to those who have made this study possible. Superintendent F. S. Root, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Super- intendent Raymond A. Kent, of Lawrence, Kansas, gave permis- sion to gather data from these two cities. Superintendent John Gr. Rossman, of Stuttgart, Arkansas, gave the test for me and repeated it six months later. Superintendent E. L. Thurston, of Washington, D.C., and Principal E. M. Wilson, of the same city, had the tests given for me there in the New Central High School. Miss Annie Carroll Moore, supervisor of the work with chil- dren in the New York Public Library, not only gave me per- mission to observe in the children's rooms of the Public Library but evinced a keen interest in the outcome of the work. The Librarians without exception were most kind and helpful in suggesting interests of children in reading. Professor E. L. Thomdike directed the study from its begin- ning. Only those who have studied under him know how pene- trating yet how fair his criticisms may be. Dr. T. L. Kelley directed the writing of the last chapter. And finally, it would be less than just not to render thanks to my wife, Carrie Nicholson Jordan, whose steady, consistent work and helpful suggestions made the completion of the dissertation possible at this time. A. M. J. CONTENTS I. Introduction: Review of Previous Studies . . 1 II. Investigation of Children's Interests in Reading by the Method of the Questionnaire ... 43 III. Investigations in Libraries of Children's Interests in Reading ....... 92 IV. Interrelation and Correlation of Results . . 130 V. Interpretation ....... 131 VI. Sex Differences in the Choices of Books and Maga- zines . . ...... 141 CHILDREN'S INTERESTS IN READING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES The abiding interest of school children in their subjects of study has for many years been one of the criteria of good in- struction. In classes in literature this becomes a problem of peculiar interest. Unless the student turns to his literature with satisfaction there may be developed in him a distaste for that type of thing considered desirable; and if a distaste for, then a turning away from, and finally an almost complete for- getting of, all he has learned about the subject. If we could determine what the child's major interests are, be those interests good or bad, it would be possible to direct these forces along lines which are desirable. If not directly, at least indirectly, we could connect the subject with his interests and show how this subject is related to these interests. Psychologically this interest would strengthen the connections between the bonds formed in the reading of good books. Thus what has been learned would be longer remembered. In the second place there would be more possibilities for secondary neurone connections, that is, interest in reading would lead on to greater interest. For example, a boy twelve or thirteen years of age who is intro- duced to Stevenson's Treasure Island finds himself in a world to his own liking. He is surprised and pleased that a book of this type should be recommended by his teachers. Thus the satisfaction which comes with reading such a book strengthens the connections between the situation, reaMng, and the response, reading a hook which is socially desirable. In the second place this satisfaction might lead him to search more closely other recommended books and possibly lead to a more extended in- terest in literature. Or, more specifically, the known interest in scouting and wars, as described by Altsheler, might be directed 2 Children's Interests in Beading to an interest in the lives of our frontiersmen of national fame and from these to a knowledge of history — " the lengthened shadows of the lives of great men ! ' ' The studies that have been made of the interests of school children in reading have almost all been based upon the reac- tions of the children to such questions as, ' ' Which one of these did you like best 1"^" What books have you read during the sum- mer?"- and such like. Many sources of error creep into this procedure, such as (a) the artificial situation of the school room and the desire to please the teacher; (6) the artificial atti- tude created by the questionnaire; (c) the reserve of children concerning their clandestine reading; and (d) their failure to remember what they actually did like. The first extended study of children's interests in reading of the questionnaire type was made in Colorado in 1897 under the direction of James E. Russell ajid reported by R. W. Bullock in the Proceedings of the N. E. A. for 1897.' The children were asked fifteen questions in regard to the quantity, quality, harm- fulness, interest, etc., of their reading. They were asked among other things to indicate their preferences for " stories of ad- venture, of travel, of great men, of great women, love stories, ghost stories, detective stories, and war stories." These prefer- ences are shown, by percentages, in Table I. TABLE I The ATTiTtTDB OF Pupils Toward Eight Classes op Stories, Shown by Percentages (From R. W. BuUock) Grade V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII Stories OF BG BGBG BGBG BG BG BG Adventure.... 67 60 87 80 9175 94 70 95 65 79 60 68 59 63 38 Travel 47 46 55 60 60 46 64 62 72 52 68 57 66 60 48 42 Great Men.... 48 39 52 56 54 38 63 57 70 48 50 56 53 43 58 48 Great Women. 12 35 15 46 20 48 17 58 22 52 14 70 8 58 16 57 Love 15 36 16 38 19 50 20 47 2148 35 56 35 67 22 75 Ghosts 18 33 32 41 13 30 10 15 14 19 4 21 7 7 4 24 Detectives.... 34 25 64 20 45 32 45 12 28 21 15 21 13 18 8 5 War 75 40 82 55 82 48 86 46 84 35 75 38 73 44 48 27 1 Henderson, H. C, Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction of New Tork State, 1897. - Atkinson, P. W., article in the Library Journal, 1908. ' Eussell and Bullock, ' ' Some Observations of Children 's Heading, ' ' N. E. A. Proceedings, 1897, pp. 1015-21. Review of Previous Studies 3 The third and fourth grades are emitted for the purposes of this study, which extends from the fifth grade through the high school. One thousand five hundred returns were used from North Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, all cities of Colorado, since there were complete reports from these towns. According to the author "war" stories seem popular with third grade boys, and that liking remains well marked through the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Stories of adventure are popular with boys through the heroic period, reaching their maximum in the eighth and ninth grades. The liking for biography and travel or ex- ploration grows gradually to a climax in the ninth grade and remains well up throughout the course. The tender sentiment has little charm for the average grade boy, and only in the high school course does he acknowledge any considerable use of love stories. In the sixth grade he is fond of detective stories but they lose their charm for him as he grows older. " Stories of adventure are popular with the girls too in the sixth grade and stories of travel are always enjoyed. The girl likes biography, but in the high school, true to her sex, she prefers stories of great women rather than those of great men. Pity it is that the biographies of so few of the world's many great women are written. The taste for love stories increases steadily to the end of the high school course. Beyond that we have no records. ' ' The interpretation of the quantities in Table I is difficult. Children asked to underscore types of material frequently fail to discriminate between the tjrpe very much liked and that one only a little liked; moreover, it would be difficult for children to distinguish the various types suggested by the author. Un- doubtedly this would result in children's checking all or nearly all of the list, and hence giving to such a type as biography or history a position too high in comparison with the rest. It is difficult enough for adults with lists of books before them to classify them correctly ; it is more difficult for children who have only vaguely in mind the content of the books they like to place that book under the caption of " stories of adventure " or " stories of travel." The purpose of the criticism is to explain the lack of clear-cut difPerenee in interest between, say, travel and fiction. 4 Children's Interests in Beading A second study of similar nature was made by H. C. Henderson in ISQT.* It was based on the answers ' ' from some three thou- sand children in eight representative grammar schools of the City of Chicago." The questions of interest for our purpose are: (1) What books have you read since school opened last September? (2) Which one of these did you like best? The following table of percentages (Table II) was deduced from a table giving the number of copies of fiction, history, etc., that the pupils preferred, and the quantities were deduced from the answers of pupils to the question, ' ' Which one of these did you like best?" i i TABLE II Pebcbntages op Pupils Prbpbbbing Books Classified Under Each op the Following Types, Each Pupil Having Only One Choice (From H. C. Henderson) Age 10 11 12 13 14 15 EG BG BG BG BGBG History 19 11 24 12 23 7 22 8 23 8 20 12 Biography 10 6 10 5 13 4 7 6 13 7 10 12 Fiction 58 73 54 79 38 81 46 76 42 77 31 67 Travel 442232345 51 Adventure 7 1 6 19 3 20 1 11 3 24 1 Science Ill 3 122 11 Poetry 14 32 13 13 4595 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 996 No. of Pupils.... 150 162 176 251 218 216 260 243 245 145 88 88» Total Boys .... 1227 Total Girls .... 1211 Grand Total .... 2438 5 Error in original table, e Should be 83. This table shows that girls lead in fiction and poetry; boys in all else. In compiling the table the classifications were made from the names of books which the children reported they liked best. This method seems preferable to the preceding ones, since it brings out in sharper contrast the relations between the differ- ent typ^. These latter relations appear to be the truer the fur- ther the matter is pursued. The list of popular books obtained from this investigation may be found in Table XII. The third investigation was made by John C. Shaw, who studied the interest in reading of about 900 school children of * Henderson, H. C, Beport of State Superintendent of Piiblic Instruction of New York State, 1897, II : 978-91. Review of Previous Studies 5 Worcester, Mass., representing all grades above the second.'' In this city the children have access to thousands of books. Their choices were made from books which the children themselves had read. TABLE III List of the Fobtt-Six Most PoprrLAK Books in Order op Choice (From John C. Shaw) 1 Robinson Crusoe 24 Eight Cousins 2 Little Women 25 Tom Sawyer 3 Little Lord Fauntleroy 26 Old Fashioned Girl 4 Grimm's Fairy Tales 27 OUver Twist 5 Swiss Family Robinson 28 Rob Roy 6 Uncle Tom's Cabin 29 Tom Brown's School Days 7 Arabian Nights 30 Rose in Bloom 8 Black Beauty 31 Scarlet Letter 9 Ivanhoe 32 Loma Doone 10 Little Men 33 Twice Told Tales 11 Five Little Peppers 34 KenUworth 12 Ben Hur 35 Andersen's Fairy Tales 13 Pilgrim's Progress 36 Ramona 14 David Copperfield 37 Back of the North Wind 15 Alice in Wonderland 38 House of Seven Gables 16 John Hahfax Gentleman 39 Scottish Chiefs 17 Last Days of Pompeii 40 Dotty Dimple 18 EvangeUne ' 41 Nicholas Nickleby 19 Birds' Christmas Carol 42 Silas Marner 20 Under the Lilacs 43 Donald and Dorothy 21 Six Girls 44 The Norse Legends 22 Sara Crewe 45 Donovan 23 Huckleberry Finn 46 Middlemarch The next study of this sort was made by Clark Wissler^ using the results of the following questionnaire which was " sent to a number of superintendents in Indiana, with the request for written answers from pupils under their charge." 1. Write the subjects of all the lessons that you remember from the reader you used last year. 2. Which one did you Uke best? What was it that you liked? 3. If you were taken to a book store and told that you might select just one book of your own what would you take? 4. Give your name, age, and grade. Answers were received from about 2,100 children. Of these 1,950 were used, 1,060 from girls and 890 from boys. One of the striking facts of Wissler's study is the rise of interest in poetry at the time when children reach the fifth reader. This fact is 7 Shaw, J. C, in West Virginia Journal, October, 1897. s Wissler, C, in Pedagogical Semirmry, V:523-40 (1898). 6 Children's Interests in Beading attributable to the study of Evangeline, Thanatopsis, and Snow- bound, which were cited time and again. Below is a classification' of lessons according to theme, show- ing preferences for each type. Only results for fourth and fifth readers are quoted here. The fourth reader was studied in grades 5 and 6 ; the fifth reader in grades 7 and 8. TABLE rV Percentages Indicating the Relative Popularity of Each Type of Reading Fourth Reader Fifth Reader i Age 11-13 Age 13-15 Boys Girls Boys Girls Fables 10 Heroism 24 10 7 4 Biography 6 7 4 2 Stories of Animals 11 14 Stories of Adventure 22 10 10 Information 2 2 1 3 Moral Precepts 2 18 17 Stories of Daily Life 20 32 35 35 Description 3 3 30 33 Unclassified 29 32 4 6 The liking for fables has disappeared at this age, while stories of daily life and description lead. The choices reported in response to question 3 ("If you were taken to a book store and told that you might select just one book of your own, what would you take?") fell upon 246 different books. Table V shows the facts for the most popular books. Table VI shows the general distribution of the choices. TABLE V Percentages Showing the Relative ; Popularity of the Twelve Books SelectjSD for Purchasing above all Others Per Cent Per Cent Boys Girls Longfellow's Poems 8 11 Robinson Crusoe 12 7 United States History 9 5 Bible 4 5 Seven Little Sisters 3 4 A Story Book 5 3 Black Beauty 3 2 Uncle Tom's Cabin 2 2 Little Lord Fauntleroy 1 3 Man of the House 2 2 Little Women 2 George Washington 3 2 Review of Previous Studies 7 TABLE VI DiSTHIBUTION OP CHOICES AmONQ THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OP BoOKS ChOSEN According to Text-Book Gradation Fourth Reader Fifth Reader Age 11-13 Age 13-15 Boys Girls Boys Girls Fiction 43 42 32 36 Poetry 13 24 27 44 Biography 9 5 11 6 Travel 10 5 History 19 10 10 5 Religion 4 8 4 1 Science 3 2 1 Humor 1 2 1 Miscellaneous and unintelligible 8 11 7 6 Even as early as the fourth reader it is noticeable that fiction leads. Poetry is chosen much more often, in proportion, than it is later. The boys even now are ahead of the girls in their interest in history. Wissler's interpretation of his results is as follows: "The poetical works chosen were the poems of Longfellow, Bryant, Riley, LoweU, Whittier, Holmes, and the Gary Sisters." "Sex differences are found here. The boys possess greater individuality of choice. Though the number of boys (890) was less than that of the girls (1,060), the choices of the former feU upon a hundred and seventy-five different books, the latter upon a hundred and fifty-seven. ' ' "1. Fiction. That there is little difference in the sexes; both show a gradual decline with the advancement of age. 2. Poetry. That the interest of both sexes increases rapidly with age, but that the girls lead with a constant gain. 3. Biography. That the boys lead. 4. Travel. That books of this kind did not interest either sex. 5. History. That the boys lead but that the girls follow in parallel; the maximum is reached in the fourth reader. 6. Beligious BooTcs. That the interest is approximately constant. 7. Science. That the general interest is small, boys leading. 8. Humor. That the interest is very small." "A general sex difference appears from an examination of the books peculiar to the choice of each. Both lists contain a large and approximately equal percentage of fiction, but this fiction differs in kind. Among the works of fiction chosen by the girls 8 Children's Interests in Beading are many books that portray the home life and everyday thought and emotion. The love story interests the older girls, many boys prefer fiction reciting the exploits of the adventurer in the garb of the scout, the explorer, the soldier, or the 'young man making his way in the world '. " In the non-fiction " the girls choose more of those relating to deportment and social and domestic training, while the boys lead in those relating to industrial and professional lines. In general it seems that the girls have greater interests in the field of action where affection and kindness are striving for the noble and the true; the boys in that field of action where strength, courage, and honesty of purpose struggle against the more material environment." The method used by this author of inferring the class of reading children are interested in by what they remember has elements of strength. Satisfaction strengthens the mental asso- ciations probably more than any other factor; therefore, what has given us greater satisfaction will, other things being equal, be more readily recalled. But satisfaction is a variable quantity dependent upon the freshness of the individual as well as upon the inherent interest of the material read. The unusually large percentage choosing the first lesson of the reader attests this latter fact. The fifth study was made by Clara Vostrovsky at Modesto, California.' The questions took the following form : 1. a. Do you take books from the public library? 6. If so, how often? 2. a. What was the name of your last book? 6. Why did you take it? c. How did you like it? Answers were received from 1,269 children of whom 604 were boys and 665 were girls. The answers show that fifty per cent of the boys and forty-eight per cent of the girls use the library. The following is a classification of books last taken from the library. Each age is reported on the basis of 100 replies. Age 10 11 IZ IS H 15 IS 17 18 19 B G BG BGBGGB BG BG BG BG BG Juvenile Stories. . 65 100 67 87 61 77 74 64 55 60 50 40 44 18 35 9 Fiction 5 5 8 5 6 22 11 27 11 35 12 35 19 36 15 43 20 67 General Lit- erature... 28 8 31 18 20 14 34 13 39 25 44 47 48 55 85 52 80 33 Number of Pupils... 28 11 43 43 48 40 49 12 51 44 57 55 54 54 59 70 69 83 79 75 » Vostrovsky, C, ' ' Children 's Tastes in Reading, ' ' Pedagogical Seminary, VI : 523-38. Review of Previous Studies 9 Under "general literature," history and biography take the lead. This resembles the results of studies 2 and 4, shown in Tables II and VI. The answers to questions "why" as in the sixth study were not satisfactory. The percentages of children who gave certain answers are: Boys Girls Because of children 12 52 Because of adventure 76 24 Because funny 6 12 Because of miscellaneous reasons 6 12 In conclusion Miss Yostrovsky says : "In the classification of children's tastes as stated by themselves we get the most marked differences between the sexes. According to this girls preferred domestic stories, especially stories about children like themselves, while boys care more for books of adventure. . . . " " No boy confesses to a purely girl's story, while girls frankly do to an interest in stories about boys. Women writers seem to appeal more to girls, men writers to the boys ; hence the authors named by each sex are almost entirely different. . . . The fact that certain juvenile books were not liked, seems due to a superabundance of descriptive detail in them, to the introduction of sad scenes into the story, to whatever seemed to the child 'silly', or to what was imperfectly understood." The sixth study, written by Fred W. Atkinson and published under the caption of "The Reading of Young People," was made at the high school of Springfield, Mass.^" The purpose of this study was " to find out the reading done at a time when the young people were without any direct school guidance." The following reading blank was used on the opening day of school. 1. What books have you read during the summer? 2. Which of these books do you especially like? 3. What character in these books do you especially like? 4. Who is your favorite author? 6. What magazines do you read and which do you like best? Questions 5 and 7 are omitted since they do not concern this study directly. 10 Liirary Journal, XXXIII: 129-34 (1908). 10 Children's Interests in Beading Atkinson, in comparing his records witli those of other students, quotes the findings of Leland, librarian of the New York Board of Education. Leland found that the ten authors chosen by children of the upper grammar grades in the order of their preference were : Alcott, Wiggin, Burnett, Dickens, Henty, John Long, H. B. Stowe, Longfellow, Scott, and A. E. Barr, while the ten favorite books in the order of their preference were: Little Women, Sara Crewe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Black Beauty, Birds' Christmas Carol, Bohinson Crusoe, Beiecca of Sunnybrooh Farm, Old Fashioned Girl, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and Evangeline. The author concludes that ' ' The books most read by the senior class of 1897 during the previous summer were: Soldiers of Fortune, Thelma, Bomance of Two Worlds, Honorable Peter Sterling, Quo Vadis, Les Miserables, The Knight Errant, Pris-i oner of Zenda. The authors were: Alcott, Dickens, Irving, Stevenson, Davis, E. P. Roe, and Edna Lyall. Thirteen per cent read nothing. The average number was two or three." The description of books chosen by the junior class is very indefinite. " The junior reading lists were better than those of the seniors. Many read and liked The Outlook, Century, Scrib- ner's, and even The Forum." "The most general literary in- terest centers in historical novels, the favorite authors being: Scott, Dickens, Holmes, and Irving. There is not as much love of adventure among the boys as might be expected. There was a very slight readiag of poetry. The Springfield Bepublican is the paper most read while Munsey's is the most popular maga- zine. ' ' The characterization of the sophomore reading list follows: " The authors most read are Scott (the favorite of 26), Dickens (the favorite of 14), Irving, Cooper, Dumas, Lew Wallace, Hugo {Les Miserables), Lord Lytton {Last Days of Pompeii), Jane Porter {Scottish Chiefs), Prescott, Kingsley, Crawford, Steven- son, Kipling, and Doyle. Of the poets Longfellow, Tennyson, and Shakespeare." " Henty is read by some boys who read little else ; also Captain King, M. J. Holmes, Clara Louise Bum- ham are favorites with some girls who read little else." "As a whole the sophomore class read more history, more adventure, more travel, and much more poetry than either of the two higher Review of Previous Studies 11 classes. There is a wider range of preference for magazines, Mumey's, Harper's, and McClure's being the best liked. The Scientific American is much read. ' ' The freshman reading list is commented upon as follows : "In Springfield the books most read by the entering class during the summer of 1897 were: Ivanhoe, Lady of the Lake, Marmiomk, Tale of Two Cities, Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Pickwick Papers, Ben Eur, Vicar of Wakefield, Pilgrim's Progress, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, Westward Ho, John Halifax, Bamona, Lorna Doone, Treasure Island, Near to Nature's Heart, Wide Wide World, the Peasant and the Prince, and the poems of Long- fellow and Whittier . . . " " Sixty-nine out of a class of 180 gave history the first preference . . . " A surprisingly large number enjoyed the poetry of Scott, Longfellow, "Whittier and Shakespeare." " No bad books were read and few useless ones. There is a wide interest in travel and adventure, but the liking for biography was more remarkable." The seventh study, entitled "Reading Tastes of High School Pupils, ' '^^ was made by Allan Abbott in 1912. In this investiga- tion Abbott submitted the combination of two reading-lists — " One was published by Harvard in 1897, in a pamphlet en- titled ' English in the Secondary Schools.' The other was in- cluded in the report of the sub-committee on English to the National Education Association Committee on College Entrance Requirements " — 178 books in all — to high schools of many types. Pupils were asked to comply with the following requests : "1. Put a zero (0) after the names of the books jou have read and do not like. 2. Put a plus (-{-) after the names of books you have read and like. 3. Put a double plus (-| — |-) after the names of books you have read and would like to read again. 4. Add to the list any favorite books or poems not included in it." "About six thousand of these lists were sent out in the attempt to include schools of all classes, in all parts of the country; 2,649 answers from boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and nineteen were returned, classified as follows : ii^ School Review, X : 585-600. 12 Children's Interests in Beading Age 14 IS 16 17 18 ig Total Boys 92 212 255 194 99 37 889 Girls 192 356 456 352 170 54 1580 Abbott first tabulates a percentage table of one-third of the books used most frequently in school. He then calculates the " normal book " so that the books deviating from it may be easily distinguished. The popular list follows in Table VII. TABLE VII Beading Tastes of High School Pupils (From Allan Abbott) + " Books receiving more than normal number of double pluses.'' + +" Books you have read and would like to read again." Gkoup A. Books Receiving more than Noemal Number or Double Pluses Age 14 IB 16 17 18 19 BG BG BG BGBGBG AuTHOE Title 92 192 212 356 250 456 194 352 99 170 37 54 Coleridge: Ancient Mariner.. . . 4- -f- Cooper: Last of the Mohicans 4- + + + + + Spy + + + + + Dickens: David Copperfield. . +++++ ++ + Tale of Two Cities. . + + + + 4. + Goldsmith: Deserted Village + + + + Vicar of Wakefield... + Hale: Man Without a Country -f- -f- Hughes: Tom Brown's School Days + 4- + + + + Irving: Sketch Book + + Lamb: Tales from Shakes- peare -I- -I- + + 4- Lincoln: Gettysburg Speech. . -|- -)- 4. Longfellow: Miles Standish + + -|- + + + EvangeUne + + + + + ++ +4- 4.+ Wayside Inn -j- Lowell: Vision of Sir Launfal 4-4-4. iScott: Ivanhoe -f-4- -)- 4- -f- 4- 4- 4. 4-4- 4- Kenilworth 4- 4- 4- Lady of the Lake.... 4- + + 4-4- 4-4- 4--J- 4--f- Shakespeare; Hamlet 4- -l Julius Caesar 4. 4- Macbeth 4, 4-4- Merchant of Venice.. 4-4- 4- 4-4-4-4- Midsummer Night's Dream 4_ Stevenson: Treasure Island + 4- 4- 4- 4-4- Wallace: Ben Hur 4- 4. 4. 4- 4- Whittier: Snowbound 4- 4- Review of Previous Studies 13 Group B. ' ' Eead by at Least 10 Per Cent op Pupils, that Eeceived at Least Twice the Normal Number op Double Pluses ' ' Age 14 15 16 17 18 19 AtiTHOB Title BGBG BG BG BG EG Aldrich: Bad Boy + Allen: Choir Invisible + Blaokmore: Lorna Doone + + + + + + Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby. . + Dodge: Hans Brinker + + + Eggleston: Hoosier School- master -i- Eliot: Silas Marner + Henty: Young Carthagini- ans -t- + -I- -t- Mulook: John Halifax + + Group C. The Most Popular Books, Suggested by Pupils Age 14 IB IB 17 18 IB AnTHOB Title BGBG BG BG BG BG Alcott: Books H- -I- + -H + + Barrie: Little Minister + + + + + Bulwer: Last Days of Pom- peii -h -t- + + Bronte: Jane Eyre -)- + + + + Browning: Poems + Caine: Christian 4- + H" Caskoden: When Knighthood was in Flower. ... -\- Castleman: Gun Boat Series. .. . -\- Churchill: Richard Carvel + -1- -t- + + -f- -)- Cooper: Leather Stocking Tales + + + Corelli: Thelma + + + Davis: Soldiers of Fortune. . -H + -1- + Dickens: Books -|- + -t-+ -)-+ + + + Dumas: Books -!--)- + + + + Doyle: Sherlock Holmes + Eliot: Mill on the Floss .. . + Finley: Elsie Books -|- -t- Ford: Books + + + + + Henty: Books + + + + Hope: Books + +-|-++-F-t-++ + Kipling: Books + H- + + Poems + H- -H -f + + Longfellow: Hiawatha +-f 4- + Poems H- + + Porter: Scottish Chiefs + + Sienkiewicz: Quo Vadis -f- -f- -H + + + -f Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin.. -t- -H + + + Tennyson: Idylls of the King.... i" , + , "^ , "*" Poems + + + -I- + + Thackeray: Vanity Fair + + + + + Twain: Books -|- + + + Warner: Wide Wide World... + Westcott: David Harum + -(--t-+ ++ -t-+ + + + + Hawthorne: Scarlet Letter + + Mitchell : Hugh Wynn + Page: Red Rock + + Palmer: Odessey -f- Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.. . + Verne: 20,000 Leagues + 14 Children's Interests in Beading The author summarizes as follows : ' ' First there is a striking youthfulness in general tone; high school boys frankly avow a liking for the Gunboat Series, The Henty Books, Pyle's Bobin Hood, and Mark Twain; and girls for Miss Alcott, The Elsie Books, and Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare . . ." In con- eluding the discussion of the negative side of high school in- terests in reading the author says, "High school boys and girls are frankly young; they lack subtlety, complexity of interest, minute insight, and the sense of form, and consequently they do not relish these qualities in books. Their interest is always in content rather than in style; in the direct story rather than in one to any degree satiric or symbolic." There are noteworthy differences between the type of books read by the boys and the type read by the girls. "Boys and girls both like: Dickens, Hope, Longfellow, Scott, Sienkiewicz, and Westcott. " " Boys alone like Blackmore,' Cooper {Last of the Mohicans) , Churchill, Dumas, Ford, Henty, Hughes, Kipling, and Stevenson. Girls alone like Alcott, Barrie, Bronte, Bulwer, Lamb, Shakespeare, Stowe, and Tennyson." These lists clearly show the prevailing love of adventure on the part of the boys and of sentiment on the part of the girls; but they also show that the two tastes are not irreconcilable; that boys and girls have a common meeting ground in books rich in both feeling and incident." And also, "First, boys and girls like novels of the day whatever the subject; second, they enjoy the study of man- ners and of daily life if it is the study of their own daily life, as in Miss Alcott or Hughes, or if it is somewhat overdone — perhaps a bit caricatured. ' ' The following books are liked by boys from 14 to 15 years, but disappear from the lists before the end of the high school period : Aldrioh: Peck's Bad Boy Muloch: John Halifax Blackmore: Lorna Doone Page: Eed Eock Castleman: Gunboat Series Palmer: Odyssey Cooper: Leather Stocking Tales Pyle: Kobin Hood Dodge: Hans Brinker Koosevelt: H^^o Tales from Ameri- Egglestou: Hoosier Schoolmaster can History Fiske: War of Independence Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Kingsley: Westward Ho Sea Longfellow: Poems Wyman: Under the Eed Eobe Review of Previous Studies 15 Books appearing first at the age of 18 or 19, among the lists of boys, are : Bulwer: Last Days of Pompeii Caskoden: When Knighthood "Was in Flower Coleridge: Ancient Mariner Dickens: Tale of Two Cities Doyle: Sherlock Holmes Goldsmith : Deserted Village Hale: Man Without a Country Hawthorne: Scarlet Letter Irving: Sketch Book Lincoln: Gettysburg Address Mitchell: Hugh Wynne Shakespeare: Hamlet, Macbeth Stockton: Eudder Grange Thackeray: Vanity Fair Wallace: Ben Hur " The contrast is marked. Of the first list jiist one-half the •books are distinctly juvenile; of the second, not one." " This ripening of taste consists largely ia an increased interest in realism in the study of the world as it lies about us." The books named below are liked by girls from 14 to 15 years, but disappear from their lists before the end of the high school period : , Cooper : Spy Dodge: Hans Brinker Eliot: Silas Marner Finley: Elsie Books Longfellow: Tales of the Wayside Inn Longfellow: Hiawatha Muloch: John Halifax Eostand: Cyrano de Bergerac Tennyson: Poems Wallace: Ben Hur Whittier: Snowbound Books first appearing on the lists of girls at the age of 18 or 19 are: Kipling: Poems Shakespeare: Hamlet Julius Caesar Macbeth Midsummer Night's Dream Scott: Quentin Durward Allen: The Choir Invisible Browning: Poems Byron: Poems ChurchiU: Richard Carvel Goldsmith: Deserted Village Hawthorne: Scarlet Letter Irving: Sketch Book ' ' Here again we find a curious maturing of tastes in the dis- appearance of Hans Brinker, The Elsie Books ; though reference to previous lists will show that girls remain faithful to Miss Aleott and The Wide, Wide World." We must keep in mind in the case of Abbott's study that the choices are largely made from a series of books laid down from above and hence the possibilities are limited. Even when these pupils had the opportunity of selecting the books they would 16 Children's Interests in Beading like to see added to the outside reading lists there may often have been in their minds some such thought as : " The books are to be added to the reading list of the high school, and hence must be good." The results are quite different when free choice of ibooks is given the children. The eighth study of this general type was made by Roxanna E. Anderson in 1912 and reported under the title, "A Pre- liminary Study of the Reading Tastes of High School Pupils. ' '^^ Among the questions submitted to the schools of Fort Dodge and Iowa City, Iowa, the following have significance for this study : 1. Underline the kinds of reading that you like: travel, great men, great women, adventure, love stories, ghost stories, detective stories, war stories, how to make things, and science. 2. Which books for outside reading do you like best? In each case state why. 3. Which one of all the books you have ever read do you like the best? 4. Do you like poetry? Favorite poem? Replies were received from 269 boys and 319 girls. The nature of the pupils' reading is disclosed by the following table: TABLE VIII Pebcentages of Each Type op Reading Checked by Boys and Girls Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior BG BG BG BG Travel, stories of 36 46 31 45 35 44 29 47 Great Men, stories of 24 31 19 27 24 14 36 33 Great Women, stories of 4 46 3 38 4 33 9 47 Adventure, stories of 90 76 89 75 76 67 84 53 Love stones 36 73 50 82 45 87 63 86 Ghost stories 28 47 27 32 24 41 16 24 Detective stones 74 53 77 45 65 56 63 26 War stories 70 41 59 32 45 27 45 20 How to make thmgs 33 23 40 18 44 11 22 24 Science, stories about 14 12 20 8 45 9 53 12 Once again we see that adventure is most popular with boys. Noteworthy is the gradual falling off of the detective and war stories as boys and girls approach the senior year. Boys choose only men as heroes. While girls like men for heroes they like women more. Girls far surpass boys in their interest in love stories. ^^Pedagogical Seminary, XIX : 438-60. Review of Previous Studies 17 The overlapping of classifications causes all relations to be somewhat blunted. For example, the relation between travel and fiction as here given is 36 to 90. Indications from other studies, e. g., study 2, Table II, show this relation to be more than eight to one in favor of fiction. The lists of popular books occurring on pages 29-30 are of much more value for finding out the genu- ine interest of children in reading. Here we see the choice of types of literature. If percentsiges are made the table shows little relation to the first one. Mrs. Anderson reports (1) on books appearing in the fresh- man and sophomore years but disappearing before the junior and senior years, and (2) on books popular in the latter two years but not appearing in the former two, as follows : BOTS Freshman Sophomore Lorna Doone Motor Boys Alger Books Hans Brinker Treasure Island Not appearing Freshman Sophomore Alcott Hans Brinker The Spy Mrs. Wiggs One of the Elsie Books Treasure Island Uncle Tom's Cabin GiBLS Not appearing Junior Senior Not appearing Ivanhoe Call of the Wild Shepherd of the Hills Man Without a Country David Copperfield Junior Senior Not appearing Alcott Eamona Anne of Green Gables Tables David Copperfield Shepherd of the Hills 18 Children's Interests in Beading Magazines especially popular with boys are: Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Popular Mechanics Popular Mechanics Saturday Evening Post Saturday Evening Post Youth's Companion Everybody's American Boy McClure's Cosmopolitan Magazines popular with girls in order of preference are: 1. Ladies Home Journal 5. Everybody's 2. Youth's Companion 6. Cosmopolitan 3. Saturday Evening Post 7. McClure's 4. Woman's Home Companion The answers to the question, " What character would you most like to resemble ? ' ' were tabulated and classified. The percentages show the relative popularity of ten of the characters most popu- lar with boys and ten most popular with girls. ^'" Boys Gikls Per Cent Per Cent Washington 28 Washington 7 Lincoln 21 Lincoln 8 Napoleon 10 Florence Nightingale 6 Eoosevelt 9 Ellen (Lady of the Lake) .... 5 Edison 8 Agnes (David Copperfield) ... 4 Grant 5 Joe (Little Women) 4 Caesar 5 Portia (Merchant of Venice) . . 4 Franklin 4 Clara Barton 2 Taft , 3 Evangeline 2 Frank Gotch 3 George Eliot 2 The question, " What book would you like included in the course of study?" was answered in various ways. From these answers the books were tabulated for each high school year. Ten of the most frequently named books for each high school year are shown on page 19. Mrs. Anderson's conclusions follow: "Boys like best books of adventure, stories that are full of action and outdoor life ; girls read for sentiment, beauty, and refinement of style." " While the pupils read a very creditable line of books, they read an overabundance of light periodical literature. There Review of Previous Studies 19 Fbeshman Miss Alcott's Books Treasure Island Double Play Half-Back Betty Wales Books CaU of the Wild Henty Books Uncle Tom's Cabin Girl of the Limber- lost Trail of the Lone- some Pine Sophomore of the Shepherd Hills Miss Alcott's Books Tom Sawyer Huckleberry Finn Little Minister Lives of Great Men (Edison, Roosevelt, Lincoln) Rules of the Game Anne of Green Gables St. Elmo The Sea Wolf Junior Crossing Life of Washing- ton White Company Calling of Dan Matthews Crisis Ben Hur Miss A 1 c 1 t's Books Brewster's Millions Ramona Sbniob Winning of Barbara Worth White Company Jack London's Books Tom Brown at Rugby Ramona McCutcheon's Books Books on Army and Navy Life Dicken's Novels Shepherd of the Hills is not a sufficient number of standard newspapers taken in the homes. ' ' " There is a noticeable change in taste in both the boys and girls with increasing age. Some books which are popular with the freshmen entirely disappear from the list before the senior year is reached." " Boys care less for the recommendations of others than the girls do. They exercise greater independence and individuality of choice than do girls. Boys choose as ideals historic and pub- lic characters, while girls very generally prefer characters from fiction. Religious characters are named with the least fre- quency . . . " The ninth study of this type, that I shall mention, was made by C. E. Jones. This investigation was published in book form in 1912 under the title of Sources of Interest in High School English. Questionnaires were sent to several different cities in the State of New York. " Questions upon the opening of schools the first week in September were submitted to high school teach- ers and pupils in the seven cities. According to the plan the first-grade high school reported on eighth-grade elementary work anfi the fourth-year pupils on third-year high school work." Among other questions were: 1. "What books, stories, or poems, aside from your regular school course, have you read since a year ago? 2. Which did you particularly like and why?" Table IX and graph set forth the distribution of the several classes of literature. Table X shows the list of most popular books according to age and sex. 20 Children's Interests in Beading The "Why" of the second question is answered either by- some commonplace learned in the school room or else by giving some non-essential reason therefor. In both cases the facts seem to show that the reasons are not real ones but those thought up for the occasion. A better plan would be to analyze the content of some very popular books and from these infer what is inter- esting. As evidence of the unreality of the reasons given for choosing books of a certain type, a number of responses have been tabulated in Table XI. et h graae let Year H^. 2nd Year H.3. 3rd Year H.3. .38 .S3 .32 .31 .30 .29 .28 .27 .26 .25 .24 .23 .22 .21 .20 .19 .18 .17 .16 .16 .14 .13 .12 .11 .10 .09 .08 .07 .06 .OB .04 .03 .02 .01 Graphic Peesentation op Table IX (From C. E. Jones) Boys ■ G-irls Science, Biography, and Essays — almost negligible. ^^* •, 1l n ^^''j^ \ \^ / \ j-P^ \ \ ^\^ / \ ^^- \s\ '\ / \ . <^ ^"^i^iXy /' \ \^^x \ \ r \ \ /\, \ ,oV' y^ ^-fe. \\J s \ \ / ^^\ /y/" 'Dbama V/ / ^^ ^y^< / 't\ \ 0' \. / / \ / ^^ ^ \ X^^^"'"'''^^'^ "^""•-"".s.-^- Beview of Previous Studies 21 X ^ m 6 I? CM CO (N IC <35 O rJH ^ oothc^i-(o oo (MM ^ COl^O0t^CO00(N(M ^Oi-HCDOOOt^CO C0OOO'H(N'-HO t^Ci3 00 050rHlO'>*< M (N00<33t>i-I (N O CO t^ CO to i-H O 1> CD CO CO i-H t^ 0> 00 ■* ■* -* O iNOOOr-Hr-li-HOO O 113 W o ^g o « IB ■< ■ » r-i a o o H O gg si PhOQ So O m 6 fe5 Oo Mo 6? t^ • O i-l •* (N CO lO CO "-H t^ 1-i .coco^-cocx^^~ OmiNTtnOO:CD(N'-00(N ■* 1-1 1^ IM CO ■ 02 h; fcH o C8 CQ O 13 CI >> S b <^ s? OPhQWwWH hi) c3 O CO 22 Children's Interests in Reading TABLE X Twenty Books Selected by Pupils as First Choices prom the Reading Done Outside the Begulab School Course During the Preceding Yeas. The Particular Arrangement was Made by the Author Age 13.5 Boys No.=560 Evangeline 41 Enoch Arden ... 38 Miles Standish..30 Whittier's Poems 28 Man Without a Country 24 Ivanhoe 22 Two Years Be- fore the Mast. 20 Merchant of Venice 20 Half -Back 20 Cooper's Works . 18 Treasure Island. 17 Bow of Orange Ribbon 16 Longfellow's Poems 15 Uncle Tom's Cabin 14 Last of the Mohi- cans 12 The Brook 12 Crimson Sweater 10 Being a Boy ... . 9 Black Beauty. . . 9 Sheridan's Ride. 8 (rrom c. E. Jones) Age 13.5 Girls Sro.=812 Age 15 Boys No.=494 Age 15 Girls No.=548 Evangeline 84 Uncle Tom's Cabin 44 Man Without a Country 42 Bow of Orange Rib- bon 40 Santa Claus'B Part- ner 35 Merchant of Venice 20 Treasure Island. . .21 Birds Christmas Carol 17 Ivanhoe 16 Little Women 16 Pathfinder 13 Timothy's Quest. . . 12 Prince and the Pauper 11 Elsie Dinsmore. ... 10 Betty Wales 9 Vision of Sir Laun- fal . 8 Land of the Long Night 8 Brewster's Mil- lions 8 Search for Andrew Field 8 Mill on the Floss... 8 Half-Back 24 Brewster's Mil- lions 24 Treasure Island ... 20 Merchant of Venice 20 Two Little Confed- erates 16 Affair Next Door. .16 Callof the Wild...l2 Tom Sawyer 11 Last of the Mohi- cans 11 Tom Brown's School Days 10 Sheridan's Ride. . .10 Hans Brinker 10 Crisis 10 Two Years Before the Mast 10 Man Without a Country 10 Ship of State 8 Hoosier School- master 8 Hamlet 8 Red Rock 8 Paul Revere's Ride. 7 Evangeline 16 Hans Brinker 14 Half-Back 14 Man Without a Country 13 Uncle Tom's Cabin 10 Gray's Elegy 9 Twelfth Night 8 Tempest 8 Myths of Greece. . 8 Lamb's Tales 8 Hiawatha 8 John Halifax Gentleman 8 Longfellow's Poems 8 Wild Animals I Have Known ... 7 Hoosier School- master 6 Silas Marner 6 Tale of Two Cities . 6 Midsummer Night's Dream. . 6 War of Independ- ence 6 Oliver Twist 5 Total Choices for 20 Books 383 436 ib'i 174 Ageie Age 16 Age n Age 17 Boys Girls Boys Girls No.=460 No.=504 No.=437 No.=490 Crimson Sweater 20 EvangeUne .IS Parkinson's His- Romeo and Juliet. . 12 Half-Back 19 Juhus Caesar .... .12 tories .26 Idylls of the King. .10 Courtship of Enoch Arden .... .12 Midsummer Coming of Arthur . 10 Miles Standish 18 Lowell's Poems. .. .11 Night's Dream. .19 David Copperfield. 10 Hans Brinker. . .12 Richard Carvel. . . .11 Juhus Caesar .... .14 Merchant of Venice 9 John Halifax John Halifax Twelfth Night.. . .12 Ben Hur 9 Gentleman ... 12 Gentleman. . . . .10 Oliver Twist .12 Midsummer Hoosier School- Macbeth .10 Horatius .10 Night's Dream. . 9 master 11 Hoosier School _ Three Musketeers .10 Oliver Twist 9 Three Musket- master . 9 Winning ot the King Lear 9 eers 11 Shakespeare's West .10 Tempest 8 Deerslayer 10 Plays . 9 Oregon Trail .10 Barrack Room Jungle Books ... 10 Jane Eyre . 9 Sheridan's Ride . . . 9 Ballads 8 Huck Finn 10 As You Like It. . . H Treasure Island. . H King Richard the Kidnapped 9 Macbeth 9 Winter's Tale R Richard Carvel. . . 9 Third 8 Idylls of the King. . S Romola . 9 Enoch Arden 8 Dickens' Works. 9 Lady of the Decoi Henry Esmond. . . . 9 Milton's Minor David Copper- ation . 8 Whittier's Poems . . 9 Poems 7 field 9 Hamlet . K As You Like It. .. . 8 Hiawatha 7 Crisis 9 Long's A n i m a 1 Marmion . 8 Hoosier School- Brewster's Mil- Stories Hans Brinker .... . 8 . 7 Pathfinder 8 Courtship of Miles master 7 lions 9 Longfellow's Poems 7 Juhus Caesar. . . 9 Twice Told Tales . . 7 Standish . 8 Measure for Meas- Michael Strogoff 8 Winning of the West 7 Quentin Durward . 7 Shepherd of the The Princess 7 Hills 8 The Crisis 7 Treasure Island. 8 Night's Dream. . 7 Total Choices for 20 Books 220 185 216 170 Review of Previous Studies 23 TABLE XI Eeasons for Reading Sir Launfal "for the study and the moral." Hero Tales "because of their brave men." Tony the Tramp "lots of plot and a good moral." Man Without a Country ' ' has lots of common sense and worldly wisdom in it." Prince and the PoMper ' ' teaches one not to be satisfied with his lot. ' ' Evangeline "teaches one to be patient, good and kind." Mrs. Wiggs of the Calhage Patch is admired for "Mrs. Wiggs' charac- ter." "Very exciting" and "Very interesting" are common re- sponses. Lorna Boone "beautiful descriptions of Scotland." Longfellow for his beautiful thoughts. Kidnapped and Treasure Island for " action and suspense" for "a strong plot." Nedra "is exciting." Merchant of Venice is "full of excitement." The Brooh "tells what a brook would say if it could." Wenty's books are "exciting." Canoemates "has some brave fellows in it." Betty Wales is "thrilling with excitement." Sheridan's Bide "is a startling story of a ride." Merchant of Venice "is a good hint to miserly people especially in the trial scene." Life at West Point ' ' tells what boys have to do. ' ' Story of a Bad Boy ' ' deals with a real boy. ' ' Youth's Companion "has a variety of articles." Sdentiflo American "for its happenings all over the world." Eam^ BrinTcer "tells of Dutch life." Little Women, Little Men, and the Eoosier School Boy, are all "good stories. ' ' Ben Sur is "not like other stories." Judged by the type of books that boys and girls of high school age read when left to their own devices, many of these reasons appear specious. Examples of reasons that are almost surely false are : Tony the Tramp, because there is in it " lots of plot and a good moral, ' ' Man Without a Country ' ' has lots of com- monsense and worldly wisdom in it," and Sir Launfal " for the study and the moral." On the other hand, those that are ap- parently true, such as Scientific American " for its happenings all over the world," Canoemates " has some brave fellows in it," are of such a general nature that they furnish' but little evidence of the child's genuine interests in reading. Since there 24 Children's Interests in Beading is such a commingling of false and general facts in tlie reasons children give for liking books, the obtaining of them is a rather useless procedure. That the questions addressed to the children as to why they like the books they read often bring forth very insufficient answers is further evidenced by the following discussion from " Pre- liminary Study of the Reading Tastes of High School Pupils." "Freshman boys: Because it is exciting, is full of adventure, treats of backwoods fighting and pioneer life, has a good plot, is a story with action, gives definite data on camp outfits, tells of life of a great man, is scary and very exciting, tells about wars and Indians, is about outdoor life, tells about the pluck of boys, is thrilling and tells about pirates, gives something practical, because of the humor in it, is a good football story. "^' Senior boys : ' ' Because it deals with people like we meet in life, descrip- tion is good, interest is kept up throughout, has a good plot, describes nature, is full of experience, gives good advice, the characters are natural, gives a touch of romance, gives informa- tion, the characters are well pictured. ' ' Freshman girls : ' ' Be- cause the author uses such perfect English and has ideas resem- bling mine, it is interesting and lively, I like the characters, is about girls, is amusing, appeals to me, is about children, tells about things that happen at home, has a secret in it, easy to read and understand, teaches a lesson, is sad and interesting, is inter- esting and turns out nice. ' ' Senior girls : ' ' Because the author makes xis feel the situation, is a true story and the characters are real, has a mystery running through it, the plot is good and well enough developed, has good historical setting, characters are real and noble, is instructive and has a good moral effect, is cheerful and helpful, is pathetic, has a good love plot, the love story is true. ' ' The freshman boys apparently give the most genuine answers of all since (a) they are more concrete and (&) they do not savor so much of what has been taught them. ' ' Excitement, ' ' ' ' backwoods fighting, ' ' and ' ' pioneer life, " " gives definite data on camp outfits," " tells about wars and Indians," " tells about the pluck of boys," " tells about pirates," " is a good football story " are genuine reasons, the proof of which assertion will be 13 Anderson, article in Pedagogical Seminary, XIX :438-60 (1912). Eeview of Previous Studies 25 offered in Chapter III. The pupils other than freshman boys are not so accurate in their descriptions of the reasons why they like books. With senior boys, for example, we see more consideration for social approval, a certain fear of being thought unlike the others, and a scholastic attitude which reaches its maximum in " description is good " or " describes nature," "interest is kept up to the end," and such like. The freshman girls are less naive and outspoken than are the boys. ' ' Because the author uses such perfect English ' ' is mixed with ' ' has a secret ' ' as reasons given for liking books. The latter probably is the more real reason. The senior girls almost outdo the senior boys in empty phrases. An eighteen-year-old girl would seldom sit up till twelve o'clock poring over a book " because it is in- structive " and " has a good moral effect," or " because it is a true story and the characters are real." Contrast the seniors' answers with the seniors' most popular books: Winning of Barhara Worth, White Company, Jack London's books, Tom Brown at Bughy, Bamona, McCutcheon's books, etc. Jones' conclusions are: " In the first year there is a general rise in the ratio of current reading and a fall in that of classic reading. In the second and third years this condition is reversed . . . " " The fiction most popular is that in which strong plots hold a large place in proportion to the other ele- ments of novel structure . . ." " On the same basis of mental growth it may be argued that in the second and third years there is a rise in interest in classic fiction and a decline in interest in current fiction." " Except for the popularity of the Barbour books in the second year of the second city, the course of juvenile fiction is continually downward." " Youths do not like to do ' childish things '. There were few of the Henty, Alger, or the Harry Castleman type or of the weak girly Elsie books." " Yet Little Women and Tom Sawyer are read from the fifth grade upward. ' ' " The Deserted Village and Idylls of the King are mentioned, but Palgrave is entirely omitted. Nevertheless, throughout the course there were occasional expressions of a positive love for poetry for the poetic elements. ' ' 26 Children's Interests in Reading " Its range (drama) is narrow, practically all Shakespearean, but no other type shows so constant and so iiniform a rise in total reading and first choice." The essay, history, biography, and science form only a small percentage of the outside reading. The interests of boys and girls in books are compared as fol- lows: " Such difference as exists is so slight that it may be attributed to local or special conditions. The plot curves are nearly identical and furnish strong proof of the conclusions reached in regard to plot . . . " " There is, however, an apparent difference in sex for reasons of choice. In the same plot girls enjoy the emotional elements, and the boys the ele- ments of physical action ; boys admire the man that can do and girls the one that can endure, both frequently naming the same character for these different traits . . . " " . . . in each year girls read more poetry than boys do." The author summarizes among others the findings of the two following investigators which are of importance to this study. "B. A. Kirkpatrick in an investigation of five thousand chil- dren from the fourth to the ninth grade finds that girls read more poetry and stories than boys do, but boys read more travel and history. The poetry curves of boys and girls, however, are parallel throughout the grades."" " The most surprising and lamentable fact appearing in these answers is that almost no scientific books are being read, and few that may be classed as scientific and literary such as Burroughs. ' '^^ Samuel Thurber says, ' ' From the honest confession of a large number of pupils I find that 91 per cent of it [their voluntary reading] is light modern fiction ; 5 per cent essays, biography and science ; a little more than one per cent poetry, and a little more than 2 per cent of what we should call literature. " " The authors of this great 91 per cent range from Marryat, Henty, Miss Jewett, Dumas, Trowbridge, through all the the authors of our ' novels of the day ' to Alger, Standish, Winfield, Castleman, and men who have produced a dozen books poorer and weaker than the 11 Op. cit., p. 141. 15 ihid., p. 140. Review of Previous Studies 27 TABLE XII Most Populak Books at Each Age. Grammar Grades (Prom H. G. Henderson) l=one of most popular of that age Age Author Defoe : Brooks (HiU): Stows: Sewell: Andersen : Castleman: Longfellow: Alcott: Baylor: Sidney: Alcott: Grimm: Burnett: Burnett: Burnett: Andrews : Coflto: Alcott Swift: Burnett: Ellis: Henty: Castleman: Franklin: Alcott: Coffin: Moor: Fiske: Alcott : Wiggin: Cummins: Wyss: Clemens: Dickens: Sue: Wallace: Finley: Dxmaas: Cooper: Hayes: Bolton: Boone: Bunyan: Finley: Porter: Scott: Dickens : Sewell : Title II 12 13 14 15 BGBGBGBGBG Robinson Crusoe Life of Washington Uncle Tom's Cabin Black Beauty Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales . Frank on a Gunboat. ....... Poems Under the LU%qs Juan and Juanita Five Little Peppers Little Women (at head of list of all ages of girls) Fairy Tales Little Lord Fauntleroy Sara Crewe Editha's Burglar Seven Little Sisters Little Red Riding Hood Boys of '76 Little Men Gulliver's Travels Two Little Pilgrims' Progress Hunters of the Ozarks Lion of St. Marks Frank of the Moimtains Life of FrankUn Eight Cousins Building of the Nation Life of Lincoln ^. . History of United States Aunt Jo's Scrap Book Christmas Carol Lamphghter Swiss Family Robinson Tom Sawyer David Copperfield Wandering Jew Ben Hur Elsie's Children Count of Monte Christo Last of the Mohicans Castaway in the Cold Poor Boys Who Became Famous History of United States Pilgrim's Progress Elsie Dinsmore Scottish Chiefs Ivanhoe Nicholas Nickleby Beautiful Joe 1 1 28 Children's Interests in Beading proverbial ' dime novel ' of the newsstand. Never, however, have I found a boy reading a book positively vicious, or, in my mind, wholly worthless. We must realize that the large major- ity of our pupils' voluntary reading is simple crude narrative, entirely lacking in literary style or spirit or purpose."" The last article of this type that I shall mention was made by Florence B. Low in an article concerning the interest of girls in reading. Miss Low sent out a questionnaire to 200 English girls between the ages of 15 to 18. The majority voted for Edna LyaU, two of whose books, Donovan and We Two, are favorites. Merriman's novels came second and close to these The Prisoner of Zenda. The authors, Marie Corelli, L. T. Meade, and E. E. Green were mentioned frequently, while approximately three per cent of the older girls named David Gopperfield. With the exception of Dickens no standard novelist found his place among the favored books. While most of the girls had read a consider- able number of Dickens and Scott, not a single book of Mrs. Gaskell was named in the test. ' ' Tennyson is the favorite poet, Idylls of the King taking first place. Longfellow's Evangelime and Hiawatha are much loved. " " Little Women, Good Wives, and Old Fashioned Girl by Louise Alcott have practically dis- appeared. ' ' Finally, ' ' these girls do not like Scott, Dickens, or Thackeray or such writers ; they want something modem, lively, interesting and light. They do not want serious books. "^^ Prom Table XII, of H. C. Henderson, I have tabulated the following to show the changing tastes of children. Books continuously popular from 11-15 years with boys and girls are: Boys Girls Black Beauty Black Beauty Uncle Tom's Cabin Uncle Tom's Cabin Life of Washington Under the Lilacs Little Men Little Women Life of Washington Little Men 18 Bef erred to by Jones, p. 136, but quotation from C. H. Thurber: "Vol- untary Beading of the Classical High School," School Beview, XIII : 171. n Nineteenth Century, LIX : 278-87. Review of Previous Studies 29 Books popular between 11-12 and not later are: Boys Life of Washington Fairy Tales Frank of the Gunboat Juan and Juanita Five Little Peppers Little Red Biding Hood Two Little Pilgrims' Progress Hunters of the Ozarks The Lion of St. Marks Frank of the Mountain Girls Life of Washington Fairy Tales Sara Crewe Editha's Burglar Seven Little Sisters Little Eed Biding Hood Gulliver's Travels Two Little Pilgrims' Progress Life of Franklin Books popular between 13-15 and not before are : Girls Cummins: Lamplighter Life of Lincoln Aunt Jo's Scrap Book Christmas Carol Wandering Jew Ben Hur Elsie's Children Scottish Chiefs Ivanhoe Nicholas Nickleby Beautiful Joe Building of a Nation Life of Lincoln History of the United States Swiss Family Bobinson Tom Sawyer David Copperfield Count of Monte Christo Last of the Mohicans Castaway in the Cold Poor Boys Who Became Famous Pilgrim's Progress Table XIII shows the choices of books of grammar grade students from three representative studies. TABLE XIII Most Popular Books of Three Studies Tabulated Together. Meanings op Scores Described in Each Study. Grammar Grades No. 1. Iowa City, Cedar Bapids: Frank O. Smith. Council Bluffs, 1907. Books selected voluntarily. Wrote as many as pleased. First choices. No. 2. West Boylston, Mass. Arthur P. Irving. Fed. Bern., 1900. ' ' Name books that you have read and name those you liked best. ' ' Seventh grade. No. 3. Several Grammar Schools in Chicago. H. C. Henderson. N. Y. State Beport, 1897. "What books have you read since school opened in September (8 mos.)? Which did you like the best?" First choices used. 30 Children's Interests in Beading Atthor Alger, H: Alcott: Blackmore : Burnett: Carroll, L. : Churchill: Clemens, S. L. Connor : Defoe: Dickens : Finley : Fox: Heminway: Henty: Hughes: London: McCutcheon: Otis: Rice: Saiinders: Scott: SeweU: Sidney: Stevenson: Stowe: Wallace: Wister: Longfellow: Irving: Aldrich: Lang: Bunyan : Coffin: Brooks (HiU) : Moor: Burnett: Aldrich: Andrews : Coffin: D'Amicis: dimming' Craik: Baylor: Porter: TABLE XIII— (Continued) Study Study No. 1 No. 2 B G B G Title 385 573 61 60 Works 25 14 Series 20 80 22 Lorna Doone 9 19 Works 8 23 3 4 Alice's Adventures in Wonder- land 12 28 The Crisis 11 48 Works 35 19 6 1 Works 166 27 Robinson Crusoe 10 10 32 26 Works 15 35 Elsie Dinsmore 8 53 Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 10 39 Bracebridge: Jack Harkaway Books 31 393 Works 56 11 Tom Brown's School Days. ... 16 7 Call of the Wild 40 10 Works 12 107 Toby Tyler 20 4 Works 40 29 Beautiful Joe 31 64 Works 11 12 Black Beauty 81 118 4 26 Margaret: Five Little Peppers. 18 110 4 13 Treasure Island 45 90 Uncle Tom's Cabin 11 23 15 20 Ben Hur 6 15 The Virginian 11 23 Swiss Family Robinson 22 23 4 3 Youth's Companion 30 38 Poems 5 9 Rip Van Winkle 6 6 Peck's Bad Boy 7 Arabian Nights 1 6 Pilgrims Progress 1 6 Fairy Stories 7 Boys of '76 Life of Washington Little Red Ridmg Hood Life of Lincoln Little Pilgrims Progress American History Seven Little Sisters Story of our Country Building a Nation Sweet WiUiam Cuore Cinderella Lamplighter John Halifax Juan and Juanita Scottish Chiefs Study No. 3 B G 1511 1475 27 139 7 24 47 1 27 11 29 2 20 3 23 63 5 4 3 12 17 17 25 53 5 32 20 2 19 14 7 5 12 15 3 11 8 1 7 2 2 7 4 5 8 1 6 1 6 7 13 3 Review of Previous Studies 31 Author Title Swift: Gulliver's Travels Dumas: Count of Monte Christo. Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress Franklin: Life of FranWin Life of Daniel Boone. . . . Scott: Ivanhoe Warner: Wide, Wide World Wiggin : Birds' Christmas Carol . . Study Study Study No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 B G B G B G 386 573 61 60 1511 1478 6 3 2 2 3 3 2 5 3 2 5 5 TABLE XIV Most Popular Books of Three High Schools No. 1. Iowa City, Cedar Eapids. Fed. Sem., 1907. Council Bluffs, 1907. Books students selected. Wrote as many as pleased. First choices. Prank O. Smith, Elementary and High School. No. 2. Iowa City and Fort Dodge, la., 1912. Fed. Sem., 1912. Number of books each month. Books liked best. High School. First choices. Miss Eoxanna E. Anderson. No. 3. Various schools. Sch. Rev., 1902. List of 178 titles submitted to be evaluated. Might add books they liked. Eeturns not so good because students had the attitude of re- quired reading. Books suggested by pupils. Allan Abbott. Study No. 1 B G Author Title 245 399 Alcott: Series 10 Alger, H.: Works 5 2 Blaekmore: Lorna Doone 7 12 Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Won- derland 5 Churchill: The Crisis 18 47 Clemens: Works 6 2 Conner: Works 9 14 Defoe: Robinson Crusoe 6 17 Dickens: Works 13 52 Finley: Elsie Dinsmore Books 7 Fox: Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 15 49 Hemming: Jack Harkaway Series 1 5 Henty: Works 17 1 study No. 2 B G 261 309 Study No. 3 B G 889 1589 26 3 15 13 6 12 17 12 9 37 8 11 32 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XIV (Continued) Study No. 1 B G AuTBOB Title 245 399 Hughes: Tom Brown's School Days... . 6 6 London: CaU of the WUd 28 8 MoCutcheop: Works 4 Sidney Five Little Peppers 4 29 Stevenson: Treasure Island 6 7 Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin 20 32 Wallace: Ben Hur 10 12 Wister: The Virginians 20 32 Nedra 8 Jackson: Ramona 4 Cummins : LampUghter 3 Roe: Barriers Burned Away 3 Dodge: Hans Brinker Young: Motor Boy Series Rice: Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Wiggin: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Scott: Ivanhoe Eliot: Mill on the Floss Eggleston: Hoosier Schoolmaster Hale: Man Without a Country OUivant: Bob Son of Battle Kipling: Jungle Books Warner: Being a Boy Cooper: Last of the Mohicans Cooper: Spy London : Sea WoK Allen: Kentucky Cardinal Tarkington: Gentleman from Indiana Rice : Lovey Mary Porter: Girl of the Limberlost Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Finley: Elsie Books Barrie: Little Minister Bulwer: Last Days of Pompeii Bronte: Jane Eyre Churchill: Richard Carvel Davis : Soldiers of Fortune Dumas : Count of Monte Christo Ford: Books Hope: Books KipKng: Books Kiphng: Poems Longfellow : Hiawatha Sienkewicz: Quo Vadis Tennyson: Idylls of the King Poems Thackeray: Vanity Fair Westcott: David Harum Study Study No. 2 No. 3 B G B G 261 309 889 1689 34 6 81 5 4 10 5 6 7 5 6 4 8 5 5 28 5 20 10 25 16 27 30 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Table XIV, which includes lists of books popular in the high school, contains the results of three studies. Studies 1 and 2 are really comparable. Study 3 was made for the purpose of finding Review of Previous Studies 33 out the actual interest of children in 178 books appearing on two college entrance lists. On the questionnaire the children were asked to add to the list. The children were evidently in a " required reading " frame of mind for the suggestions made are strikingly different from those of any other study. On the other hand, Studies 1 and 2 made in the same state are quite similar. "With both boys and girls we see that UtwU Tom's Cabin, The Crisis, Connor, Treasure Island, Dickens, Loma Doone, Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, and The Virginian are popular. Sigh School Boys Prefer: Alger Clemens Henty Call of the Wild Ivanhoe Man Without a Country Bob Son of Battle Jungle Books Being a Boy Last of the Mohicans Sea Wolf Count of Monte Christo Young Motor Boy Series Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Hiawatha High School Girls Prefer: Alcott Crisis Dickens Uncle Tom's Cabin Bamona Hans Brinker Mrs. Wiggs Mill on the Floss Anne of Green Gables Kentucky Cardinal Gentleman from Indiana Lovey Mary Girl of the Limberlost The Elsie Books Nedra Jack Harkaway Series McCutcheon 's Books Five Little Peppers Lamplighter Barriers Burned Away The small number of books on information, travel and poetry is noticeable. The number of books with little or no literary merit, such as Alger, E. P. Roe, The Elsie Books, is also woilhy of comment. The second means of getting at the interests of children in reading is by questioning adults about their reading at a certain age. Many inaccuracies are apt to creep in here such as (a) those due to lapse of memory and (&) those due to the difficulties of interpreting something in the past because of the present interests. On the other hand, if a book made a vivid impression 34 Children's Interests in Beading on us at a certain time we are very apt to remember it while the memory of those not so stimulating may have been lost. The in- vestigations are two: Chase: "Adolescence, Its Problems and Experiences Applied to the Choice of Reading Matter for the Early Adolescent Years, "^^ and Lancaster: "Psychology and Pedagogy of Adolescence. ' ' ^^ The questions asked by Chase were: A. What is your recollection of yourself as a reader before eighteen? B. Did you ever experience a peculiar craze for reading? If so, at what C. What books did you choose? D. Why did you choose them? E. What books, now looking back upon, do you consider helpful or harmful? P. Why? G. What kind of characters did you choose for heroes and heroines? H. Did you ever have a period of reading books in secret? I. Did you ever exchange books in secret with school friends or other mates? There were 213 men and 506 women who replied to these ques- tions. There is absolutely no account of how many questionnaires were sent out ; hence the results may be vitiated by our ignorance of the nature of the selection of the individuals who did reply. Questions were also sent out to librarians in regard to the age of children whereat came the greatest demand for books ; the differences between the boys and girls in this respect ; their age differences in this respect, their differences in the intensity of craze for reading; the librarians' recommendations of a few choice books for adolescence. In answer to the question concerning the recollection of one's self as a reader before the age of 18, " 60 per cent were great readers, 27 per cent were moderate readers, and 13 per cent cared nothing for reading. ' ' The greatest reading period was from the age of 12 to 15, which agrees approximately with the findings of Lancaster and James E. Russell and with the answers of the librarians. IS Journal of Adolescence, 1901, pp. 220-26; 1902, pp. 44-59. IB Pedagogical Seminary, V : 61-128. Review of Previous Studies 35 The answers of 12 men and 12 women concerning the types of books liked by them between the age of 12 to 15 were tabulated as follows: Men Women Emotion and Feelings 3 Interest in People 6 4 Interest in Animals 2 Interest in Things 1 Interest in Adventure 5 1 Interest in History and Biography 5 1 Interest in Fairy Tales 1 Interest in Sad Stories 1 Lancaster, in his study, used the following inquiries in his questionnaire : What change was noted in reading? What different authors, poets, novelists, essayists, historians, biographers, orators, books of travel, etc., were preferred? The author proceeds: "Five hundred and twenty-three full answers were received. The tastes of those answering were evi- dently influenced by the literature taught in their schools, yet as these returns came from twenty states stretching from Maine to Utah, the results are significant. Two hundred and twenty- three men and two hundred and thirty women have had what might be called a craze for reading at some time in their adoles- cent period. Twenty-four men and forty-six women have noticed no difference in reading. A record was kept of the authors read and preferred. Of the poets Longfellow lead by more than two to one, having 237 votes, Tennyson 125, Whittier 104, Shakes- peare 72, Holmes 53, Bryant 43, Mrs. Browning 21, Lowell 16, Wordsworth 11, etc. Of the historians Bancroft and Maeaulay had the most votes. Of the novelists : Scott 126, Dickens 112, Aleott 89, Eliot 64, Hawthorne 46, Roe 35, Stowe 25, Cooper 22, Lyall 21, Thackeray 17, Lytton 17, Lew Wallace 16 ; novels 812, poetry 797, essays 67, history 37, travel 30." The third method of finding the interests of children in read- ing is that of observation and experiment. There are two reports in this category. The first to be mentioned — that of Frank Blair, principal of the Franklin High School, Buffalo, New York,— is 36 Children's Interests in Reading an experimental one.^" The following poems were read to the boys and girls from the fourth to the sixth. After the reading each pupil was asked to express his or her opinion on a scale of ten. Boys Girls Flodden Field 2 8 Lochinvar 4 4 Ye Mariners of England 7 9 The ViUage Blacksmith 3 3 Landing of the Pilgrims 5 6 Light of Other Days 9 3 Building of the Ship 8 7 The Day is Done 7 4 Barbara Fritchie 1 1 The Skylark 7 5 "1" is highest. The two most striking differences are, of course Flodden Field and The Light of Other Days. ' ' In the fourth and fifth grades Old Ironsides was substituted for Ye Mariners of England and The Barefoot Boy for The Vil- lage Blacksmith. Here as in the sixth and seventh grades Bar- bara Fritchie proved a general favorite. The boys place Old Ironsides first while the girls gave that place to The Barefoot Boy. Flodden Field was ranked third by the boys and sixth by the girls. ' ' The remainder were approximately the same. "In the sixth and seventh grades the boys and girls ranked the poems as follows: Boys Girls Snowbound 1 4 Barefoot Boy 2 3 Maude Muller 3 1 In School Days 4 2 " All of the boys gave Snowbound first place and none of the girls gave it first. All the boys placed In School Bays last while none of the girls did so. ' ' This type of experimental method is to be commended highly and serves its purposes admirably in the case of poems ; but it is evidently impracticable in the investi- gation of the interest of children in books. The second article was reported by the principal of a village school in 1901 under the caption of " Boys Reading Club." The chief characteristics of this club were its voluntary organiza- tion, its severity of initiation, the use of surplus dues to purchase 20 Quoted by Chase in Journal of Adolescence, 1901, pp. 220-26; 1902, pp. 44-51. Review of Previous Studies 37 books, and its social nature. ' ' The age limit is from 12-17 years ; two are 12, four are 13, three are 14, two are 16, two are 17 years of age, thirteen boys with an average of 14 years. " " They meet about three evenings each week. The time is spent in reading, playing games, and some indulge in card playing. They frequently give socials to their girl friends. These are given in the club room. ' ' The following is a list of their books : Biile. Commercial Trip with an Uncommercial Ending. The Senator's Bride. Wit, Wisdom, Eloquence, and Great Speeches (Bob Ingersoll). Diclc Travers in the Chagos Island. The Circuit Eider. The Yankee Champion. Bobinson Crusoe. Bip Van Winkle. Cricket on the Searth. Alone in London. Captain Tom, by the author of Dr. Jack. Niek Carter's Slippery Quarry or The Case Against Frisco Jim. SoAied from the Penitentiary. House in the Swamp, by a New York Detective. The Bradys in Texas. Ali Baia and the Forty Thieves. A book of stories selected from the Youth's Companion. Skinney on the Bead or Working for Fu/n or Trade, by Tom Teaser. The Bradys and the Ofp,ce Boy, or Working up a Business Case. The Girl in Black or Tracking a Confidence Queen. Sassy Sam Skinner. The last three are regarded as the best in their library. ' ' Be- sides the books they have a large collection of standard maga- zines. The Strand, however, is their favorite. "^^ Here we find a type of reading, a little of which is in most of our lives but which is usually superseded by better things. The boys evidently needed wise direction in their choices of books. This situation shows just what often takes place when the innate cravings for excitement and adventure are not harnessed and directed into wholesome channels. The last method that I shall mention of studying the interests of children in reading is that of records of withdrawals of books from libraries. Such a method was used directly by A. E. Bost- 21 Quoted by Chase in Journal of Adolescence, 1901, pp. 226-28. 38 Children's Interests in Beading wick in the article entitled " Eeading of Adults and Children, "^^ by M. B. C. True in "What My Pupils Read,"'" indirectly by Lutie E. Steams in " Reading for the Young in the Public Libraries,"^* and by Millieent Kaltenbach in " Room Libra- ries. "^'^ Only one article of this type is definite enough for pur- poses of this study, and that one is "What My Pupils Read " by M. B. C. True, published in 1889. The records are for the withdrawals of books from a small town library. There was no indication of the exact ages of the children, though there is mention of the fact that very few were from the primary grades and that the school extended through the second year high school. There were about 176 (if I inter- pret correctly) who withdrew books. TABLE XV List of Most Frequent Withdrawals prom a Library (From M. B. C. True) Alcott : Little Women 38 Ten Boys Little Men 30 Tennys: Coffin: Boys of 76 28 Coffin: Old Times in the Colonies 20 Headley: The Stories of Liberty 20 Tennys: Coffin: Winning His Way. .40 Headley: Bauvard: Soldiers and Patriots 17 Sanborn: Lady Caleott: Child's England 13 Alcott: Eight Cousins 35 Tennys: Under the Lilacs .... 29 Dana : Whitney: Faith Gartney's Girl- hood 23 Coleridge Abbott : David Crockett 18 Kit Carson 17 Alcott: Whitney : Leslie Goldwaite .... 17 Coolidge : Patience Strong's Outing 13 Abbott : Abbott : Daniel Boone 10 Aldrich : Story of a Bad Boy . 26 CooHdge : Andrews: Seven Little Sisters , 24 Stowe: Seven Little Sisters Baker: Part II 14 Hale: Who Lived 13 Fishes and Reptiles . 13 Boys of '61 12 Sheridan 12 Birds 12 W. T. Sherman 11 A Winter in Central America 11 Quadrupeds 11 Two Years Before the Mast 10 Mischief's Thanks- giving 17 Rose in Bloom 14 Nine Little GosHngs 13 Marco Paul in Lon- don 13 Eyebright 12 Pussy WiUow 14 Soldier and Servant . 12 10 Times 1 = 10.... 10 The following list of books (Table XVI) has been compiled from the studies of H. C. Henderson, Mrs. Roxanna Anderson, Frank 0. Smith, and C. E. Jones. For the years 11-12 only one study, that of H. C. Henderson, was used, since his was the only systematic investigation of the upper grades in the elementary 22 Library Journal, II : 444-46. 23 Education, X : 42-45. 24 Library Journal, XIX (supplement) : 81-87. 25 N. E. A. Proceedings, 1897, pp. 1021-25. Review of Previous Studies TABLE XVI 39 Most Popular Books Arranged in the Order of Their Popularity According to the Method Just Described Boys Robinson Crusoe Boys of '76 Life of Washington Little Men Uncle Tom's Cabin Black Beauty Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales Frank on the Gunboat Gulliver's Travels Longfellow 's Poems Two Little Pilgrims' Progress Under the Lilacs Hunters of the Ozarks Juan and Juanita Lion of St. Marks Five Little Peppers Frank in the Mountains 11-lS Girls Little Women Uncle Tom's Cabin Eobinson Crusoe Fairy Tales Little Men Under the Lilacs Little Lord Fauntleroy Black Beauty Seven Little Sisters Two Little Pilgrims' Progress Life of Washington Life of Franklin Little Bed Eiding Hood Eight Cousins Sara Crewe Editha's Burglar Age Boys Half Back Lorna Doone Treasure Island Cooper Motor Boys Scott Evangeline Alger Books Kipling Merchant of Venice Hans Brinker Bob, Son of Battle Enoch Arden Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Being a Boy Man Without a Country Two Years Before the Mast Miles Standish Whittier 's Poems Brewster's Millions 13-15 Girls Evangeline Alcott Wiggin Man Without a Country Hans Brinker Lorna Doone Uncle Tom's Cabin Spy Montgomery Bow of Orange Eibbon Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Lovey Mary Santa Claus' Partner Elsie Dinsmore Merchant of Venice Treasure Island Birds' Christmas Carol Five Little Peppers Ivanhoe Eobinson Crusoe 40 Children's Interests in Beading Boys Parkman's Histories Call of the Wild Connor's Works Julius Caesar The Virginian Lorna Doone Crimson Sweater Uncle Tom's Cabin Clemens' Works Half Back Henty's Works Dickens' Works Midsummer Night's Dream Churchill's Works Little Shepherd of Kingdom Hans Brinker Ben Hur Man Without a Country John Halifax, Gentleman Treasure Island Age 16-17 CrirU Evangeline Dickens Treasure Island Julius Caesar Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come Ivanhoe Bomeo and Juliet Crisis Alcott Enoch Arden The Virginian Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Idylls of the King Uncle Tom's Cabin Come Bamona Lowell's Poems Connor's Works Hoosier School Master Bichard Carvel Ben Hur school. The ten most popular books for boys of the age of 11 were combined with the ten most popular books for boys at the age of 12 into one group by taking the first of the 11-year-group, then the first of the 12-y ear-group, then the second of the 11- year-group and the second of the 12-year-group until both lists were consumed. In the ease of the years 13-1& and the years 16-17 the investi- gations of Mrs. Roxanna Anderson, Frank 0. Smith, and C. E. Jones were used, since they contained lists of books arranged in the order of their popularity. In the first place it was necessary to divide the books in the case of the first two authors into two groups for the high school — an early one and a late one; in the case of the last named investigation, to combine 13 and 15 into one group and 16 and 17 into one group. At the end of these processes I had three groups at each age and for each sex — 12 groups in all. In obtaining the twenty most popular books for boys, say, during the years 13-15, the first book from the list based on C. E. Jones' study was taken, then the first book from the list based on Mrs. Anderson's study, and the first one from Review of Previous Studies 41 the list based on P. 0. Smith' study. When this was completed I took the second book from each group and in the same order, and the third one, etc., until there were twenty books for boys aged 12-13. The same process was followed for the girls of this age and for the boys and girls aged 16-17. The group drawn from first — that of Jones — ^was the one based on the choices of the largest number of children. Among the ten reports which have been reviewed in this chap- ter there is much variation in respect to the literary quality of the choices and the proportion of so-called ' ' serious ' ' books chosen. In general the form of the inquiries favors the record of " better " and more " serious " reading, and different studies differ in this. In some matters there is substantial agreement. Both boys and girls read more fiction than anything else and like it better. In nine cases out of ten girls read more fiction than boys. When- ever this fiction has been analyzed there is a general concurrence of opinion that boys prefer fiction of adventure ; that girls, par- ticularly in the high school period, are greatly interested in senti- ment and emotion, that they like, especially in the lower grades, stories about children like themselves and, in the upper grades, about people like themselves. These stories show also that girls in the high school period like novels of the day which concern manners and daily life. Girls do not like history and biography as much as do boys. During the high school years girls do like the biographies of men heroes, but they prefer those of women, and in their ideals prefer characters from fiction rather than those from real life. The interest of girls in travel, adventure, and science is almost negligible. Boys often show a real liking for history, sometimes as early as in grade four. Many boys give history as a first choice. They display very little interest in books on travel or science, though more than the girls. With increasing age preferences for juvenile fiction give way to preferences for adult fiction, and preferences for poetry in- crease. 42 Children's Interests in Reading Articles and Books Eefereed to in Chapter I Abbott: "Reading of High School Pupils." School Eeview, 1902, X: 585-600. Anderson: "Preliminary Study of the Beading Tastes of High School Pupils. ' ' Pedagogical Seminary, 1912, XIX : 438-60. Atkinson: "Beading of Young People." Library Journal, 1908, pp. 129-34. Boys Reading Club (no author given). Jownal of Adolescence, 1901, pp. 226-28. Chase: "What the Adolescent Actually Reads." Child Study Monthly, 1901, VI : 322-28. Chase: "Adolescence: Its Problems and Experiences Applied to the Choice of Beading Matter for the Early Adolescent Years." Journal of Adolescence, 1901, pp. 220-26, 1902, pp. 44-59. Henderson: "Report on Child Reading." Report of the Department of FuUic Instruction, N. Y., 1897, II : 978-91. Irving: "Home Beading of School Children." Pedagogical Seminary, TII : 138-40. Jones: Sources of Interest in English. 1912. Kirkpatrick : "Children's Beading." Northwestern Monthly, 1898, VIII : 188-91; IX : 229-33. Lancaster: "Psychology and Pedagogy of Adolescence." Pedagogical Semimary, V : 61-128. Low: "Reading of the Modern Girl." Nineteenth Century, LIX: 278-87, Miner: "Voluntary Reading in English High Schools." School Review, XIII : 180-90. Russell and Bullock : ' ' Some Observations of Children 's Reading. ' ' N. E. A. Proceedings, 1897, pp. 1015-21. Shaw: "Children's Reading." West Virginia Journal, October, 1897. Smith: "Pupils' Voluntary Reading." Pedagogical Seminary, 1907, XIV : 208-22. Thurber : ' ' Voluntary Beading in the Classical High School. ' ' School Review, XIII : 168-78. True: "What My Children Read." Education, X : 42-45. Vostrovsky: "Children's Tastes in Reading." Pedagogical Seminary, VI : 523-38. Wissler: "Interest of Children in Reading in the Elementary School." Pedagogical Seminary, V : 523-40. CHAPTER II INVESTIGATION OF CHILDREN'S INTERESTS IN READING BY THE METHOD OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE From a consideration of the studies mentioned in Chapter I it seems evident that children, even those of high school age, have not the ability to explain why they like certain books rather than others. The facts there indicated that it is entirely feasible to obtain from children approximately correct responses in re- gard to their choices of books, provided the questions are simple enough. If a child could know that the answers obtained would under no occasion be used against him, the chances that the responses would be correct are increased ; and, if he had only a few simple direct questions put ,to him orally, his attention would be concentrated on the task at hand and the responses would be more accurate ; and, finally, provided that the children wrote only their first names, their identity would be lost and they could more freely attack the task at hand. Thus the two conditioning elements, the situation and the question of ' drive, ' are provided for — the answers of course being not only determined by the simplicity of the situation, " What book do I like?" as proposed by the experimenter, but also by the sub- ject's inner condition as exemplified by such questions as "Is it worth while V " Can I afford to write down the name of the book that actually thrills me ? " " What would the teacher think if he knew?" and " What would Mary think?" etc. The following questions, based on the criteria of simplicity, brevity, and accuracy, were submitted either in person or by a friendly principal to the schools of Flayetteville, Arkansas; Lawrence, Kansas ; Stuttgart, Arkansas ; and Washington, D. C. In all responses from 3,598 pupils were obtained. In only rare cases were there no responses from individual pupils. A brief statement of the purpose of the study was given to the pupils and the conscious attempt made on the part of the examiner to put himself en rapport with the students. Next the fact was emphasized that the school authorities would not see the answers 43 44 Children's Interests in Beading of the individual student, and a plea to the students for actual truth was made. As an aid in helping pupils lose their identity they were asked to write their first names only. Other items asked for were age and grade or year. The questions used in each case were: I. 1. Will you kindly write down for me the name of the book you like best of all the books you have ever read? 2. Will you write down for me the name of the book you like next best of all the books you have ever read? 3. Will you write down the book you like next best and next best of all the books you have ever read until you have written five books arranged in the order of your preference? II. 1. Will you write down for me the name of the magazine you like best of all the magazines you have ever read? 2. Will you write down the name of the magazine you like next best of all the magazines you have ever read? 3. Will you write down the name of the magazine you like next best of all the magazines you have ever read so that altogether you have written three maga- zines, arranged in the order of your preference? The children took up the business of writing the answers earnestly and in many cases eagerly. There were those who made play of the performance but they were few. In several cases the principal accompanying me said that he was certain that the pupils were doing their best to answer the questions as accurately as they could. Those who took the matter as a joke could be eas- ily detected in the unusual character of their answers, such as the nineteen-year-old senior asserting that Mother Goose was her favorite book. These chance errors which crept in were insuffi- cient to cause any deviation from the central tendency of in- terests. The material thus secured from the students was gone through for the purpose of selecting a list of books and maga- zines which were more often chosen than any others. Each of these books and magazines was given a number by means of which it was subsequently identified. All the replies of the Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 45 students were then tabulated, each book or magazine being regis- tered either by a letter which designated its general type, for example, fiction, or by the number which identified both the book and its class. In this manner each book on the popular list received a number of votes and each type of book likewise re- ceived its quota. The summary tables include all books or maga- zines from both the popular and the non-popular groups. In this study, by a "popular" book is meant one that is chosen four times as a minimum in the cases of Fayetteville, Lawrence, and Stuttgart, and five times as a minimum in the case of Washington. A " popular " magazine is one that is chosen five times as a minimum in all cases except Stuttgart and three times as a minimum there. In reference to both maga- zines and books, "most often chosen" is used as a synonym of " popular." By a " most popular book " is meant one that occurs on the list of the 16 most frequently chosen books with each sex at each age. By a. ' ' most popular ' ' magazine is meant one that occurs in the list of 12 most often chosen magazines. There are tables in each town and city of the ' ' popular ' ' books and of the " popular " magazines. There are also tables in each case of " most popular " books and of " most popular " magazines. The first town studied was Fayetteville, Arkansas. This town, which is the seat of the State University, is situated in the Ozark Mountains and has a population of approximately 6,000. The students questioned extended from the sixth grade through the high school. Their favorite books were so tabulated as to set forth the number of times each was chosen year by year. In the second place all the books were classified into adult fiction, juvenile fiction, adventure, biography, history, poetry, science, travel, information, humor, miscellaneous. Record was also kept of the cases where no choice was stated. Lists of books most often chosen were made. The students were not asked to check the type of literature they liked best. All conclusions concerning such types were drawn from their concrete reports of particular books. All magazines were classified as follows: adult fiction juvenile fiction, adventure, nature, pictures, woman's arts, sci- ence, current events, humor, miscellaneous. Record was kept of the cases where no choice was stated. Lists of magazines most 46 Children's Interests in Beading often chosen were made. The magazines listed in this study as popular include approximately 90 per cent of all the choices, while the books listed as popular include very nearly 45 per cent of all the choices. In Table XVII is set forth the relative interest in the types of books at each age, as shown by the number of choices. In this table are included all the choices and the records of those pupils that reported no choice. Tables XVIII and XIX contain the most popular books with the scores based on the actual times each book was chosen. In all cases the tables are reduced to the standard of 100 students at each group of ages studied. This process places all records upon the same basis and thus makes them comparable. In the discussion below the results of the three tables are combined — -summary, the popular list, and most popular list — in order to give as far as possible a more unified idea of (1) what books and magazines are in- cluded in each class, (2) just which of the books and magazines are responsible for the variability among the classes, (3) both the type of books and magazines and the names of individual books that are popular at each age and just how popular they are. Among the books adult fiction first demands attention. By adult fiction is meant that type of fiction which is in large measure written for adults but which the adolescent as well finds interesting. Adult fiction and juvenile fiction are treated independently of each other in this study. By inspecting Table XVII it is seen that the number of choices of this type in the case of boys rapidly increases from 9 to 18 years with the great- est change taking place between the ages of 12-13 and 14-16. Let us consider the following records based on Table XVII but including the sum of the choices of fiction alone: Age Boys Girls g-io 12-13 14-16 17-18 8 50 122 193 62 126 238 318 The most evident facts iu this diminutive table are (1) the rapid rise of interest in fiction in both boys and girls, (2) the very evi- dent difference of interest between boys and girls, (3) the great place of fiction in the favorite reading of both boys and girls from the ages 14-16 on, and (4) the striking difference between boys and girls between the ages 9-10 and 12-13. This last fact is Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 47 possibly explained by the earlier onset of puberty in girls than in boys. The most popular books of adult fiction as set forth in Table XVIII will next be considered. All points for the books of this table were obtained by adding together for each sex at each age the first, second, third, fourth and fifth choices which occur in Table XVIII. The reason the choices were added as gross scores instead of being weighted is because it was found that in the case of Stuttgart, where the test relating to the choices of books and magazines was repeated after an interval of six months, the names of the books but not their relative positions were maintained, and hence it seemed more reasonable to dis- regard the positions in obtaining a summary than to give to each a different weight. From the years 9-18, the five most popular books of adult fiction for boys are : Lorna Doone, When a Man's a Man, Shepherd of the Hills, Trail of the Lonesome Pine, and St. Elmo. The five most popular for girls are : Polly- anna, When a Man's a Man, Girl of the Limberlost, Freckles, and David Copperfield. The sum of choices 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the favorite books of this type (Table XVIII) for ages 9-18 is for boys 299 ; the corresponding sum for girls is 469. 48 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE Relative Frequency of Types of Books Arranged by Age, Sex, Age 9-11 Age 12-lS Age 14-16 B = 28 B = 66 B = lll G = 49 G = 67 G = 142 Choices 12345 12345 12345 Fiction B 4 4 9 12 9 6 14 30 28 26 22 16 G 19 15 8 10 10 30 29 22 33 12 53 47 49 47 42 Juvenile Fiction. . B 24 33 25 26 3 13 12 14 17 12 6 6 S 11 8 G 53 51 67 51 38 27 41 49 42 40 15 21 22 18 13 Adventure B 60 41 51 45 41 52 49 54 42 27 511 48 46 35 32 G 14 18 17 15 16 30 15 12 9 12 17 23 13 13 7 Biography B44 3 5232 12121 G 4 2 2 111 3 2 History B34 43 5 12 3 1 G22 1 2 211 Poetry B 44 35533 36564 G622 1861175636 Science B 33312 G Travel B 2 G Information B 388432 2 2 1 G 2 4 Humor B 3 8 48 12 83253643 G2428- 85938 31344 Miscellaneous. ...B3 5 23233 G22 241 13 No. Choice B 2 17 43 2 5 24 36 5 8 17 32 G 2 2 10 26 1 1 1 9 24 3 1 4 12 28 Total B 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 G 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 49 XVII AND BY Position. Age 17-18 B = 38 G = 42 12 3 4 5 Reduced to Basis op 100. Age 19-23 B = 14 G= 9 _ " Fayetteville, Ark. Summary go *^ s s s u^- 52 66 39 65 39 62 29 65 34 60 57 78 36 67 43 56 21 56 21 45 8 62 50 126 122 238 193 318 178 302 551 1046 2 1 5 13 18 7 18 5 10 2 3 11 7 7 11 14 11 111 260 68 199 36 89 44 38 28 22 287 608 3 2 28 10 22 17 31 17 2 29 18 25 7 15 11 21 29 11 22 11 29 11 238 80 11 8 224 78 12 3 211 73 7 5 135 69 2 116 44 924 344 308 IS 1 8 3 8 3 11 14 4 8 3 4 4 3 4 29 22 9 7 5 7 9 7 18 5 16 7 6 8 14 7 11 14 22 57 U 36 8 10 26 6 19 17 12 2 6 24 27 1 44 34 128 44 223 132 12 2 33 6 4 10 11 7 4 10.5 10.5 9i 5 2 2 3 5 3 2 15 16 33 33 21 15 11 11 80 75 6 S 5 6 5 8 3 14 29 11 7 11 11 3 10 5 5 13 27 50 33 98 48 5 6 2 3 2 6 4 8 8 26 12 11 11 22 62 40 67 36 62 48 43 28 44 234 196 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 50 Children's Interests in Beading a ui w M o « < t, pa (if to " ^T II o CO CO w >• II "^ Q3N ffl s O IH b. n O tn l-H cn <: P3 o g Q a g o Q ■* (— 1 Pi 5 « > X ^■~i II o S gAoo"« ffl tn o < P II o H (^ u o '^ J3 K B g.S a J sjg w-^ Zooa o z U3(MN!N CO CO (O COO Oi CO l> U5 -( CSli-H ,H i-H-^JI i-HCONi-l'-f ION i-c-^ :22 .to o ■8 fg 03 -T^ o Is n3 O *— 1 03 P CPSS-^ O) d ea o! ^H_S 0-5 1 ^ a o^;i Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 53 N N « CO CO CO CO CO C4 in (pn CO CO CO CO CJCO CO CO CO CO t^ CDCOCOIN CO O N CO -S^^" >■£"«'= a ?■§ S-^ ''^ 3 S^^ « S « O p* H dub^^ .s :^ II N a . •^ > "^ I- S a ^ e -Sis* P;3 O 54 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XIX Most Popitlar Books (16) Abranqed by Sex and Age Points = Sxim of Choices 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Age 12-13 No. = 66 Points Age 14-16 No. = 111 Points Age 17-18 No. = 38 Points Boy Scout Series .... 39 Miss Minerva and Wm. Greenhm....l3 Tom Sawyer 12 Treasure Island 11 When a Man's a Man 10 Last of the Mohi- cans 9 Elsie Dinsmore 8 Trail of the Lone- some Pine 7 Black Beauty 7 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch ... 7 Robinson Crusoe .... 7 White Fang 7 Huckleberry Finn ... 7 History (U. S.) 7 Just David 7 Rover Boy Series. ... 6 Boy Scout Series .... 22 Treasure Island 18 Ivanhoe 13 Last of the Mohi- cans 12 Lorna Doone 11 Shepherd of the Hills 11 Little Shepherd of Kingdopa Come. . . 10 Tale of Two Cities... 10 Tom Sawyer 9 When a Man's a Man 9 Freckles 9 Huckleberry -Finn. . . 8 Trail of the Lone- some Pine 7 Girl of the Limber- lost 6 Alger Books 6 Silas Mamer 5 Lorna Doone 24 Tale of Two Cities... 24 When a Man's a Man 18 Ivanhoe 18 St. Elmo 15 Shepherd of the Hills 15 David Copperfield. . . 15 Call of the Wild 15 Lady of the Lake .... 12 TurmoU 12 Shakespeare's Works 10 Freckles 9 Oliver Twist 9 Winning of Barbara Worth 9 Boy Scout Series .... 9 Tom Sawyer 9 Age 12-13 No. = 67 Points Camp Fire Girls 23 Pollyanna 21 Little Pepper Series. 15 Miss Minerva and Wm. GreenhiU....13 Fairy Tales 12 Just David 10 Freckles 10 Courtship of MUes Standish 10 Black Beauty 10 Girl of the Limber- lost 9 Under the Lilacs .... 7 PoUyanna Grown Up 7 Trail of the Lone- some Pine 6 Tom Sawyer 6 Little Colonel Series . 6 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch ... 4 GvrU Age 14-16 No. = 142 Points Pollyanna 18 Freckles 16 Girl of the Limber- lost 14 That Printer of Udells 12 Tale of Two Cities . .11 Camp Fire Girls .... 10 Ivanhoe 10 When a Man's a Man 9 Little Women 9 David Copperfield. . . 8 Harvester 8 Laddie 8 Shepherd of the Hills 8 Trail of the Lone- some Pine 7 Lorna Doone 10 Last of the Mohicans 6 Age 17-18 No. = 42 Points When a Man's a Man 27 Tale of Two Cities... 25 David Copperfield. . .22 Merchant of Venice. . 19 Shepherd of the Hills 18 Turmoil 16 Silas Mamer 12 Graustark 10 Girl of the Limber- lost 10 Ben Hur 9 Lorna Doone 9 Trail of the Lone- some Pine 9 Ivanhoe 9 Mill on the Floss 7 Macbeth 7 Freckles 6 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 55 Juvenile fiction, which during the ages 9-11 constitutes a large percentage of the total interest with both boys and girls, declines rapidly until ages 17-18. The girls lead in interest in juvenile fiction at all ages except at the ages 17-18. The sum of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth choices is for each group of years: Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 1^-18 Boys Ill 68 36 44 Girls 260 199 89 38 The chief causes of this difference of interest in juvenile fiction are a popularity with girls of Little Women, Little Pepper Series, The Little Colonel Series, and Black Beauty. Boys choose of this group Billy Whiskers, Black Beauty and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. In adventure we see another example of the prime differences between boys and girls. By adventure is meant that type of fiction wherein action, fighting, and rivalry are frequently em- phasized. Not only are boys more interested in this class from 9-11 but this difference continues through the high school period. Again we have the sum of the choices: Age Boys Girls P-JJ 12-13 14-16 17-18 238 224 211 135 80 78 73 69 As a whole the boys 9-18 give to adventure more than twice as many points as do the girls — 808 to 300. Books of adventure also figure very frequently in the boys' lists of books most often chosen. The five most popular books of this type with boys are : Boys Scout Series, Ivanhoe, Call of the Wild, Tale of Two Cities, and Treasure Island. Noteworthy also is the gradual decline of interest vdth the boys in this class of literature up to 16, followed by a sudden decline, and the much smaller decline of interest in this type with the girls. Among books of adventure the girls like best: Camp Fire Girls, Tale of Two Cities, Ivanhoe, Last of the Mohicans, and Treasure Island. The sum of choices 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the favorite books of this type (Table XVIII) from the years 9-18 is for boys 404 ; for girls, 114. Biography and travel are of little interest to the ordinary child. Table XVII shows that the interest in these two classes of books is small at the beginning and grows smaller as the chil- 56 Children's Interests in Beading dren get older. There is no book in either of these groups in the boys' popular list. The Life of Lincoln with 7 points is in the girls' popular list at the ages of 12-13. Boys lead in both biography and history. The interest in poetry shows a slight increase with both boys and girls from years 9-18. There is no real difference between the interests of boys and girls in this class. The Lady of the Lake, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, and Shakespeare's works as a group are more often chosen by boys and girls, although in no case is there any indication that a sufficiently large number of boys and girls have any vital interest in them to warrant for them a place on the popular lists. Travel and information have an even smaller hold on the in- terest of the modern boy and girl. The boys do show a small in- terest in these types from 9-11 years but this soon dies out. Boys are slightly more interested in humor than are girls. This fact is due largely to the interest of the former in the works of Samuel Clemens. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are popular, particularly with boys, throughout the high school. Miss Minerva and William Greenhill is popular with both boys and girls especially at the ages of 12-13. In magazines there is a rapid rise in the interest in adult fic- tion between the ages of 12-13 to 14-16. The sum of the choices age by age, as set forth in Table XX, shows this clearly : Age Boys Girls 9-1 z 12-13 14-16 17-ii 16 26 55 105 24 29 67 86 This class alone would give a false impression unless we considered also that of "woman's arts." "Woman's arts" contains a great deal of material properly classed as fic- tion and hence for the purposes of studying fiction might be added to this category. This explains the lack of the clearcut difference between the interest of boys and girls in fiction. Magazines representing adult fiction occur in the lists of favorite magazines of both boys and girls. The most popular magazines (see Tables XXI and XXII) of this sort are, for boys: Saturday Evening Post, American Magazine, Cosmopoli- tan, Harper's, and Bed Book, a total of 113 points. The most popular magazines for girls are: Harper's, Saturday) Evening Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 57 Post, Cosmopolitan, Path Finder, and American Magazine, a total of 131 points. Girls are more interested in juvenile fiction than are boys. After the years 9-11 the boys have practically no interest in this type. However, the girls' interest continues until 14-16. St. Nicholas and Little Folks are the most popular magazines in this group. The interest of boys in magazines about nature, although slight in comparison with their interests in other types of maga- zines, is greater than that of girls. It begins earlier and con- tinues larger throughout the high school. The National Geo- graphic Magazine, Country Gentleman and Outing are the maga- zines most popular in this group, and these are chiefly liked by boys from 14 to 16. Boys show very little interest in magazines consisting chiefly of pictures, mainly because magazines of this character are largely concerned with clothes and woman's arts. The sum of the first, second, find third choices, viz., Boys. Girls. )-II 12-13 14-16 17-18 4 6 8 47 26 26 9 shows that the number chosen by girls begins high, while the numbers representing the interest of the boys are never signifi- cantly large. The best liked magazines of this group are: Pic- torial Review, Photoplay and Motion Pictures, largely chosen by the girls. In the choices of woman's arts and science we see the sharpest division between the interests of boys and girls. It is rare that we find a boy choosing a magazine which would be placed in " woman's arts " and almost as rare to find a girl choosing one concerned with popular science. The sum of the first, second and third choices of both of these types as shown below is taken from Table XX. Woman's Arts Age Boys Girls g-ii 8 86 J2-I3 7 115 14-16 17-18 10 7 121 135 Science Boys Girls 36 12 58 4 54 56 4 2 58 Children's Interests in Reading TABLE Relative Fbequency of Types of Magazines Akbanqed by Age, Age g-ii Age 12-13 Age 14-16 Age 17-18 B = 28 B = 66 B = 111 B = 38 G = 49 G = 67 G = 142 G = 42 Choices 123 123 123 123 Adult Fiction . . . B 11 15 8 3 15 19 15 21 34 29 42 G 10 4 10 7 13 9 24 22 21 31 24 31 Juvenile Fiction. B 4 7 7 2 G 16 18 8 13 11 12 2 4 Adventure B 67 36 23 62 49 12 34 30 13 11 13 16 G 14 10 4 11 21 15 3 4 2 5 2 2 Nature B 4 3 2 12 5 9 10 11 6 5 G 10 3121755 Pictures B4 123 35 G 19 20 8 12 6 8 7 10 9 2 7 Woman's Arts ..B44 232 451 52 G 39 28 19 52 35 28 42 47 32 45. 56 34 Science B 11 14 11 16 21 21 19 20 15 21 24 11 G 2 10 2 2211 2 Current Events . B 3 5 12 7 5 13 8 G 2 2425552 Humor B 2 2 13 2 3 G 1111 Miscellaneous. ..B 44 25115 5 G 1211152 No Choice B 10 24 36 9 15 26 4 6 23 5 11 18 G 2 18 39 3 12 31 3 8 25 2 2 19 Total B 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 G 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 59 BY Sex, by Position. Reduced to Basis of 100. Fayetteville, Abk. Age ig-23 B = 14 G ^ 9 Summary Grand B G 12 3 9-11 12-13 14-16 17-18 19-23 Total Rank Rank 57 22 33 11 29 22 16 24 26 29 55 67 105 86 108 66 310 272 2 2 18 42 24 2 18 20 84 8 5 7 126 28 123 47 77 9 40 9 7 373 93 1 4 7 14 11 11 4 10 17 3 24 4 22 17 21 22 88 56 5 6 22 11 4 47 26 6 26 8 9 33 18 141 9 3 56 56 7 34 8 86 7 115 10 121 7 135 146 32 603 7 1 7 7 14 36 12 58 4 54 4 56 2 28 232 22 3 8 22 43 29 11 2 8 2 24 11 21 12 94 11 147 38 4 7 4 1 6 3 3 13 4 10 10 7 7 7 8 7 3 7 3 5 7 21 48 13 6 9 14 22 70 59 56 46 33 36 34 23 14 22 201 186 100 100 : 100 100 : 100 100 60 Children's Interests in Beading N r5 M M LO « ^ CO ffl "^ II o pq-H m p o o T-H 1-f T^ CO OD _,OCDIN ■-I.-IIM (N t^lM 05 fn (N o g IM IM (MNCO I— 1 CD T-H :?^co^ (M r~t I— 1 P^ ^ r« (N (N C^(N CO CO *0 CO CO XI X z > o (NiM >o lOlO OOMOl s o IN(N lO OCOC-l ^ H o II o N COCO (N CD M05 m^ (NIN T-H CD»0-* -* ■* ^l>t--* O. (N ■* IM-* IM QOC^l OJ (^ ^s ffl Tt( t^ t^ j-H t^OO g 1-t r-t II o -* ■*cq < ^ & o W p^ c3 14 bo 2 <=! :z;o Investigation ly the Method of the Questionnaire 61 1-1 r-i CO (N 1-H .-ICO I-H CDrf COCO-* 030 I-H T-H •*IN »-l N ■* CO ■*^ 00 .-H iniN CO CD CO CO CO 1-H CO CD T-H T1OC0 CO CHIN I-H IN •OiO (N »-H (N Tfl(N CO CO CO COCO CO CO ooco coco o I* CO CO CD CO CO -SS S"ia" 6-SBQ g » ^ ^ '-3 *3 o o 3 o Hh PL, 02 02 Kl (U CD b t< 2 !« ^ r^a =^ O > Ofli-:ic4 o cl g •» O c3 ^^ 3 o3 o 62 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXII Most Popular Magazines Abranged bf Sex and Age Fatettevillb, Ark. Points == Sum of Choices 1, 2, 3 Age 12-13 No. = 66 Points No. Boys Age 14-16 = 111 Points Age 17-18 No. = 38 Points American Boy 60 Popular Mechanics. .44 Youth's Companion .37 Country Gentleman . 25 St. Nicholas 17 Boy Scout Series .... 15 Popular Science 10 Saturday Evening Post 8 Pathfinder 4 Red Book 4 Literary Digest 4 Life 4 American Boy 47 Popular Mechanics . . 26 Youth's Companion . 15 Saturday Evening Post 12 National Geographic 11 Cosmopolitan 10 Harpers 10 American Magazine . 10 Ladies Home Journal 9 Literary Digest 9 Review of Reviews . . 7 Popular Science 6 Popular Mechanics. 45 Boy Scout Series ... 21 Harpers 18 Saturday Evening Post 18 Youth's Companion 16 American Magazine 16 Literary Digest. ... 12 National Geographic 12 Scientific American. 10 Country Gentleman 9 Independent 6 Review of Reviews. 6 Age 12-13 No. = 67 Points Ladies' Home Journal55 St. Nicholas 42 Youth's Companion. 29 Pictorial Review. . . .21 Woman's Home Com- panion 18 American Boy 14 Woman's World 13 Saturday Evening Post 8 Pathfinder 7 Little Folks 7 Red Book 5 Literary Digest 4 Girls Age 14-16 No. = 142 Points Ladies' Home Journal 49 Woman's Home Com- panion 23 Harpers 17 Woman's World 15 Saturday Evening Post 14 Pictorial Review .... 13 American Magazine. 12 Good Housekeeping. 12 Cosmopohtan 10 Youth's Companion. 8 Photoplay 8 Literary Digest 8 Age 17-18 No. = 42 Points Ladies' Home Joumal62 Good Housekeeping . 37 Harpers 28 Woman's Home Com- panion 19 Saturday Evening Post 19 Cosmopohtan 18 Woman's World 11 Youth's Companion . 9 American Magazine. 9 National Geographic 7 MotionPictureMaga- zine 7 Delineator 6 The girls ' interest in woman 's arts rises continuously through- out the high school period. The boys' interest in science rises gradually. There is one great difference. The total interest of girls in woman's arts is more than twice the interest of the boys in science — the total points being 451 for woman's arts and 204 for science. Boys choose, in the first place, Popular Mechanics more than three times as much as they do the rest of this group combined; in the second and third places they like Popular Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 63 Science and Scientific American. The favorite magazines of girls among all magazines occur in this group: The Ladies' Home Journal, The WomMn's Home Companion, and The Woman's World. The interest in current events rises suddenly at about 14-16. This is probably due to the class in current events in school. Boys have considerably more interest in this subject than girls. The Literary Digest, The Independent, Collier's and Review of Reviews are the magazines popular in this group. Girls, in both books and magazines, are attracted far more than boys by fiction, whether adult or juvenile, and by woman's arts and pictures, since they are largely concerned with dress and fashion. In the case of poetry the interests of the two sexes are approximately equal. Boys undoubtedly like fiction though their interest starts later and never develops to such a height as does that of girls. In the realm of action and adventure we find the boy peculiarly acclimated. He far surpasses his sister in his zeal for adventure. If we consider the mastery over mechanical processes, adventure, then there is accounted for all of his read- ing of the magazines on the popular science of the day. Because there have not been written scientific books from the standpoint of science in motion the boy is not attracted thereto. Contrast the almost total absence of interest in science as shown by his lack of choices of books and his general interest in Popular Science and Popular Mechanics among the magazines. If biogra- phy is of such a nature as to portray vividly the actions of brave men under unusual conditions exemplifying strength of char- acter, bravery, and perfect control of coordinations, it will catch the interest of the boy. Again, in current events, the boy reads about men in action, men who are doing things worth while which often require a mastery over either men or things, and he is thereby attracted. The boy is apt to be pleased with that type of reading which is less emotional, less sentimental, which empha- sizes to a less degree self-abnegation and more action, rivalry, and fighting. During the later high school years, however, the boys' interest increases in the more sentimental variety of read- ing but it never equals that of the girls in this respect. The next town to be studied was Lawrence, Kansas. This town of about 12,000 inhabitants is also the seat of a state uni- 64 Children's Interests in Reading versity. Exactly the same questions were asked the pupils, under conditions as nearly the same as it was possible to make them, and the replies, 733 in all, were classified and tabulated exactly as in the first town. The third collection of books liked was made at Washington, D. C. The principal of the New Central High School was kind enough to give the questions that were given by the author to the first two groups mentioned in this chapter. All the chil- dren here are from the high school while in the other two studies there are some from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. There are 1,879 returns in all, a number large enough to mini- mize the effect of whatever chance errors might arise. The same system of classification and the same methods of tabulation were used as in the other studies. The last town to be investigated for the purpose of finding children's interests in reading was Stuttgart, a small town located in Arkansas. The principal cooperated in the undertak- ing to such an extent that the author was able to use this com- munity to find the relation between results obtained with succes- sive reactions to the same questions. Thus the questions were submitted to the pupils of that town six months and five days apart in the fall and again in the following spring. Only the choices of pupils appearing in both tests — 200 in all — were tabulated. By means of this procedure an attempt was made to determine (1) the number of times the same book would be placed a second time in the identical position by the same indi- vidual; (2) the number of times the same individual would re- choose a book but disregard the position ; (3) the number of times a book would be rechosen, disregarding both the individual and the position; (4) the number of times the same magazine would be placed a second time in the identical position by the same in- dividual; (5) the number of times the same individual would rechoose a magazine but disregard the position; and (6) the num- ber of times a magazine would be rechosen, disregarding both the individual and the position. In answer to question 1 it was found that less than 10 per cent of the books are rechosen by the same individual in the same position; that in 23 per cent of the cases — omitting the three cases in ages 19-23 — ^the same books are rechosen by the same in- Investigation ly the Method of the Questionnaire 65 dividuals when we disregard the position ; and finally that practi- cally the same books are rechosen as were chosen the first time when we disregard both individuals and positions. It must be remembered that these choices were made more than six months apart and that the children in the meantime had no inkling of the fact that the questions were to be repeated. These facts point to the conclusion that since positions are not remembered one should not place too much emphasis upon the worth of the first, second, or third positions but rather should give each position a similar or equal rating with the others. In answering questions 4, 5 and 6, the magazines show a larger percentage of retentions of position of the same magazines, a larger percentage — 38 per cent — of rechoosing of the same magazines without regard to position and a similar rechoosing of the same magazines without regard to individuals. This last fact is more cogently set forth by two lists of books and by the two lists of magazines compiled, by the author but not published here.''^ In these lists it is shown that 30 magazines out of a total of 31 occurring in the first popu- lar group were rechosen and 51 books out of 57 occurring in the first popular list were rechosen in the second. Again the sum- mary of the lists shows that there is little variation in the type of books or magazines chosen. The facts altogether are strongly indicative (1) of a steady interest in the type of book or maga- zine mentioned, (2) that in some cases the book is so clearly remembered that it is given the same position in the second test as in the first one, and (3) that the type of books and the popu- larity of books remain approximately unchanged. The replies of children were also used, as was the case in towns 1, 2 and 3, in the study of the differences of sex, age and interest of children in reading. Tables XXIII to XXVIII were constructed to show the trends common to the four towns and cities studied. The summary table in the case of books was constructed by taking the median of the corresponding scores in the tables for the five separate cei suses."'^ The median score, as in other cases, is less disturbed by the extreme measures than is the average. Thus certain classes which because of the scarcity of cases had no score whatever did 26 These lists are on file in the Department of Psychology, Teachers College. 27 The two censuses at Stuttgart were both used. 66 Children's Interests in Reading TABLE Books. General Trend OF All Places Age 9- ■11 Age 12-lS Age li-ie Age 17-18 B59 G87 1 B253 G336 B 846 G1195 B283 G414 Choices 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 6 1 2 3 4 s Novels . B G 4 16 18 2 12 4 12 4 11 6 42 7 29 5 25 5 4 24 29 20 52 17 47 17 46 15 41 14 41 31 31 61 54 28 24 13 53 45 44 Stories . B G 27 72 28 60 27 68 31 60 13 63 13 29 15 41 14 48 17 14 42 40 12 28 9 33 12 28 8 27 8 33 7 15 17 7 8 5 6 10 11 14 Adventure.. . B G 64 7 60 6 51 15 32 11 46 15 66 18 60 15 57 12 52 52 16 18 54 15 61 18 53 20 52 21 52 15 46 39 15 17 50 43 36 17 20 10 Biography. . . B G 2 1 7 7 1 2 2 3 1 1 3 2 1 2 1 History . B G 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 Poetry . B G 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 4 3 2 2 5 7 2 2 2 5 7 8 Science . B G 1 2 Travel . B G 2 Information. . B G 2 8 6 2 2 1 4 1 1 2 1 1 Humor . B G 1 4 4 2 2 5 2 1 5 3 2 2 3 2 7 2 6 3 5 3 5 1 5 5 2 3 2 4 2 Miscellaneous B G 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 1 1 2 No Choice . . . B G 4 6 14 8 1 5 4 9 3 8 2 11 9 1 18 6 12 Investigation hy the Method of the Questionnaire 67 XXIII Studied. Median Used as Central Tendency Ase 19-SS B49 G56 1 2 3 4 S 9-11 12-13 Summary 14-16 17-18 19-23 Grand Total B Rank G Rank Per Cent of Total 25 13 26 16 13 66 61 46 44 34 14 69 27 149 83 227 137 257 93 251 354 953 2 1 18 42 5 17 6 11 33 126 323 73 201 49 149 41 59 67 289 799 3 2 16 35 13 21 19 22 29 11 27 32 16 16 2S3 54 287 79 272 89 214 79 104 102 1130 403 1 3 68 18 4 16 1 8 3 5 3 4 30 10 5 6 1 .5 6 3 4 2 13 2 9 9 .6 S 5 9 5 4 1 4 7 3 2 6 8 6 32 18 16 66 3 2 7 10 11 4 10 11 .8 3 18 3 9 1 28 3 6 8 1 4 5 13 11 26 11 19 4 62 31 4 5 3 1 3 8 7 1 15 4 8 7 .7 1 4 4 18 14 5 14 22 11 25 12 8 70 69 3 2 68 Children's Interests in Beading not diminish the central tendency as much as would have been the case had the average been used. The scores for individual books were obtained by adding the five choices for each age in each of the four percentage tables, and then summing the four scores into one composite score. For this the tables calculated from the second test in Stuttgart were not used, since they were similar to the first. By this method we get one score each for boys and for girls for the individual book at each age. From this list of books there were chosen eight lists, four con- taining the twenty most popular books for boys at each age, the other four being similar lists for girls. They are shown in Table XXV. The lists for ages 9 to 11 are poor because the number of students was so small that no extended list of popular books could be made out. A much more satisfactory list for this age occurs in Chapter III. TABLE XXIV Favorite Books of Three Towns and One Citt (Fayetteville, Ark., Lawrence, Kan., Stuttgart, Ark., Washington, D. C.,) Arranged by Sex, Age, and Class Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 19-23 B==59 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=44 G=87 G=336 G=1195 G=414 G=S6 BG BG BG BG BG Fiction Anne of Green Gables Ben Hur Calling of Dan Matthews. . Crisis David Copperfield Eyes of the World . . . .' Freckles Girl of the Limberlost Graustark Harvester Janice Meredith Just David Laddie Lena Rivers Leopard Spots Les Miserables Little Mmister Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come Lorna Doone Man Without a Country . . Master Sky Lark Michael O'HaUoran 2 19 6 29 2 17 12 35 22 5 4 55 6 51 5 3 12 28 11 11 12 4 7 24 29 20 55 8 56 2 13 7 19 4 3 4 5 26 5 2 4 1 2 17 22 11 15 4 1 2 5 17 11 12 26 43 26 23 39 8 58 18 27 7 11 5 4 20 23 23 24 16 1 4 8 2 12 20 15 8 8 22 12 16 7 Investigation hy the Method of the Questionnaire 69 TABLE XXIV (Continued) Age 9- 1 1 12-13 14-16 17-18 ig-23 B— 59 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=44 G=98 G==336 G=1195 G=414 G=56 B G B G B G B G B G Mill on the Floss Mr. Britling Sees It Through . O'Henry's Works Old Curiosity Shop Oliver Twist Penrod Pollyanna PoUyanna Grown Up Prince and Pauper Quo Vadis Ramona Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Red Pepper Burns Richard Carvel Rosary Scarlet Letter Shepherd of the Hills Silas Marner St. Ehno To Have and To Hold Trail of the Lonesome Pine . . T. Tembarom Turmoil Uncle Tom's Cabin Virginian When a Man's a Man Winning of Barbara Worth . . Stories Billy Whiskers Black Beauty Bimny Brown and His Sister Sue Daddy Takes Us to the Circus Elsie Dinsmore Fairy Tales Hugh Wynn K Light of the Western Stars . Little Colonel Series Little Men Little Pepper Series Little Women Miss BiUy Series Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Old Fashioned Girl PoUy, New Fashioned Girl. Sea Peoples Secret Garden Seventeen Uncle Remus 1 8 4 2 40 18 87 88 12 32 6 19 30 4 48 4 48 12 54 34 6 2 4 2 14 5 2 10 16 10 64 8 1 31 2 4 6 3 1 8 8 4 10 20 15 5 15 5 4 5 8 33 7 61 6 27 15 11 2 24 9 63 1 6 7 8 2 11 15 2 2 10 2 4 20 2 3 10 8 67 7 4 1 9 25 14 12 23 8 10 4 3 3 5 20 1 1 4 8 2 22 14 5 5 4 1 7 6 15 7 4 2 21 2 11 1 10 69 7 1 4 8 4 16 17 17 3 1 4 7 7 2 6 14 2 1 3 3 16 13 5 5 7 6 4 21 43 6 19 16 5 2 27 32 1 6 3 18 7 37 38 15 9 4 1 4 5 9 4 31 1 5 2 8 13 7 22 15 29 4 21 46 30 44 35 12 4 48 21 4 5 9 12 14 4 70 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXIV (Continued) Age 9-II 12-13 14-16 17-18 17-23 B— 59 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=44 G=98 G=336 G=1195 G=414 G=56 B G B G B G B G B G Adventure Alger Books Alice in Wonderland . . Call of the Wild... ... Camp Fire Girls Clapsman Count of Monte Cristo. Forest Runners Hound of Baskervilles. Ivanhoe Kidnapped Last of Mohicans Lost World Motor Boy Series Over the Top Price of the Prairie . . . Riders of Purple Sage. Rifle Men of Ohio Robinson Crusoe Rover Boy Series Sherlock Holmes Sir Nigel Swiss Family Robinson Tale of Two Cities.... Tarzan Series Three Musketeers Treasure Island TwentyThousandLeagues Under the Sea .... Wall of Men White Fang History History History (Ancient) . History (U. S.)... Biography Life of Abraham Lincoln . Life of Helen Keller Poetry Courtship of Miles Stand- ish Evangeline Julius Caesar Lady of the Lake 7 17 7 6 18 7 65 14 1 5 43 18 13 9 4 9 12 24 1 3 3 22 9 7 1 5 13 4 4 41 8 3 4 16 2 4 2 2 8 4 2 13 7 8 3 6 106 24 9 2 1 1 39 33 7 2 32 14 12 2 7 6 12 7 17 15 2 23 27 5 5 71 10 5 11 9 21 5 4 2 3 9 5 1 3 2 2 147 30 16 10 7 38 38 6 12 9 4 3 3 7 13 29 10 8 8 20 2 2 1 2 3 5 10 1 7 6 8 3 4 3 9 2 12 9 20 24 71 22 12 7 6 17 7 3 3 3 59 62 33 23 13 4 7 11 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 71 TABLE XXIV (Continued) Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 17-23 B— 59 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=44 G=98 G=336 G=1195 G=414 G=56 B G B G B G B G B G Macbeth Merchant of Venice Odyssey Shakespeare's Works . . . . Humor Helen's Babies Huckleberry Finn Miss Minerva and Wm Greenhill Peck's Bad Boy Tom Sawyer Miscellaneous Bible., Poe's Works Boy Scout Series 4 8 13 4 161 8 4 22 9 14 13 17 12 10 1 181 30 3 3 4 4 2 6 2 4 2 31 8 1 4 2 41 16 5 42 3 9 12 20 10 37 2 56 11 30 42 14 14 4 16 TABLE XXV Most PoptrLAR Books op Three Towns and One City Arranged BY Sex and Age Points=Sum of First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Choices in All Municipahties Boys Age 0-11 No. of Points Boy Scout Series 165 Black Beauty. 87 Robinson Crusoe 65 Billy Whiskers 40 Fairy Tales 19 Uncle Remus 14 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. 8 History 8 Alice in Wonderland 7 CaU of the Wild 7 Clansman 7 Tale of Two Cities 7 Miss Minerva and Wm . GreenhiU . 7 Shakespeare's Works 4 Ivanhoe 4 White Fang 4 History (U. S.) 4 History (Ancient) 4 Courtship of Miles Standish 4 Trail of the Lonesome Pine 4 Total Points 460 Age 12-13 No. of Points Boy Scout Series 181 Call oi the Wild 43 Treasure Island 4;i Motor Boy Series 24 Robinson Crusoe 22 Huckleberry Finn 22 Billy Whiskers,, 20 Ivanhoe 18 Tom Sawyer 17 Penrod 16 White Fang 16 Black Beauty 15 Little Men 15 Miss Minerva and Wm. GreenhiU . 14 Tale of Two Cities 13 Harvester 12 When a Man's a Man 10 Kidnapped 9 Lady of the Lake 9 Little Wome n 9 Total Points 526 72 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXV (Continued) Boys Age 14-16 No. of Points CaU of the Wild 106 Treasure Island 71 Boy Scout Series 42 Tom Sawyer 41 Ivanhoe 39 Kidnapped 32 Huckleberry Finn 31 Tale of Two Cities 23 When a Man's a Man 22 White Fang 21 Freckles 20 Penrod 20 Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 17 Sherlock Holmes 17 Swiss Family Robinson 15 Motor Boy Series 12 Lady of the LaJke 12 Shepherd of the Hills 12 Robinson Crusoe 12 Lorna Doone 11 Total Points 576 Age 17-18 No. of Points CaU of the WM 147 Tale of Two Cities 59 Tom Sawyer 55 Ivanhoe 38 Hucldeberry Finn 37 When a Man's a Man 37 Boy Scouts Series 30 Treasure Island 29 Trail of the Lonesome Pine 27 David Copperfield 26 Lorna Doone 24 Freckles 23 Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 23 Shepherd of the HiUs 21 Lady of the Lake 20 White Fang 20 Virginian 18 Graustark 18 Robinson Crusoe 17 Penrod 17 Total Points 686 Girls Age g-ii No. of Age 12-13 No. of Points Points Black Beauty ...88 Pollyanna ...64 Little Women ...54 Freckles ...55 Little Colonel Series ...48 Little Women ...53 Little Men ...48 Fairy Tales . .. 51 Old Fashioned Girl ...34 Girl of the Limberlost , ... 51 Daddy Takes Us to the Circus , ... 32 Anne of Green Gables . ... 35 Fairy Tales ...30 Elsie Dinsmore . .. 33 Girl of the Limberlost ...29 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm . .. 31 Anne of Green Gables ...19 Boy Scouts . .. 30 Billy Whiskers ...18 Laddie , ... 28 Camp Fire Girls ...18 Little Colonel Series . ... 27 Harvester ...17 Little Pepper Series , ... 24 Alice in Wonderland ...17 BenHur . ... 22 Robinson Crusoe ...14 Black Beauty .. .. 15 Helen's Babies ...13 Miss Minerva and Wm. GreenhiU . 13 Little Pepper Series ...12 Life of Lincohi . ... 13 Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue . 12 Tom Sawyer . ... 12 Shakespeare ... 8 Just David , ... 12 Boy Scouts Series ... 8 Little Men 11 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm . ... 8 ...527 Last of the Mohicans . ... 11 Total Points Total Points ...591 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 73 TABLE XXV (Continued) Oirls Age I4~i6 No. of Age 17-18 No. of Points Points Little Women 69 Tale of Two Cities 62 PoUyanna 57 Girl of the Limberlost 58 Girl of the Limberlost 56 David Copperfield 43 Freckles 56 Shepherd of the Hills 43 Ivanhoe 33 Freckles 39 Eyes of the World 29 Ivanhoe 38 Tale of Two Cities 27 When a Man's a Man 38 Laddie 26 Trail of the Lonesome Pine 32 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ... 25 Little Women 31 David Copperfield 24 Call of the Wild 30 Camp Fire Girls 24 Eyes of the World 26 Shepherd of the Hills 23 Lady of the Lake 24 Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 22 Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come 23 Little Colonel Series 21 Ben Hur 22 Trail of the Lonesome Pine 20 Laddie 20 Harvester 19 Merchant of Venice 20 Seventeen 17 Silas Marner 19 Secret Garden 16 Anne of Green Gables 17 Tom Sawyer 16 Mill on the Floss 17 Lorna Doone 15 Lorna Doone 16 Total Points 594 Total Points 618 Both boys and girls show a very large interest in fiction in comparison with that shown in other types. By referring to the division marked ' ' Total ' ' in Table XXIII it is seen that the sum of the points tabulated, for boys, is 354 — 18 per cent of the total points — and that for girls, 953 — 41 per cent of the total points. Girls like fiction best of all. Boys place it second only to adven- ture. The considerable number of points obtained by each of the seven most popular books of this type gives further evidence of the remarkable interest felt in this class of reading. The seven most popular books for boys are: When a Man's a Man, 69 f^ Freckles, 43 ; Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, 40 ; Pen- rod, 37 ; Lorna Doone, 35 ; Shepherd of the Hills, 33 ; and Trail of the Lonesome Pine, 31. The following are the seven most popular books among the girls with similar points attached : Girl of the Limberlost, 194; Freckles, 150; PoUyanna, 121, Laddie, 28 The points were obtained in every case (a) by adding together for each sex the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth choices of ages 9-11, 12-13, 14-16, and 17-18; (6) by adding the totals of each of these four groups; and (c) by adding the amount thus obtained to the three amounts obtained in a similar manner from the other three cities. 74 Children's Interests in Beading 74; Anne of Green Gables, 71; David Copper-field, 67; and Shepherd of the Hills, 66. At every age girls are more interested in books of fiction than are boys. The following scores from Table XXIII show that this difference in interests persists throughout the years 9-18, but that it is greatest at the age of 12-13 years. Age Boys. Girls. P-JJ 12-13 14-16 17-18 14 27 83 137 69 149 227 25729 Again, the fact that the total number of points of the seven books of this type most often chosen by boys is 288, and that the total number of the seven books most often chosen by girls is 743, is further evidence of this difference in amount of interest. There is an increasing interest in fiction among both boys and girls from 9-19 years. The greatest change in interest in fiction among boys takes place between the years 12-13 and 14-16. This increase of interest is shown by a difference of 56 points between the years 12-13 and 14-16. In addition there is an increase ap- proximately equal to the foregoing from 14-16 to 17-18 — a differ- ence of 55 points. In the case of girls the increase in the num- ber of points — 80 — is greatest between the years 9-11 and 12-13. This increase continues at about the same rate from 12-13 to 14- 16, 78 points. From 14-16 to 17-18 the change is not so great. Boys choose books classed as juvenile fiction only less often than adventure and fiction. The large number of these choices, however, is made during the years 9-13. For these years juvenile fiction ranks ahead of adult fiction and second only to adventure. This type of fiction constitutes 15 per cent of the total number of points for boys and 35 per cent of those for girls. Girls choose juvenile fiction second only to adult fiction and during the years 9-11 choose the former most of all. The number of points which each of the seven most popular books of this type receives is an indication of the amount of this interest. The seven most popu- lar books for boys are : Black Beauty, 102 ; Billy Whiskers, 60 ; Fairy Tales, 19 ; Little Men, 15 ; Uncle Bemus, 14 ; Little Women, 9; and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, 8. The seven most 2 9 Agea 19-23 are always omitted when general trends of interests are considered, since the results for these ages were based on an insufficient number of eases. p-JI 12-13 I4~i6 17-18 126 73 49 41 323 201 149 59 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 75 often chosen books among girls are : Little Women, 202 ; Black Beauty, 103; Little Colonel Series, 96; Fairy Tales, 81; Little Men, 59; Little Pepper Series, 36; and The Old Fashioned Girl, 34. Throughout the period 9-18 girls during every year are more interested than boys in juvenile fiction. The facts are : Age Boys Girls Moreover, the total points for the seven most often chosen books of this type in the case of boys are 227. The total points for the corresponding seven in the case of girls are 611. Boys and girls show a marked decrease in the amount of in- terest from 9-11 to 12-13 — 53 points decrease in the case of the boys and 122 points decrease in the case of the girls. This in- terest decreases throughout the high-school period until at 17-18 years juvenile fiction forms only a minor part of the choices of the children. Noteworthy is the fact that the drop in interest in juvenile fiction is accompanied by the rise of interest in adult fiction. In the case of both boys and girls juvenile fiction is chosen more times than is adult fiction between the years 9-13, but thereafter adult fiction leads with both sexes. Adventure is chosen by the boys more than three times as often as is fiction and more times at every age than any other type. In fact this class of reading receives 58 per cent of the total votes of the boys— 1,130 points out of a total of 1,942. Girls by their choices show that their interest in adventure is next in amount to that in juvenile fiction. The number of points which they give to it is 403 — -18 per cent of the total. Further evidence of the amount of this interest is the size of the scores attached to the seven most popular books for boys and the seven for girls. For boys these books are: Boy Scout Series, 318; Call of the Wild, 303 ; Treasure Island, 141 ; BoMnson Crusoe, 116 ; Tale of Two Cities, 102 ; Ivanhoe, 99 ; and White Fang, 57. The seven most popular books for girls are : Tale of Two Cities, 89 ; Camp Fire Girls, 42 ; Ivanhoe, 38 ; Boy Scouts, 38 ; Alice in Wonderland, 17; Bolinson Crusoe, 14; and The Last of the) Mohicans, 11. 76 Children's Interests in Beading In every age boys are far more interested in adventure than girls are. The following scores from Table XXIII show that this difference of interest persists throughout the ages 9-18. Boys. Girls. g-II I2-IJ 14-16 17-18 253 54 287 79 272 89 214 79 The sum of the scores of the seven most frequently chosen books in the ease of boys is 1,136, while the sum of the scores of the corresponding seven in the case of the girls is 249. There is an increase of interest in adventure among boys from the years 9-11 to 12-13 and after that a gradual decrease up to 18 years of age. The interest of girls in this type increases up to the years 14-16 and then decreases. Since the interest in biography and history is so small they may well be treated together. Boys choose a very small number of books of biography — slightly over one per cent; girls prac- tically none except at the age of 14-16. (This does not mean that boys and girls have no interest whatsoever in biography but only that for them books of biography are not chosen sufficiently fre- quently to warrant their being placed on the most popular lists, except in one ease of 12-13-year-old girls where The Life of Lincoln receives a score of 13 points.) Boys choose biography three times as frequently as do girls. There is a decrease of interest in biography among boys as the years advance. So small is the number of points in the ease of girls that no tendency can be detected. There is a very small interest in history among the boys — .6 of one per cent of the total points — and practically none at all among the girls. United States history and ancient history together receive eight points from the boys during the years 9-11. There is a small interest in poetry in the case of both boys and girls. It constitutes .8 of one per cent in the case of boys and 3 per cent of the total points among the girls. Shakespeare's Works, The Merchant of Venice, and The Ladnj of the Lake con- stitute the poetry most frequently chosen by boys and girls. Girls choose poetry much more frequently than do boys. Girls show a small increase in their number of votes for poetry up to their 16th year, and then at 17-18 a substantial increase — 24 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 77 points. Among boys the number of points increases from to 4 between the years 9-11 and 12-13 and then increases very slightly after that. Books on travel and science need not concern ns here, since the interest is less than one per cent. There is a small interest in books on information at 9-11 and 12-13 among the boys — somewhat more than one per cent. The total points given by girls to this type are 3 — .14 of one per cent. There is a substantial interest in humor in the case of boys after the eleventh year. Girls from 12-16 show a small interest in humor also. The books ,of humor most popular are Tom Saw- yer, 103 ; Huckleberry Finn, 62 ; and Miss Minerva and William Greenhill, 14. Girls like only Tor)i Sawyer, 18 ; and Miss Minerva and William Greenhill, 13. Boys show a larger interest than girls in this type from the years 12-18. The number of points received by humor constitutes for boys 3 per cent of the total and for girls one per cent. There is an increase among boys in the number of choices of books of humor from 9-16 years, but after that a decline. Girls show an increase in the number of points chosen from the years 9-12, a plateau from 12-16, and after that a decline. The classifications of magazines in some instances are less clearly cut than are those of the books. This fact is apparent when we attempt to separate fiction and " woman's arts " on the one hand and adventure and " science " on the other. One could almost as well have classed fiction as a larger group with ' ' woman's arts " as a subhead under it and adventure as a larger group and " science " as a subhead under that. This fact of overlapping classifications must be kept in mind in considering the choice of fiction, which often forms a large part of the maga- zines in woman's arts as well as of fiction proper. 78 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE Magazines. General Trend of All Places Age ^11 B=59 G=87 Choices 12 3 Age I2-. 353 336 1 2 3 Age 14-16 Age 17-18 846 283 1195 414. 12 3 12 3 Age i()-23 49 56 1 2 3 Fiction B 4 7 11 G 12 9 11 9 5 14 10 13 18 17 16 20 23 32 20 22 30 30 39 42 29 25 22 27 33 33 27 Juvenile Fiction... B 9 4 11 G 11 7 3 7 8 13 7 5 2 4 4 4 6 3 2 5 4 Adventure. ... B 50 29 30 G 16 8 2 48 28 12 9 15 7 38 27 14 7 4 4 17 13 15 5 5 2 Nature B 4 G 2 2 8 3 3 4 6 1 2 1 4 6 5 2 1 Pictures B 2 4 G 15 17 14 9 9 2 9 2 2 3 7 7 9 1 Woman's ArtsB 15 11 11 G 42 39 35 4 5 4 44 35 32 4 11 38 40 32 4 5 4 28 30 34 28 33 34 Science B 9 4 G 4 6 16 21 21 2 19 20 17 1 1 2 35 23 16 1 4 6 7 14 Current Events B 4 G 3 3 1 9 1 4 9 2 11 12 12 6 6 8 14 9 17 17 16 17 16 34 26 Humor B G 2 2 1 8 2 13 4 112 9 2 Miscellaneous. B 2 2 G 4 2 3 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 No Choice. . . . B 4 G 11 18 5 22 3 7 7 3 6 11 2 2 5 1 2 114 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 79 XXVI Stttdied. Median Used as Centbal Tendency 9-11 12-13 Summary 14-16 17-18 19-23 Grand Total Rank Boys Rank Girls Per Cent of Total Points 22 32 28 41 51 75 82 110 74 93 257 351 2 2 24 27 24 21 20 22 12 11 9 61 54 6 6 6 4 109 26 88 31 79 15 45 12 311 84 1 5 29 6 4 12 3 13 4 16 3 45 10 7 9 4 .7 6 46 2 27 7 23 1 15 97 10 4 2 7 37 116 13 111 6 110 13 92 95 69 524 5 1 6 40 13 10 68 2 56 4 74 5 27 178 21 3 7 16 2 4 7 18 7 35 20 40 50 76 97 160 4 3 9 12 10 5 8 4 9 2 27 11 8 8 3 .8 4 9 2 4 3 2 17 7 9 10 1 .5 4 29 27 17 20 9 3 6 54 61 5— 5 + 80 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXVII Favorite Magazines of Three Towns and One City (Fayette ville, Ark., Lawhence, Kan., Stuttgart, Ark., Washington, D. C.) Arranged by Age, Sex, and Class Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 1^-18 19-23 B=S9 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=49 G=87 G=336 G=1195 G=414 G=56 BG BG BG BG BG Fiction AUStoiy American Century Cosmopolitan Everybody's Harper's Hearst's McClure's Metropolitan Munsey's Pathfinder Red Book Saturday Evening Post Scribner's Top Notch Slories Boys' and Girls' . Boys' Life Boys' Magazine . Little Folks St. Nicholas Adventure American Boy Base Ball Boy Scout Detective Story Youth's Companion. . Nature Animal Life Country Gentleman. . National Geographic . Outing 7 20 11 17 11 44 Pictures Motion Pictures. Photoplay Pictorial Review. Woman's Arts Delineator Good Housekeeping . . Ladies' Home Journal McCaU's Mother's Magazine . . Vogue 14 18 18 62 6 2 175 27 2 12 13 20 36 7 2 6 11 2 32 61 30 72 15 3 5 6 9 18 28 30 7 7 2 6 2 6 2 23 30 50 46 31 12 5 10 15 26 18 2 1 5 10 5 17 71 26 1 11 29 199 10 9 u 2 14 4 14 11 23 15 4 1 22 5 21 12 55 39 22 13 178 4 23 4 50 59 4 4 46 78 7 10 20 45 5 9 14 17 18 3 15 19 71 56 6 7 47 26 8 21 5 6 16 15 35 20 2 46 20 110 6 35 107 18 199 22 179 2 5 91 4 43 18 4 1 2 21 57 77 115 105 71 58 46 25 4 22 31 3 3 7 2 12 31 30 59 169 18 2 2 10 28 12 17 43 52 93 44 19 11 15 28 5 12 11 11 37 154 Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 81 TABLE XXVII (Continued) Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 19-23 B=59 B=253 B=846 B=283 B=49 G=87 G=336 G=1195 G=414 G=56 B G B G B G B G B G Woman's Home Com- panion Woman's World Science Electrical Experiment Popular Mechanics . . Popular Science Scientific American . . Something To Do . . . Current Events Collier's Independent Literary Digest Outlook Review of Reviews . . . Leslies Humor Life Miscellaneous Atlantic Monthly. Comfort Farmers Gazette . . 33 29 32 25 28 42 26 90 17 180 16 54 1 8 12 4 9 4 16 62 28 22 13 5 53 39 3 122 35 8 16 10 7 14 82 51 20 20 25 13 45 29 2 161 22 26 28 19 22 18 96 102 2 19 8 3 26 28 31 5 99 10 12 82 60 5 158 75 10 4 11 17 7 TABLE XXVIII Most Popular Magazines, Faybttevillb, Ark., Lawrence, Kan., Stutt- gart, Akk., Washington, D. C. Points=Sum of Choices, 1, 2, 3, in all four cities Boys Age p-ii No. of Age 12-13 Points No. of Points American Boy 107 Popular Science 90 Youth's Companion 57 Country Gentleman 44 Boy Scouts _, 43 Woman's Home Companion 33 Literary Digest 25 Boys' Magazine 21 Little Folks 15 McCaU's 14 Saturday Evening Post 11 Cosmopolitan 11 Something To Do 8 American Magazine 7 Total Points 486 American Boy 199 Popular Mechanics 180 Youth's Companion 115 Popular Science 54 Literary Digest 52 Boys' Life.... , 47 Ladies' Htoe Journal 29 Saturday Evening Post 28 National Geographic 26 Reviews of I^eviews 22 Life 20 St. Nicholas 20 Cosmopolitan 20 Boy Scout 18 Total Points 830 82 Children's Interests in Beading Age 14-16 TABLE XVIII (Continued) Boys No. of Age 17-18 Points No. of Points American Boy 179 Popular Mechanics 122 Literary Digest 82 Youth's Companion 71 Saturday Evening Post 50 American Magazine 36 Popular Science 35 CosmopoKtan 30 Boy's Life 26 Life 26 National Geographic 23 Red Book 23 Collier's 16 Everybody's 15 Popular Mechanics 161 Literary Digest 96 American Boy 91 Saturday Evening Post 71 American Magazine 50 Cosmopohtan 46 Youth's Companion 46 Corner's 28 Life 26 Scientific American 26 Country Gentleman 25 National Geographic 22 Popular Science 22 Independent 22 Total Points 733 Girls Age g-ii No. of Points Total Points 732 Age 12-13 No. of Points Ladies' Home Journal 175 Youth's Companion 77 Pictorial Review 62 St. Nicholas 46 Little Folks 35 Woman's World 32 Woman's Home Companion 29 Literary Digest 28 McCalls 27 American Magazine 20 Harper's 17 Popular Mechanics 17 Something To Do 12 Boys and Girls 6 Ladies' Home Journal 199 St. Nicholas 110 Youth's Companion 105 Pictorial Review 71 Woman's Home Companion 42 Cosmopolitan 36 Saturday Evening Post 30 Literary Digest 28 Delineator 26 Woman's World 26 American Boy 22 Life 20 Little Folks 20 Red Book 18 Total Points 576 Total Points Girls Age 14-16 No. of Age 17-18 Points .753 No. of Points Ladies' Home Journal 178 Cosmopolitan 72 American Magazine 61 Youth's Companion 58 Pictorial Review 55 Woman's Home Companion 53 Literary Digest 51 Saturday Evening Post 46 Woman's World 39 Delineator 39 St. Nicholas 35 Harper's 31 Red Book 30 McCaU's 23 Total Points 771 Ladies' Home Journal 169 Literary Digest 102 Cosmopohtan 78 American Magazine 59 Good Housekeeping 59 Saturday Evening Post 56 Harper's 45 Woman's Home Companion 45 Youth's Companion 40 National Geographic 31 Pictorial Review 31 Dehneator 30 Woman's World 29 Life 28 Total Points 802 Investigation iy the Method of the Questionnaire 83 Both boys and girls evince a large interest in magazines of fiction. This interest in the case of boys ranks second only to adventure and with girls second only to woman's arts. The total points given this type by the boys are 257, which is 24 per cent of the total number, and by girls 351 points, which is 27 per cent of the total number (see Table XXVI). The points appended to each magazine give further evidence of the amount of interest in this type. The following magazines of this group are those most popular with boys: Saturday Evening Post, 160;'° Cosmo- politan, 107 ; American Magazine, 93 ; and the Bed Book, 23. The four most popular magazines of this class among girls are: Cosmopolitan, 186 ; American Magazine, 150 ; Saturday Evening Post, 132 ; and Harper's, 93. Girls choose a substantially larger number of magazines of this type than do boys, as the total number of points mentioned above attests. A Boys Girls g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 22 28 51 82 32 41 75 110 This table shows that girls are more interested in maga- zines of fiction than are boys. Moreover the total number of points of the three magazines of this type among boys is 383, while the corresponding number for girls is 561. There is an increasing interest in this type with both boys and girls from 9-18 years. Boys and girls choose a small number of magazines classed as juvenile fiction during the years 9-16. The total number of points given to this type by boys is 61, or 6 per cent of the total number of points ; by girls 54 points, or 4 per cent of the total number of points. (The only two magazines to any extent popular with the boys are Boy's Life, 73; and Little Folks, 15. Those popular among the girls are St. Nicholas, 191 ; Little Folks Magazine, 55; and Boys and Girls Magazine, 6.) Boys are slightly more interested in this type than are girls. The number chosen decreases rather rapidly and at 18 years scores have dis- appeared from the table of the girls and almost from that of the boys. 30 The points were obtained in a manner similar to that used in obtaining the points for books except that the three choices were added instead of five as was the case with books. g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 109 88 79 45 26 31 15 12 84 Children's Interests in Beading Magazines of adventure lead all other magazines in the num- ber of times chosen in the case of boys. The total number of points that boys score in adventure is 311 — 29 per cent of the whole. The total number of points attributed to adven- ture by the girls is 84 — 6 per cent of the whole. The Ameri- can Boy is not only the most popular magazine of this type with boys but also is the most popular magazine of all types with boys. It receives 576 points, [while its nearest competitor in this group, The Youth's Companion, receives only 289 points. In addition, The Boy Scout Magazine receives 61 points. The Youth's Companion, however, is approximately of equal interest to girls as to boys. It receives from the girls 280 points. Girls show a much smaller interest in adventure than do boys. The facts are : Age Boys Girls In addition, the total points for the most popular magazine named above in the case of boys are 926, and in the case of girls, 280. Contrary to the results found with books of adventure from ages 9-11 to 12-13, there is a substantial decline of interest which continues to the year 18. The interest of girls rises up to the years 12-13 and then declines. Boys have a substantial interest in magazines concerned with nature. Girls have only a small interest. Among boys the total number of points for nature is 45 — 4 per cent of the whole ; for girls, 10 points — .7 of one per cent of the whole number of points. Two magazines, The Country Gentleman and the National Geographic Magazine, which are popular (though in an unequal degree) with boys and girls from 9-18, represent ap- proximately nine-tenths of this interest. The most popular maga- zines in this class with boys are: The Country Gentleman, 98; and the National Geographic Magazine, 71. The latter, with 84 points, is the only magazine popular with the girls. Boys show a larger interest in magazines of nature than do girls. In the case of boys the interest increases from 9-18 years. The interest of girls begins at 12-13, rises a little, and then declines. Magazines made up largely of pictures have a strong appeal for girls, presumably mainly because of the pictures of clothes. Investigation hy the Method of the Questionnaire 85 Boys choose them very seldom indeed. The most popular maga- zines with girls of this type are : Pictorial Review, 219 ; Photo- play, 38 ; and Motion Pictures, 32. There are no magazines of this sort popular with boys. The total points attributed by girls to magazines concerned with pictures are 97 — 7 per cent of the total. The boys report 15, or 2 per cent of the total. The 289 points given by girls to the most popular magazines of this type are a further evidence of this difference. There is a grad- ual decrease of interest in the case of girls while with the boys there is first a decline of interest at 12-13, then a rise at 14-15, and finally a complete disappearance at 17-18. Girls choose magazines concerned with woman's arts more fre- quently than they do any other type of magazines. Boys show only a small interest in this class. By reference to Table XXVI it is seen that this type is given 524 points, or 40 per cent of the total number of points, by the girls ; and 69 points, or 6 per cent of the total number of points, by the boys. The most popular magazines of this class with girls are: Ladies' Home Journal, 721 ; Woman's Home Companion, 169 ; Woman's World, 126 ; and The Delineator, 95. At every age girls are far more inter- ested than are boys in magazines of this type. The following scores show this fact clearly. Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 Boys 37 13 6 13 Girls ,. 116 111 110 92 Furthermore, the sum of points of the four most frequently chosen magazines is 1,111 for the girls, while the Ladies' Home Journal with 42 points is the only magazine of this type that appeals to the boys to any extent. There is a decline of interest in woman's arts in the case of boys from 9-16 years and then a slight increase. Girls also show a small but steady decline of interest. Boys evince a verj^ substantial interest in magazines of a scien- tific natare. In the years 17-18 this interest is larger than that in any other type except fiction. Girls show a surprisingly small interest in magazines of this class. The total number of points secured by this type of reading in the case of the boys is 178 points — 16 per cent of the total, while the girls give it only 21 points, or 2 per cent of the total. Boys like, far more than any 86 Children's Interests in Beading other magazine oi this class, Popular Mechanics, whicli receives 553 points — a score second only to that of the American Boy. Popular Science with 111 points and Tlie Scientific American with 29 points are also popular. Girls, likewise, choose Popular Mechanics, (which obtains 33 points. The number of times maga- zines of a scientific nature are chosen by boys is thus far in excess of those chosen by girls. Moreover, the magazines popular with boys received 693 points, while the one most often chosen by the girls has only 33 points. The table below also shows the dif- ferences in interest between the sexes distributed by age : Age Q-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 Boys 13 58 56 74 Girls 10 2 4 5 The interest in the case of boys rises suddenly during the years 12-13, after which there is a small decline and once more a substantial rise. The interest of girls drops after the ages 9-11 and then rises slowly but steadily. Boys and girls show a substantial interest in current events. During the ages 9-18 boys give this group 97 points — 9 per cent of the total, and the girls 84, or 7 per cent of the total, for the corresponding period. The most popular magazines of this group among boys are: Literary Digest, 255; Collier's, 44; Beview of Beviews, 41 ; and Independent, 22. Those most popu- lar with girls are: Literary Digest, 209 points; Independent, 48 ; Collier's, 39 ; and Beview of Beviews, 13. The sex difference is slight. The facts for each age group are : Age g-ii 12-13 14-16 17-18 Boys 4 18 35 40 Girls 7 7 20 50 This table shows also the change in the strength of the interest from year to year. The interest of boys begins low, rises rapidly to the years of 14-16, and then more slowly. That of girls also begins low and remains stationary through 12-13, but after that rises rapidly. This rapid rise is explained by the introduc- tion of magazines of this type into the curriculum of the school and also to the expansion of interests as boys and girls grow older. Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 87 Boys evince a small interest in magazines of humor, giving them 27 points, or 3 per cent of the total number of points given to all classes of magazines. Girls show a still smaller interest, 11 points, or 1.8 per cent of the total points. Life is the only magazine of this class that approximates the popularity of the magazines mentioned before. It is given 71 points by boys and 61 by girls. The facts by age groups are: Age g-ji 12-13 14-16 17-18 Boys 10 6 9 Girls 5 4 2 Under the caption " miscellaneous " no magazine approaches in popularity the magazines mentioned before. Valjditt of Results Obtained by Questioning CniiiDEEN There are several possible sources of error in data collected by means of questioning pupils, (a) Children are likely to write down what is expected of them and not what they really like, and may write nothing when some real preference exists which they prefer not to reveal, (b) The choices are too greatly influenced by what the children read in school. We admit that the effect of the school situation in our inquiry was to dignify the types of books and magazines chosen, but, in our opinion, the discount made necessary by this fact is not large. In the first place unusual pains were taken to prevent this cause from acting. Children were told clearly that their replies would not be used against them. In two cases, Fayette- ville, Arkansas, and Lawrence, Kansas, the data were collected by a stranger to the pupils who assured them that their replies would not be shown to their teachers. Again, the pupils were asked to write only their first names. As a result of these pre- cautions the attitude of the pupils was excellent. They per- formed the work willingly, earnestly, and at times eagerly. Only in rare instances did they make play of the questions. In the second place factor (a) was not strong enough to cause many choices of Shakespeare or Shelley, Keats or Byron or Wordsworth. One does not find among the lists of popular books in Payetteville The House of Seven Gables, although it was studied in that school. Moreover, many of the books written 88 Children's Interests in Reading down were most certainly not desirable and not literature in any sense of the word. There were cases of Jesse James, Three Weeks, Dick Merriwell, and Nick Carter among the boys and enough votes from girls for Elsie Dinsmore, the goody-goody variety of book, to place it on the popular lists. The very large popularity of Polly anna, H. B. Wright's works, and Gene Strat- ton Porter's is evidence of truth-telling by the pupils. There is a final point which needs emphasis — ^the attitude of the pupils. The total percentage of boys who had no choice of books was 3 per cent of the whole, and less than 5 per cent in the case of magazines. The total percentage of girls who had no choice of books was less than 2 per cent of the whole, and 5 per cent in the case of magazines. Before we can use the percentages as indicators of a poorer type of reading, there must be subtracted from these comparatively small numbers the percentages of those who were very fond of many books and for this reason could not make a choice. In Lawrence, Kansas, there were 56 books out of 72 on the list most frequently chosen which were not used either in school or recommended by it for collateral reading, and at Washington, D. C, there were 41 books out of 87 on the popular lists which were not used in school or recommended by it for collateral reading. Among the magazines only the Literary Digest, the Independent, and the Review of Reviews were consistently used and recommended by the schools studied. The fact that a book is used in school insures its being read by comparatively large numbers; even if only a small proportion of users like it, its position of popularity will be relatively too high. On the whole, the influence of the school situation, of the school reading, and of the omission of choices of books and magazines probably was to make the choices of books and magazines somewhat, but not much, more dignified than they would otherwise have been. Summary The major interests of boys will first be treated. Boys choose both books and magazines of adventure most frequently of all. So great is this interest that in the case of books this type com- prises 58 per cent of the total choices and a majority of choices at every age. The extraordinary appeal of The Call of the Wild, Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 89 the Boy Scout Series, and Treasure Island is a further indica- tion of the greatness of this interest. Among magazines of ad- venture, the American Boy is the most popular magazine among boys. Akin to this interest in adventure is that in the popular presentation of scientific subjects. Boys show a large interest in magazines of this sort but practically none in books of science. Popular Mechanics, one of the magazines of this group, ranks second in interest only to the American Boy. Second only to this enormous interest in adventure is that in fiction. This is ranked second among boys in both magazines and books. It receives 354 points (18 per cent) in comparison with 1,130 (58 per cent) for adventure in the case of books, and 257 (24 per cent) in comparison with 311 (29 per cent) for adventure in the case of magazines. In addition boys have considerable interest in juvenile fiction which ranks third with books and sixth with magazines. Humor receives 3 per cent of the total choices. Their interest in books of biography, history, poetry, and infor- mation is small, less than 4 per cent of the total number of choices. The number of points in travel and science is less than 1 per cent. Finally magazines concerned with current events receive 9 per cent of the total choices of boys for magazines; woman 's arts, 6 per cent ; nature, 4 per cent ; humor, 4 per cent ; and pictures, 2 per cent. Girls choose books and magazines of fiction far more frequently than they do those of any other type. The number of choices given fiction ranks first in books and second in magazines. Among magazines Woman's Arts is most attractive since it con- tains both popular fiction and a treatment of woman's arts. If this is understood fiction stands out preeminently in the interest of girls. (Further evidence of the amount of interest in fiction is the concurrence of 18 books of fiction in the four lists of the five most popular books with girls for each town. Again, Little Women leads the lists of popular books for girls in two cities. Pollyanna leads the corresponding list of another while The Girl of the Limberlost leads the fourth. The Girl of the Limber- lost occurs in all four lists of the five most popular books for girls.) Among books this classification receives 953 points, 41 per cent of the total, while in magazines it receives 351, 27 per cent, and woman's arts, which isi partly fiction, 524, or 40 90 Children's Interests in Reading per cent of the total number of choices. Juvenile fiction in books with 799 points, or 35 per cent of the total, ranks second in interest. Among magazines this type ranks sixth. If we add together the points for adult fiction and juvenile fiction in the case of books the result comprises 77 per cent of the total number of points, and if we add the points for fiction, juvenile fiction, and woman's arts in magazines, the result is 70 per cent of the total points. Again, girls have a substantial interest in books of adventure — 403 points, or 18 per cent, and a smaller interest in magazines of this type- — 6 per cent. The choices for poetry constitute 3 per cent of the total number of choices. The points given to the remaining books: biography, history, travel, infor- mation, human and miscellaneous, amount to approximately 2 per cent of the whole number. Of the remaining types of maga- zines current events receives 12 per cent of the choices ; pictures, 7 per cent; science, 2 per cent; humor, .8 of 1 per cent; and nature, .7 of 1 per cent. Boys and girls show essentially different icmphases in their interests in reading in the case of both books and magazines. Boys are far more interested than girls in both books and maga- zines which deal with adventure. On the other hand, girls are more attracted by fiction, both adult and juvenile, in books and by adult fiction in magazines. Boys choose most often The Call of the Wild, Boy Scout Series, and Treasure Island, — all books of adventure; girls choose most frequently Little Women, Girl of the Limberlost, and PolVyamfia, — all books of fiction. In some instances, such as in the ease of Ivanhoe and The Tale of Two Cities, the facts seem to warrant the conclusion that even in these cases the boys enjoy these books for war, rivalry, and action; the girls for the sentiment, kindliness, and emotion. The differences are also clearly shown in the choices of magazines among which boys choose far more than girls those of adventure and scientific subjects; while girls choose more often than boys magazines of woman's arts, and of pictures, which deal at least in part with woman's arts. Boys and girls are alike in their failure to choose to any large extent books on science, informa- tion, travel, biography, and history, and magazines on humor and nature. Their interests in current events up to the age of 18 are also somewhat similar. During the years 12-13 the differ- Investigation by the Method of the Questionnaire 91 enees between the sexes is greatest. At this age girls choose books of fiction more than five times as often as do boys and juvenile books almost three times as often. Boys, for their part, choose adventure almost four times as frequently as do girls. In addi- tion boys choose magazines of science 22 times as often as girls do. Girls at this age choose pictorial magazines 13 times as often as do boys. There are a number of changes in the interests of both boys and girls. The interest in fiction increases rapidly in the case of both boys and girls in both magazines and books from 9-18 years. The greatest increase in the number of points given to fiction with boys comes between the ages 14-16 and 17-18; the greatest increase with girls between the ages 9-11 and 12-13. In magazines the greatest increase in the number of points given to fiction comes with boys between the years 14-16 and 17- 18 ; with girls the greatest increase comes at the same age. Books of juvenile fiction rapidly decline in interest |for both boys and girls. The greatest decline in both sexes takes place between the years 9-11 and 12-13. In magazines the number of choices of juvenile fiction decreases in the case of both boys and girls from 9-18 years. Girls show the greatest decrease from 14-16 to 17-18 ; 'boys, between the years 12-13. and 14-16. The remaining most significant changes in interest in books are, in the case of boys: first in adventure in increase in the number of points between the years 9-11 and 12-13, followed by a decrease ; and second, a rapid increase of interest in science between the years 9-11 and 12-13, then a slight decline followed by another increase; and, finally, the rapid and continued rise of interest in current events from 9 to 18 years. Girls aside from fiction show some important changes of interest. Some of the most important of these are, in the case of books: a substantial increase from 9-11 to 12-13 in the number of points of adventure chosen; and a corresponding rise in interest in poetry from 14-16 to 17-18. In the case of magazines girls show: a rapid decrease of interest in pictures from the years 9-11 to 12-13 as also from 14-16 to 17-18 ; a small decline of interest in woman's arts from 9-18; and finally, a most rapid increase of interest in current events from the years 14-16 to 17-18. CHAPTER III INVESTIGATIONS IN LIBRARIES OP CHILDREN'S INTERESTS IN READING Up to this chapter, the study of children's interests has assumed the forms of (1) a review of investigations undertaken by others, and (2) a study based on the answers of children to such questions as " Which books for outside reading do you like best? "" In both cases there was a lack of positive proof that the children actually expressed their choices of books in answer to these questions. Because of the absence of objectivity and of any other evidence except that of varying testimony, it seemed advisable to observe children in their actual reading of books in a place where the opportunities for their selection were essentially the same. There is no better place for the prose- cution of this idea than the public library; for here the books are identical for all and free for all. Here also we get a random sampling of children, except that the very rich rarely frequent the library and except that those present in the library may be a selection from that group intellectually more inclined. The first group is too small to warrant our attention, but the second needs further consideration. The problem to be solved is whether this second group reads the unquestionably large amount of underground literature which is published and read. I inadvertently discovered a symptom of this type of reading while talking to a twelve-year- old boy on the East Side of New York City. This child said that he would bring me a " real book " and brought me The $100,000 Kiss by Nick Carter. The number of this book was 869. In other words, this author and his co-laborers had written 869 books, thousands of which had been scattered all over the country. There are others of this type; such as Bowery Bill, Frank and Dick Merriwell, and The James Boys, and many others which appeal to the original desire of man for quick changes, contrasts, and high intensities. The question is whether 31 Anderson, Eoxanna E., article in Pedagogical Seminary, XIX : 438-60. 92 Investigations in Liiraries 93 these books are read by children who do not frequent the public library or by those who do, or by both. From such cases as that mentioned above and from my own observations, the facts indi- cate that these books are read by both, for they feed the boys' craving for war and sport, which, expressed in a more refined way, we find represented in the former case by Tomlinson, Henty, and Altsheler, and in the latter case by Barbour, Mathewson, and others. There are those, in addition, who do not desire any sort of reading but who occupy themselves with work or play or with worse. This group is not large. However, in many cases it is pathological and demands careful thought. To summarize: Indications point to the limitation of this underground reading to no particular group, but probably a strong preponderance of it is done by those intellectually less alert and morally more obtuse. In all eight libraries were visited. Of these, the first six are in New York City and the other two in nearby cities. The method of procedure was as follows: In the first place, the shelf lists of the libraries were examined and from them were listed the names of books of which there were three copies or more in the case of the smaller libraries, and four copies or more in the larger ones. With these lists in hand, the shelves were carefully inspected for three successive days and records made of books on the shelves. From these lists were subtracted (1) all books worn out, but not yet taken from the shelf list, (2) all books gone to the bindery, (3) all books to be mended, and (4) all books withdrawn for any other reason. Thus a live list of books was obtained. In addition, in the case of the first six libraries, a record was made of the books that were worn out, it being borne in mind that books may have formerly been popular, but, having been largely read, had lost their popu- larity. In this way, three columns were made : In the first col- umn, the actual number of copies in circulation was given; in the second, the number of worn-out copies; and, in the third, the number of copies actually present on the shelves of the library. In arranging the books in the order of popularity, the method used was to subtract the average number of copies in multiplied by two from the number of copies of books and to add one for 94 Children's Interests in Beading every eight copies that had been worn out. In case there were no copies of books on the shelves, instead of subtracting, to the number of copies was added two if that number was four or less, and three if more than four. For example : Alcott: Little Women No. Vols. No. Worn Out No.^In would receive 18 points plus % of 48 plus 3 — there being no copy on the shelves — 27 all told. The number in should be multiplied by two because children often leave books on the shelves when they cannot ^et the books they want. In fact, the average case is that one in which the child after two or three attempts to obtain certain books will not accept any other. This same thought suffices as a reason for adding when there are no copies of books on the shelves. Time and time again, books not on the shelves are called for. In the face of these facts, it seemed expedient to penalize a book for having a copy left on the shelf and for rewarding it when there is none left. As checks against the above procedure, the author remained in each library from one to three weeks observing and recording the books the children actually chose, and what books they asked for. In this manner over eight hundred observations were recorded. This method was valuable for determining the approximate ages at which books were read and whether they were read by boys or by girls. In the second place, the lists were submitted to the children's librarians in each of the libraries. Except for minor corrections, in each case the results were corroborated by the evidence of the librarians. Library No. 1 is situated in the heart of the G-hetto. Here, concentrated in a small area, are peoples gathered from many lands. This particular library is frequented largely by Jews, the majority of whom come from Russia. Among these people, the struggle for existence is very severe. That they need help is evidenced by ninety-eight public or charitable organizations within a space of thirty blocks. In the afternoon when the papers are out, one rushes up to get the latest news and finds that the newspaper is printed in a foreign tongue — ^Yiddish. It gives one the impression of being in a foreign country; for- eign dishes in the restaurant, foreign signs on the windows. In the heart of these surroundings is the playground, bandstand, Investigations in Libraries 95 one or two charitable organizations, the public school, and Library No. 1. The author visited this library daily for more than three weeks, getting acquainted with the children, talking with them about their reading, talking with the librarian con- cerning the children's preferences for books, and what was most prolific of results — slipping around and looking over the shoulders of children deeply interested in their books. The more formal method of tabulating the actual number of books in circulation has been mentioned. Evidence of a book's popularity not so quantitative but none the less important will now be considered. Alcott may be cited as an example. 1. There are 115 copies of Alcott on the active list while 377 copies have been worn out. No other series of books approaches this record. 2. The card catalog is black where the lists of Alcott's books are. Having read one book the girls hunt carefully to find out what others have been written and thus blacken the cards. 3. The average number of copies on the shelves was 30, but these in part were returned the afternoon before. 4. There were many inquiries for Alcott when I was present in the room. I also observed many children reading Alcott. Altsheler is the most popular author for boys of this age. 1. The number of copies in the library is 57. The average number of copies on the shelves for three days was 3.3. 2. The number of copies worn out was 238, although the series is comparatively modern. 3. The card catalog is positively black where the cards for these books are located. 4. Out of thirty-nine observations of the choices of books from those just recently placed on the shelves was first choice in 28. The boys stood in line for from fifteen to sixty minutes waiting for an Altsheler and would have nothing else. I have seen them turn away disgusted because there was no copy of this author present. After witnessing the boys scramble and struggle for these books, no one doubts that Altsheler is the most inter- esting writer for these boys. Henty comes second with boys. 1. The number of copies in this library is 21. The average number of copies on the shelves for three days was 4. 96 Children's Interests in Beading 2. The number of copies worn out is 348. 3. The blackness of the card catalog ranked as "3" if Alt- sheler was "1." 4. Henty was first choice for four times when the children chose from books recently replaced on the shelves. In addition the children read Henty in the room very frequently, and hav- ing taken me for an inspector asked for " fifty Altshelers and some Hentys." Barbour is also a favorite author. 1. The number of copies in the library was 29. The average number of copies on the shelves was 2. 2. The number of copies worn out was 28. 3. The blackness of the card catalog was ranked as " 3." 4. For three times the most popular book with boys in the choosing of juvenile fiction was Barbour. Children asked for Barbour and were observed reading him only less often than was the case of Altsheler and Henty. The same type of evidence places Clemens very near the front in popularity. The scores were obtained in all cases (1) by evaluating the number of books, the number worn out, the number in, and the number out (for details, see page 93) ; (2) by adding to the number obtained by the above method three times the number of times children were observed reading particular books; and (3) by adding to the sum obtained in methods (1) and (2) a number representing the judgment of the librarians. Thus there was obtained a composite score of these three methods which in the particular library is as reliable an indication of the relative popularity of these books as could be obtained under the complex conditions under which the study was carried on. The scores in every case were so weighted as to represent most nearly the actual facts. For example, the opinion of a librarian who had been in a particular library for some years was given more weight than was given to one who had not been there sufficiently long to become thoroughly acquainted with the books. And, finally, the results are largely dependent upon the author's own observations for more than three months during which time he mingled with the children of the various libraries, read their books, tabulated the books they had 'withdrawn, observed their readings, and sought as far as possible to get their point of view. Investigations in Libraries 97 TABLE XXIX Books Most Popular with Boys Abranged by Type and in the Obdeb op Points Per Author 257 Altsheler: 127 Henty: 79 Barbour: 74 Clemens: 50 Tomlinson : 30 Stevenson: 28 Otis: 20 Heyliger: 20 Eaton: 20 Hale: 20 Doyle: 14 Dumas: 12 Hugo: 12 Hughes: 10 KipUng: 10 Dickens: 10 Scott: 10 Wyss: Theib Popularitt. Points as Just Descbibed Fiction Scouts of the Valley Young Trailers Horseman of the Plains Keepers of the Trail Star of Gettysburg Texan Triumph With Lee in Virginia Lion of St. Mark's By England's Aid By Pike and Dyke Left Tackle Thayer Double Play Brother of a Hero Crimson Sweater Weatherby's Inning Tom Sawyer Prince and the Pauper Huckleberry Finn For the Stars and Stripes Colonial Boys Three Young Continentals Scouting with Daniel Boone Treasure Island Kidnapped Toby Tyler Mr. Stubb's Brother Don Strong Patrol Leader Offside Boy Scouts in the White Mountains Boy Scouts in the Berkshires Man Without a Country Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The White Company The Three Musketeers Count of Monte Cristo Les Miserables Tom Brown's School Days Tom Brown at Oxford Jungle Books Oliver Twist Ivanhoe Swiss Family Robinson NON-FlCTION What-and-How-to-do Books 14 Boy Scouts Official Handbook 14 Tappan: Makers of Many Things 11 Moffit: Careers of Danger and Daring 11 Cutler: Conundrums 7 Mowry: American Inventors and Inventions 6 Cole and Enis: First Aid for Boys 6 Forman: Useful Inventions 6 Cressy: AH About Engines 98 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXIX (Continued) Biography and History 24 Baldwin: 21 Shaw: 16 Bass: 12 Faris: 11 Moore: 11 Guerber: 9 Eggleston: 9 Arnold: 8 Marshall: 8 Johnston : 8 Cook: 7 Southwick and Paine Old Stories of the East Four Great Americans Discoverers and Explorers Stories of Pioneer Life Makers of our History Pilgrims and Puritans Story of the Thirteen Colonies Story of Great Americans for Little Americans Stories of Ancient Peoples Island Story Leading American Soldiers Stories of France Bugle Calls for Liberty Builders of Our Country New War Books (Always in use, but too recent to permit points to be calculated for them.) Empey : Hay: Kny vett : O'Brien: 22 Popular Mechanics 21 St. Nicholas 18 Scientific American Over the Top First 100,000 Over There with the Austrahans Outwitting the Hun Magazines The popular books in this library have more literary merit than have those in other libraries. In no other place do Hugo, Hughes, Hale or Dumas make the popular list. But, even here Altsheler far overtops all the rest. Judging from the author's own observation, it would be safe to say that in the case of boys, were there a sufficient number of these books, at least 60 per cent of the reading of fiction between the ages of 11 and 13 would be books from this author. War and scouting occupy a preponderant place in this library. The percentages of the different types of reading are : (1) War and scouting, 43 per cent; (2) school and sports, 17 per cent; (3) Boy Scouts, 16 per cent; (4) strenuous adventure, 24 per cent. Worthy of notice is the great interest in modem war fiction. By means of the attached points, it is possible to make a quantitative estimate of the relative popularity of the various authors. Altsheler, for example, is undoubtedly more popular Investigations in Libraries 99 than Henty, and much more popular than Hale or Doyle, and far more popular than Hugo. The What-and-How-to-do books constitute a smaller percent- age of the whole than do they in any other libraries that I have studied. On the other hand, this library ranks among the best in history, as 6 per cent of the total reading falls under this category. TABLE XXX Books Most Popular with Girls Arranged by Types and in the Order OF Their Popularity. Points Obtained in Same Manner as with Boys Library No. 1 Points Per Author 132 Alcott: 81 Burnett: 37 Dodgson: 37 Deland: 37 Woolsey: 37 Wiggin: 36 Richards : 32 Taggart: 32 Montgomery: 31 Vaile: 26 Webster: 18 Rice: 18 Sidney: Fiction Little Women Old Fashioned Girl Jack and Jill Jo's Boys Rose in Bloom Under the Lilacs Sara Crewe Editha's Burglar Little Lord Fauntleroy Lost Prince (older girls) Secret Garden Ahce's Adventures in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass Country Cousins Katrina Oakleigh In the High Valley Little Country Girl What Katy Did at School Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Mother Gary's Chickens Birds' Christmas Carol Peggy Queen Hildegarde Femley House Little Grey House House with a Silver Door Six Girls and Betty Anne of Green Gables Anne of Avonlea Sue Orcutt Orcutt Girls Just Patty When Patty Went to College Lovey Mary Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Five Little Peppers Midway 100 Children's Interests in Beading TABLE XXX (Continued) 14 Cummins: Lamplighter 13 SeweU: Black Beauty 12 Spyri: Heidi 12 Gerson: A Modern Esther 12 Stowe : Uncle Tom's Cabin 11 Ray: Teddy Her Daughter Teddy Her Profession 10 Dodge : Hans Brinker 10 Craik: John Halifax: Gentleman Little Lame Prince 8 Dickens: Tale of Two Cities 7 Delano : Little Colonel's Experiment 6 Eliot: Silas Marner 6 Barr: Bow of Orange Ribbon Non-Fiction 10 Varney: Story Plays Old and New 7 Walker: Little Plays from American His Poetry and Other Literature 9 Stevenson : Days and Deeds Book (poetry) 8 Gale: Story of Ulysses 8 Brown : Pied Piper of Hamelin 7 Irving : Rip Van Winkle 6 Lamb: Tales from Shakespeare 6 Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice In attempting to classify the fiction of girls, one finds no clearcut divisions. The stories in most cases center around the home. From the home the heroines go to the school or to the city, but the fundamental interest remains in the home. This fact is in sharp contrast with the interests of the boys who enjoy getting away from the home into the woods, the fields, and the army. In the books read by the girls at home, the school and the neighborhood are often dwelt upon in the same book, so that it is impossible to separate those interests. It is noteworthy that Alcott, the most popular author with girls, receives only 132 points, while AJtsheler, who holds the corresponding position with boys, receives 257. In the first place, it is impossible to reduce these scores to the percentage basis and for this reason the more children there are the larger the scores will be. In this library there are more boys than girls. But, aside from this fact, boys attempt to obtain copies of Altsheler Investigations in Libraries 101 much more eagerly than the girls do copies of Alcott, so that this discrepancy of points shows a real difference in amount of interest. Girls have only a small interest in non-fiction. They read the greater part of what is classed as literature and a few books on plays and games. Particularly noticeable is their lack of interest in mechanical appliances and inventions of the day and in books of such surpassing importance as modern war fiction. By means of the points the table shows not only the scarcity of books of non-fiction but also how trifling is the interest in them. Contrast the 6 points received by Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, for example, with the 120 received by Alcott. The methods used in Library No. 1 were also used in Libraries 2 to 8. Library No. 2 is situated on the West Side of New York City in a very well-to-do neighborhood. The children here are large and healthy and usually well dressed. They are under no cir- cumstances so eager to get books as are the children on the East Side and have the attitude, in some cases, of having had many things in life. Of course, there are poor children, too, but not a preponderating number. As a whole, the children of this library are of an economic status somewhat above the average. Library No. 3 is another East Side library. The children are not so poor as they are at Library No. 1, but there are instances of great poverty among them. Their surroundings are certainly not qualified to stimulate in the main interest in the better types of literature. There are a great many Italian children and a large number of Jews. Only seldom does one see children of American-born parents. Many of the families have moved from less fortunate neighborhoods to this one, and will move on to even better surroundings. The children of Library No. 4 are of parents only moderately well-to-do. In general, they do not have opportunities as great as do those of Library No. 2, but above those of Libraries 1 and 3. Their position in life is somewhat below that of the inhabi- tants of the average American community. Considering its facili- ties, this library is rather poorly attended. Library No. 5 is situated in a section of the city where there are numerous dwellers of the second generation of American 102 Children's Interests in Beading immigrants. They move to ^this section from the East Side. The fathers and mothers for the most part are clerks or small shop- keepers. The economic status of the children is slightly below the average of the ordinary American community. It would seem that, in general, these people have attained the outward forms of Americanism without possessing themselves of some of the more ideal characteristics. Library No. 6 is situated in a very desirable neighborhood on the West Side of New York City. It is frequented largely by American children from good to excellent economic status, al- though there are gradually seeping in considerable numbers of children of foreign-born parents. Library No. 7 is located in East Orange, N. J., one of the well- to-do suburbs of New York City. Except for a few negro chil- dren, this library is frequented by children of from good to excellent economic status. The library is small, having a circula- tion of about 2,500 books a month. The children are not very eager for books. They have not the zeal for them that their less fortunate brothers exhibit. Library No. 8 is the central library of Newark, N. J. As the city is a manufacturing center, there come to this library chil- dren from all sorts and conditions of homes. There are a few foreign bom and many whose parents are foreign born; the rest are of ordinary American parentage. In other words, the childen are similar to those one will find in any American manu- facturing city. Investigations in Libraries 103 In Table XXXI will be found the results of the author's actual observations in these libraries. This table shows the following facts: 1. That there is an almost complete separation of the works read by boys from those read by girls. 2. That Altsheler and Henty and Barbour are far ahead of other books in their interest for boys, and that Alcott, fairy .tales, Woolsey and Richards are the most interest- ing to girls. 3. That the median age for readers of non-fiction is about 12, about 90 per cent being between 10^^ and 13^^. 4. That of the magazines, St. Nicholas is the most popular, with Popular Mechanics a close second, while Scientific American, American Boy and Boy's Life rank next in the order named. 5. That girls do not even read St. Nicholas as much as the boys do. In fact, they show a surprising apathy toward the magazine table. 6. That what-and-how-to-do books are popular with boys at the approximate age of 12. 7. That battles and adventures constitute the major portion of the interest in biography and history. 104 Children's Interests in Beading o M IS O >^ » a P o ^0° B H o « ^^ !r, £ a) oi o o V CO ^ ■^ m 4^ -l ..3 3 CO ri .OS a o . > o >HJUpqEHO« J3 & GQ 1 P-i 0) 1 II ^^ a. 5 u " o »•<-. (d «-^ § o fl to W 13 « a 5^ g aS g a ^t? ci CI e pis oi n U M rt? tUD bJD y '-^ >i-*^ ^ -i ^ Ph S-* C3r~i S S te 5 o3 1^ 03 03 ■I'o « Q CO tH ■i.SP e* ^ -S •a "' . 03 •o I ji ^ 0J.2 GO O *^ 5-tS M ..T3 C W 03-1 o o 03 OQ 03 03 > > .a 0.3 ft-s S^ • GQQ2GQOSCOCQPIHP3 i 3 fell's. SP -3 '"5" So c3 la oa £33 OPH Investigations in Libraries 107 NtH "-d-H M N "-I >-< "-I TO -^ f-H f-H CO fHOO^H CC»H*H*Hi-l NCCi-l rH ,-H ,-1 CO •.a i rt.S .2 53 •«.2§rt 2 «, as o 5 !R fine's <» CQ t4 O .So 02O Bq ^i ^ « o g o M IS m S.2 M-3 g; o ^ me O o_R « _ a S (O UD fe S S O O 03 O.SPcJ o O S CI k< ggOOPSH g £ o >° COM .2 S ^ 108 Children's Interests in Beading 002 02 '■+3 O o X X X H ►J (£l-*C0>O(~'HOC000C<3lNM(N (N >OC0 1-1 1-1 IM T-H 00 CO »0 N iH i-H CO i-H 10 (N COi-H |H^g 3 t. (0 Pt2 ^^ j3 2 o I 0.2 1-3 CQ fin .-oQ a; fe; ^fr^-S 5" e4-t 3 o m 2 :^ wo^S 3 '3 Oj2 -I I ID • - • o g ca m 5 O fi 03 O QJ rl'^ ■" o oj q •s d O 3:5 O CD O a> ^ cnr"! T3 CI S g g m .03 aco^ g o Investigations in Libraries 109 In considering Table XXXII one finds that the points of the authors most popular with boys are grouped in the first five, but that, for the rest, there is a great deal of scattering and in most cases many individual differences in the various libraries. Strik- ing also is it that one author, Altsheler, should obtain almost twice as many points as does any other author. Barbour is second with 689 points. He is one of the two authors that gets a posi- tion in the lists of popular books for boys in every library. The other is Tomlinson, who has 367 points. Clemens with 236 points and Quirk with 99 points occur in seven lists of books most popu- lar with boys. Burton with a total of 252 points, Munroe with 125 points, Heyliger with 119 points, Mathewson with 86 points, and Stevenson with 68 points occur in the lists of popular books for boys in six libraries. All the other authors are found in the lists of popular books for boys in fewer than six libraries. The small table at the foot of Table XXXII shows that war and scouting lead in boys' interests in fiction, while school and sports come second, strenuous adventure comes third, and Boy Scouting, fourth. When we turn to non-fiction. Table XXXIII, we find boys still most interested in war and scouting and in Boy Scouts, the official handbook being the most popular book of non-fiction. Books of the present war, biographies of fighters, stories of pirates and buccaneers, of discoverers and explorers and of In- dians form the bulk of non-fiction. Lincoln and Washington — the one directing a nation through the perilous times of war, the other a warrior himself — are the two most popular biographies. A perusal of the list of popular historical material will prove that the boys like history best when it is written in the form of a story. These boys like men, not movements. Many authors capitalize the story element. Of the forty books mentioned as biography and history, 14 have the word " story " in the title. From ordinary historical accounts of Indians to Eastman's Indian Stories to Altsheler's Scouts of the Valley, we have suc- cessive stages of interest. In like manner, from a historical account of the war of 1861 to Hill, On the Trail of Grant and Lee to Altsheler, Scouts of Stonewall, we have graded steps. Stories focussing in the Revolutionary War are most popular. That self-reliance necessary to push ahead unaided, to overcome 110 Children's Interests in Beading I? ■< R .5 XI ca o •g.s°= 2 S S "^ S 9 rS-a-d § P fS m » a a o O ■< P5 5 ^11 O) M IN 00 •a i,Q ill °-s2 O m"' J3/i! £ 3 o -*^ ^ o « 3 *- o § 3 m to CO im" 00 CO fe; -^ ■g.|o ■3 °^ & TO g -♦J o "^ * S o ^a>t^(N5Ot*t^t*tDlO*0»0'^Tt< INCDC<3C, S ^^ Sot" "g 03 o o B 03 OT3 Q— lOQ o g^ o 03 03 o CQ J oOQ O ^ 9, '^ i^w 2 b>,-^ es-a 03 ffSJa p-d 3 <1> in '. ?^ .^o bC ■tS.S . oj o 3 02 ^, a-d a ^ * 3 02 T3 §sa 3>-' Ho O tH 03 13 !a2_g^~ InvestigatioTis in Libraries 111 T}lrtH rH r-( rt i-Hi-l i-H iH i-< T-H T-H .-I ?H 00 OOOS Ttl 1-H "iitOS CO 1-i Tt< C^ T— 1 1-t c^ 05 OS 00 to 00 (N 05 O c^ o o : i ■^ ; ■ fe ^? • a* § ::§ ■1 ■'§' ^ :^ oq SCO -^ . CD : £ fe p i 5 SPS * i-g a2-3 o o El, s . 3 o o t, >- o o o o t> Oi W02CQ0D POQ :f§a^«|a ■g -gill's I'-S GQ 02 tS .^ O (N COi-HlN IN«T-HIN 05 C7i O^ CO INC a '- ■S.s -^ S O 0) O t. O .9 2 o «-:^ a >> o c H s m g OJ oris 01 >7-l o t3 ^ 5o^g '^ n bO O 3 3 >) ID ^ K- 00 ^ CO o m fe J3 ^1 oja 2 0) PhH-^-S CO (N OOIOO -Hj^t^CO C^ .-H ^^ r-H O 00 CO CD CO OCO lOiC* COWN N (N IN W N "-H "^ "-I ■-< IN ■* oaoo to (N(M IM>0 IN rt ,-l- o3 o mm O fi O " "5b bO a 'S, - o SI: s o £ iSSg^smw t 5" •-M tH ■ o o ■m^ :^|^ ■ dm o ^.2 ^ '^'rt a Sab ■g&m s w o3 ;23 >i03 m« ^-^ u, 00 (—1 . CO ffl i„^eqc<,^^rt oooCT.cn m 03 oo co oo oc oo oo i>i> Pi o O O O CT> 05 O5CT1CO00 00 > -a T3 a <; O . o3 •T3 ■ 03 ■■-3 5 3S o o;_ 5 m m o3 cQ 3 fH fH =3 1-5 M o3r .2 i5 rar — , o '^ *t3 W '*:^ 03 -(J g^_^ >.2«:3 o cars ^ o3 0,3 ?^ Q "^ O ^J -^ CD ^SiB-j L^H o o ffl o t~ 00 03 OS i-H « m ^ "5 to i> oo o> o i-i rH rH 1-H i-H i-H t-t tH tH ^H N N OONOlCOTfMOOXNNtO'O^Ol t^ IM OS .-H 0» 00 tO M 1-1 O 00 00 t^ lO rl OS OS 00 00 t» CD !0»50 U5 lO ■* ■* T)< IC Co cc CO M Tji ira ,-< eoi-i 00 O l^ OS to MCOCOi-1 (M O Oi-iO 1-1 U3 CO > "2^ b a 'Tji^s 53 O « _w 1^ W "(u "se ^ — - .^^° g -, 2 2 (D g hog) ccWWW S o » a s ts-Q M g ts SOS >>, fS. O 0) C5 ^ (S-S Sii-a 5S^a ■ e H ri s *4H ri |_^ § d o I K^s a 2 £ a Oh!BPh02qq|1J ..-s ;;if •; IH d > S "9 M.a fe S i" OS ">.< " as S ri OS 118 Children's Interests in Beading fe; S 2 ^ O O X X ^ l> 05 000(NCOCO>OCDC00005CTlr-JrH CScSMC^MININtM TO M M CO CO TO CO CO CO M CO CO ■* ■* (M 0> 00 l^ t- »0 lO O 00 00 00 ;0 ■* T)f CO (N (N rH O O OO 00 ■* CO CO CO IN Cq *'0 Cq 1-1 r-f i-t ?H *-t 00 CO IN fee :5 t^ :fe CO • . ^;§ § ^ IK C^. f^ f-^ C3 5*, E-i.§> i-I^Q a> O « -^i g ^ 2S^-g 9 i S'S'a 03 cH ,. .. ■ ^ . .am § Investigations in Libraries 119 Those appearing here are such as Ruskin, King of the Golden Rvver and Dodgson, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and are of the most distinctly classical trend. TABLE XXXV Most Popttlab Books op Non-Fiction PointB are sums of those obtained in evaluating (a) relation of books in to books out, (6) number of observations, (c) librarians' judgments. GiBLS Library 12 3 4 6 6 7 8 Total Aesop: Fables 4 6 4 14 28 Walker: Little Plays from Amer- ican History 7 4 11 Dalbeath: Little Plays 13 13 Vamey: Story Plays Old and New 10 10 Lamb : Tales from Shakespeare 6 4 10 Keller: Story of My Life 6 4 10 Paret: Harper's Handy Book for Girls 6 4 10 Benton: Little Cook Book for a Little Girl 6 3 9 Alcott: Little Women (Play)... 9 9 Stevenson: Days and Deeds Poetry 9 9 Gale: Story of Ulysses 8 8 Browning: Pied Piper of HameUn. . 8 8 Peeps at Many Lands (series) 8 8 Burrill: Saturday Mornings 7 7 Irving: Rip Van Winkle 7 7 Bamum: Harper's Book of Little Plays 6 6 Morgan: How to Dress a Doll. . . 6 6 Steedman: Jeanne D'Arc 6 6 Ambrosi: When I was a Girl in Italy 5 5 Table XXXV shows that the girls have a deplorably small in- terest in non-fiction of whatever nature. A small interest in literature and an even smaller interest in the remaining books of this type include the whole. Now and then girls ask for books on cooking, knitting and crocheting, and more often still for books of little plays. The biography and history is limited to the biographies of two interesting women — Joan of Are and Helen Keller — ^when there are so many. The girls' interests are most certainly narrower at this age than are those of the boys. They do not take interest in current 120 Children's Interests in Beading events, nor in mechanical inventions, nor in travel, nor in history, but must, whenever it is possible, have imaginative characters wherein kindliness and self-sacrifice are held up as ideals. All the libraries investigated keep monthly records of the number of copies of each kind of literature that is withdrawn. Record books were examined and percentages calculated. These are tabulated in Table XXXVI. In this table, one observes that the fiction in all libraries clusters very closely around fifty per TABLE XXXVI Percentage Table of Monthly Cihctjlatign or All Books Liibrary No. i No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 Fiction 45 53 54 49 56 53 49 46 Sociology (300) 18 18 14 18 16 15 16 15 Philology (400) 10 4 4 5 8 5 6 4 History (900) 6 4 7 5 5 4 5 8 Travel (910) 42422334 Literature (800) 4 3 5 2 2 3 3 4 Biography (920) 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 4 Fine Arts (700) 33332345 ReUgion (200) 2 2 1 1 1 1 Reference (600) 2 6 1 2 2 7 2 Science (500) 1 1 3 2 1 2 3 3 Useful Arts (600) 12 2 2 113 3 Philosophy (100) cent. This is explained by the fact that all the libraries studied have a rule that the child will be permitted to take out but one book of fiction and, in addition, one other book. Were the chil- dren permitted, they would take out at least 80 per cent fiction and most probably more. This fact also affects all the other per- centages, for most children like to take out as many books as possible and so search for some other book after they have secured their copy of fiction in order to have at least two books. There are some further explanations necessary concerning the types of books considered. The high position of a title with such a learned sound as " sociology " is explained when it is known that the greater part of ' ' sociology ' ' is composed of fairy tales. At the same time, philology is nothing more than primers and easy books, which are read by the very small children who are extremely fond of them. History, travel, literature, and biology are self-explanatory. In fine arts are included stories of opera, books on magic and puzzles, historical plays, but above all else Investigations in Libraries 121 the what-and-how-to-do books. This last list includes the Boy Scouts handbook. Religion contains, in addition to Bible stories and such like, books of mythology. Science contains among others DuChaillu's stories, which account for 75 per cent of the small per cent attributed thereto. In the useful arts, one finds books on hygiene, books on new inventions, stories of industry, stories of the Panama Canal, story of cotton, story of corn, books on dressmaking, and stories of wireless. In this study, sociology and philology have not been considered. If we add together the history and biography of the libraries that have the greatest foreign elements — Libraries 1, 3, 5, and 8 — we get an average per cent of 9.8. On the other hand, if we add together the history and biography of those libraries that have only a medium number of children whose parents are foreign- born, the average is 6.8 per cent. The rule does not hold abso- lutely because the percentage of children of foreign-bom parents is greatest in Library No. 1, but that does not rank highest in these two types. In literature, we find children of the foreign born forming its largest percentage of readers. In Libraries 1, 3, and 8, we find the largest percentage, but Library 5 is low in this respect. In fine arts, the children who frequent Libraries 7 and 8 would have a greater opportunity to perform the sorts of operations described in the ' ' Handy Books ' ' and hence a larger percentage is read by them. The books read on science and useful arts are probably those suggested by the schools, as is also the case with a few books on birds. 122 Children's Interests in Reading Interests of Boys The interests of boys from lO^^ to 13 % years take three defi- nite paths: (1) war and scouting, (2) school and sports, and (3) adventure of a more peaceful sort in the great out-of-doors, best exemplified by the Boy Scouts. In each ease there must be actual heroes. A boy prefers living characters. He will leave history however well written for a story of historical nature. The premier writer of the first type, Altsheler, makes one think the thoughts of his heroes. In the Guns of Bull Bun, the heroes talk for a brief space and though they are Southerners, we feel immediately in sympathy with them for they are brave, honorable, and true. But soon we are transferred to the Union camp. Here again there is found courage, honesty, strength of muscle, daring, courtesy, and honor in the cousins of the Southern heroes. War consists in charges, daredevil rides, hair-breadth escapes, and jolly good friendships. The horror, death, agony, the grind of training are rarely mentioned, and, when they are, are hurriedly passed over. Let us look more minutely at the Scouts of the Valley. In the frontispiecje, we have a picture of a gloomy forest, a wounded man fighting for loved ones, women and children frightened, bedraggled and downcast. The hero is strong in muscle and accurate of movement, for he can ' ' bring the paddle into the boat, grasp the rifle, and carry it to his shoulder with a single continuous movement." The hero was bom and bred in the forest. ' ' He was the great picture of fact, not of fancy, a human being animated by a living dauntless soul. ' ' This hero is unafraid, although in constant danger. He is constantly fighting the Indians, but yet bears them no hatred. On the contrary, he rather admires their " powerful muscles " and sympathizes with their longing for the freedom of the great out-of-doors. In this book there are four other white men that accompany the leader. They find the Indians on the point of rising up against the whites and must needs investigate further. All are captured except the hero, who, by craftily laid plans and unexcelled courage, succeeds in freeing one after another of his comrades until he has the Indians so mystified that they attribute these liberations to the " evil spirit." The author gives a vivid ac- count of the Indian chief's council at which plans against the Investigations in Libraries 123 whites were being concocted. The hero, by means of creeping silently upon them, protected by the dark night and by the ab- sence of dogs, the Indians having left these unnecessary animals at home, learns of their plans. Armed with these facts, he warns the settlers, helps to protect the women and children, receives the plaudits of his superiors, is captured and afterwards released by an admiring Indian, and in general comes out victor. The leading character of the book acts so nobly that the chief of the Wyandottes will not let him be killed and when a blood-thirsty woman is about to split the prisoner's head with her tomahawk, the chief slits the captive's thongs and he escapes to the forest. Consider the titles of some of this author's books: Sword of Antietam, Scon,ts of the Valley, Lone Star, Rock of Chickamauga, On the Plains with Custer. In all of these there is the same appeal of adventure, of battle, and of victory. There is no half- way point. The victory is clean cut and decisive. Not so excit- ing, but yet just as warlike are the works of Henty. By Pike and Dyke, By England's Aid, With Wolf in Canada, With Lee in Virginia are illustrative titles by this author. The second large division centers around the school. Barbour is a representative author of this type. His heroes excel in base- ball, football, and in other sports. They are jolly good fellows, are honorable, and attentive to their lessons. In the story of The Half Back, a young man arrives from the country at a fashionable, but rather rigorous boarding school. He has breathed the air of the country and has acquired a rugged con- stitution. Having played on the eighth grade team at home, he surprises his comrades with his ability to punt. By accident he saves the life of a boy who is thus brought to know and admire the hero of the story. The former is very wealthy, while the latter is very poor; yet their friendship is very close. One follows the hero breathlessly from escapade to escapade in his successful school career. He makes the football team and finds the coach a man after his own liking. Throughout his busy life, however, he finds time to write long chatty letters to his mother. Later on he saves a boy from drowning and again comes to the focus of attention. Fill in imaginatively the details of this sketch : There are two minutes to play ; it is the third down and ten to go with the score a tie, a wide sweeping end run 124 Children's Interests in Beading places the ball in front of the goal, and the hero with one well directed kick send« the ball squarely between the uprights just as the referee's whistle announces the end of the game. For the man who has made such a kick, nothing is good enough. He is carried off the field on the shoulders of his shouting comrades and the game is over — and you have the type of book that Bar- bour writes and that the boys read. Here are some of the titles : Weatherhy's Inning, Hitting the Line, Left-Tackle Thayer, and Four in Camp. The third large division of boys' interests concerns itself with the Boy Scouts. The grip that this movement has on the boys is illustrated by the number of popular books which center around the Boy Scout movement. A good example of this type is Heyliger's Don Strong of the Wolf Patrol. The hero, Don Strong, at the beginning of the story is a rather careless, good- natured, poor lad with scarcely an interest outside the petty rounds of his school and a few friends. His father, a carpenter, would ask him over and over again for help, but the son would not stick at a job for any length of time. How- ever, through the instrumentality of a big-hearted scout-master, he becomes mildly interested, then wholly interested in scout- ing. He must now be kind to someone each day, and must earn some money before he can become even a second class scout. Don finds hoth of these demands peculiarly difficult because of his inherent inability for continuity of effort and because of a friend who scorns the whole business. But he was directed to the building of a bird's house, made a success of it, so much so that he earned sufficient money to attend high school the following year. Through hikes into the great out-of-doors, the building and tagging of huts, the impetus towards clean living and fair dealing was truly marvelous. Through it all, he had the coop- eration of his kind-hearted father and an intelligent sister. This book shows clearly the attitude of the boy himself towards the Boy Scouts, and the fact that the boys read it and like it is one of the most hopeful signs found among the results of this investigation. When non-fiction is considered, only in rare cases is there found any steady interest at this age. Many books that are popular utilize the love for adventure. Boys read the what-and- Investigations in Libraries 125 how-to-do books with the exception of those on cooking, and most of the biography and history, while the girls read the litera- ture and the plays. In biography and history, it is noteworthy that the popular books are those which give their account as nearly as possible in story form — Stories of Pioneer Life, A Story of Great Americans for Little Americans, The Island Story. Even these must be about war and adventure. The interest of the boys in Popular Mechanics and Scientific Ameri- can is worthy of notice. Interests op Girls Between the ages of 10^^ and 13%, the sex diiference in the interest in reading is most marked. Girls and boys read, almost entirely, different books. It is difficult to imagine a strong, healthy American boy of twelve years reading Little Women and almost as difficult to imagine his sister of the same age reading an Altsheler, although the latter does happen at times. The girl does not care much for hairbreadth escapes from bullets and tomahawks. If there are to be adventures and escapes, they must needs be for punishment for the infraction of some school rule. In nearly every ease, a book, to be popular, must tell of boys and girls poor but respectable and usually proud, who hide their poverty the best they can and in every case keep their honor unsullied and their minds clean. These young people even in their poverty are forgetful of self, and help others on all occasions, spreading sunshine wherever they go. Usually they are very conscious of their lack of elegant clothes. The girls feel most keenly the contrast between cheap muslins and rich silks. Gradually the prospect brightens, for usually through the efforts of the heroines, but always in some way or other, money comes into the family coffers. The kind mother can have a new dress ; all the girls are able to buy new clothes ; the mortgage is paid off and virtue gets its reward. If there is a love story, few clouds darken the horizon. If these conditions are met, the book is a " perfectly splendid " one and has a " perfectly splendid ending. ' ' There are four kinds of fiction which are of especial interest to girls of this age: (1) stories of home life, (2) stories of school life, (3) fairy stories, (4) love stories. As an example of the 126 Children's Interests in Reading first type, let us consider Little Women, the most popular book for girls that was ever written. The story opens upon a good, respectable, and cultivated family who are poor. The mother is one of those sympathetic persons who understands girls, for she combines within herself kindness, sympathy, and love. Her daughters love her dearly. She teaches them the gentle dignity and refinement of Christian ideals and her teaching is not lost upon the girls. Kindliness to others is the first principle of this household. Even on Christ- mas morning, all of them take their breakfast to a poverty- stricken family. This kind act, however, does not pass unseen and the rich neighbor next door sends them a wonderful Christ- mas supper. Two of the young ladies are invited to a pretty dance at which one of them sprains her ankle and is escorted home by a young mam, nephew and only relative of the rich neighbor next door. This is the beginning of a close friendship between the two families, giving an opening for the obtaining of money so necessary for our heroines' happiness. The nephew falls in love with one girl and is refused, but finally marries her sister and ' ' they live happily ever after. ' ' The girls have many temptations but overcome them all ; and many burdens, but bear them all. They have their reward in their host of friends, in the gentle happiness which comes of true love, in openness of character and in sympathy. Laura E. Richards' Peggy is an excellent example of the in- terest in stories of school life. The spirit of this, in comparison with the book just mentioned above, is far more modern. The eternal feminine, however, is just as evident. Peggy alights from the train into the midst of a group of boarding school girls, among whom, though she is homesick for the country and for the simple joys of family affection, she makes friends. She sees very soon that her wardrobe is slim in comparison with that of some of the other girls and, above all, out of style. Her uncle, however, sends her a large box of many things necessary to full enjoyment of school life and, by this means, her room is made comfortable. Peggy wins friends through her open disposition and gains admiration because of physical strength which rapidly develops in the gymnasium and in basketball. Things run along smoothly until she meets a wild nature, the " scapegoat " who Investigations in Libraries 127 is "D. D. and D. — dear, delightful and dangerous." This bright, artistic, but uncurbed individual leads our ' ' innocent ' ' into many a scrape until Peggy finds that she herself is thor- oughly trusted by the principal of the school. She then changes her ways and becomes loyal to the school, to her teachers, stands by her friends, and even runs off a man who is attempting to steal the jewelry of the girls. Marshmallow toast, school dra- matics, studies follow each other with kaleidoscopic rapidity. Above all, friendships strong and true are formed and love is in many places. The third interest of girls is in fairy stories. Although these stories are generally omitted from this study, it seemed best to include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which with its incon- gruous situations and weird imaginings is generally familiar and needs no mention here. The last mentioned type of book which is interesting to girls is the love story. Of these Woolsey's In the High Y alley is a good illustration. The scene opens in England where a brother and sister and their mother live in a small country home. The young man feels that he must come to America to make his way in the world. They meet some American girls who are " hor- ribly ' ' non-English and who are, for some unaccountable reason, proud of the fact that they are Americans. After the customary- leave-takings, brother and sister are off on their journey and soon land in New York City. They are thoroughly mystified at its hospitality, its extravagance, and at many other of its char- acteristics. Soon, however, they are moving into "The High Valley in Colorado." Here are a few delightful, cultivated American people, who attempt to make the English girl feel at home and from whom she holds aloof for some reason or other. Her actions are English and queer ; those of the American women are wholesouled, efficient, generous, and kind, but they care little for formalities while the English girl is almost the reverse. The latter falls sick and is nursed so carefully by the American neighbors that she capitulates entirely. A hard student of electrical engineering and his sister, who is also the sister of one of the American women of the community, visit the neighbor- hood. The electrical engineer falls in love with the English 128 Children's Interests in Beading girl and the English boy with the American girl and thus a double engagement is announced. Girls have a distressingly small interest in non-fiction. They read and act out a few plays and read a small bit of literature. For the most part, they seem to care but little for the rush of events, reading few magazines which concern themselves about such things. St. Nicholas, of course, is read, but chiefly for its stories. Summary In conclusion, the foregoing data indicate: 1. That the interests of boys and girls in reading are very dissimilar. 2. That the major interests of boys from 10 to 13 years in reading are included in four general types of fiction : (a) Books concerned with war and scouting; (&) those concerned with school and sports; (c) those concerned with the Boy Scouts; and {d) those concerned with strenuous adventure. Books concerned with war and scouting include 32 per cent of the total books of fiction. Books concerned with school and sports, 29 per cent ; books on Boy Scouts, 16 per cent ; books of strenuous adventure, 23 per cent. 3. That Altsheler, a writer of war and scouting, is the most popular writer for boys in the libraries examined ; that the boys stand in line in some libraries for an hour or more in order to get a book by this author ; that he is almost twice as popular as any other author. 4. That Barbour is the most popular writer of school and sports; Burton of Boy Scouts; and Clemens of strenuous ad- venture. 5. That in an analysis of these books, it is found that the poprdar writers appeal most often to the instincts of mastery, fighting, love of sensory life for its own sake, original attention, and approval and scornful behavior. 6. That in non-fiction, the interest centers around what-and- how-to-do books. The Boy Scout ManvM is by far the most popular of this group, although books on aeroplanes, submarines, kites, engines, puzzles and magic are in certain seasons very much sought after. Investigations in Libraries 129 7. That the interest in biography and history is confined to those authors who can write history and biography in the form of an exciting story. 8. That St. Nicholas, Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, American Boy, and Boys' Life are the most popular magazines among the boys. 9. That the interests of girls are principally concerned with fiction which portrays: (a) Home, 37 per cent; (&) home and school, 19 per cent; (o) school, 15 per cent; {d) fairy stories, 6 per cent; (e) stories with historical background, 6 per cent; (f) love, 7 per cent, and (g) miscellaneous, 10 per cent. 10. That Aleott, whose books are largely concerned with home life, is far more popular with girls in these eight libraries than is any other author; that Wiggin and Sidney should also be noted in this group concerned with home life ; Richards leads in the home and school group ; Dodgson in the fairy tales ; Knipe in stories with a historical background; and Woolsey in love stories. 11. That those authors popular with girls appeal largely to the following instincts : maternal, kindliness, attention to others, response to approval and scornful behavior, and to a less degree than in the case of boys, to rivalry. 12 That except for a few books on cooking, crocheting, dra- matics and poetry, girls fail to show interest in non-fiction. 13. That St. Nicholas is the only magazine liked to any extent by girls and that, in general, tables of magazines are largely patronized by boys. CHAPTER IV INTERRELATION AND CORRELATION OF RESULTS The reader will have observed the substantial agreement in the studies discussed in the frequency with which certain types of books and magazines were chosen. Consider now the correlation between preferences of children as shown by (1) replies to ques- tions, (2) observations in the libraries, and (3) sales of books. The data on sales of books were obtained from the replies of publishers to questions concerning the average yearly sale of books. Publishers of magazines were also requested to give the average weekly or monthly circulation of popular magazines. The returns from publishers of magazines were so meager that they were not used. Twenty-six publishers of books, out of a total of fifty-six written to, replied. As these replies were con- fidential and cannot be divulged in detail the author can merely state that they agree substantially with the results of this study. The correlations below will give more exact information. Call r I the resemblance between the ranks of 21 authors in popular lists based on the replies of children and their ranks on the popular list based on the observations in the libraries. Call r^ the resemblance betw.een the ranks of 34 books on the popular list in the case of the libraries and their ranks in the list based on the approximate yearly sales. Call r J the resemblance between the ranks of 24 books on the popular list based on the replies of children and their ranks in the list based on the approximate yearly sales. Then ml = .84 rfe =.50 rqs = .49 130 CHAPTER V INTERPRETATION The Interests in Reading op Boys, Age 10-13 Years, Treated From the Psychological. Point op View The question. Why do children like one book rather than an- other? is more difficult to answer. If you ask them why, they give such responses as have been mentioned in the Introduction. The fact is, children do not know why, since they are driven on by instinctive forces of which they are little cognizant. It must be realized in the first place that these instincts do not function as they would have, had they not been complicated by experiences of all kinds. The direction that an instinct takes, then, is deter- mined by training and education. That there are original forces remarkably alike in spite of the above-mentioned complications is evidenced by the unusual similarity of choices of books by thou- sands of children. From the standpoint of original nature, what are the chief drives impelling the boy to this type of reading? Possibly the strongest drive at this age among the boys is love of sensory life for its own sake. This is evidenced by the multiplicity of experiences that the hero shares, in the rapid and sudden changes of scene, and in the vividness of detail necessary to attract the boy. It is considerably like the moving pictures with their rapid change of film, their glaring advertisements, but more mild. More concretely, the boy scout must wander through the woods, he must continually learn new things. A scout must move along from place to place ; he must be in many battles ; he must protect many defenseless people and he must not fail in hair breadth escapes. The baseball player must make many hits; he must pitch many games; he must get into many scrapes. Is there description, it must be brief and with a few bold lines the whole must be sketched, for there is no time for loitering as one must hurry on. Not style but action is the requisite. AU of which 131 132 Children's Interests in Beading characteristics depend in surprisingly large measure on the origi- nal attentiveness which finds satisfaction in sudden changes and sharp contrasts. Another powerful incentive is rivalry. Not one of the popular books omits a description of that " increased vigor in man's activity where other men are engaged in the same activity and the satisfyingness of superiority to them. ' ' Truly the last clause is sickled over with the pale caste of outwardly more gentle- manly conduct, but even then there is a secret satisfaction in gaining the mastery. In making the college team we see it again and again, in becoming leader of the junior class some less for- tunate individual must be removed from the scene of action. The hero indeed has better qualities — he is far more honorable, he never takes unfair advantage — all told he is quite the man for the place. Of course he is gentleman enough not to exult, but the satisfyingness is there all the same. In the Boy Scout Series this instinct is appealed to less, but it is necessarily present. The instincts of mastery and rivalry are so closely inter- twined in the books for boys that it is best that they should be treated together. An individual is the rival of another largely because he wishes to gain the mastery. This instinct takes the form of mastery over an opponent in war or sports in some particular thing and the mere domination for its own sake is always condemned. " Man is originally attentive ... to all the situations to which he has further tendencies to respond." (Thorndike, Vol. I.) That section of human nature between 11^ and 13i/^ certainly has a tendencey to respond to wars and adventures imaginatively. The admiration of the boy of this age for out- door sports and his participation in them leads him to attend further to their description in books, and his loyalty to the boy scouts causes him to respond to accounts of them in books. His present activities are reflected in great interest in magazines concerning aeroplanes, submarines, wireless, making birds' nests, kites, building houses, fashioning tents, solving puzzles, and conundrums, and in the enjoyment of magic and such like. One might say also that it is his present interest in war, because the air is so full of it, that causes him to read books describing com- bats and escapes. But he was interested in war and fighting Interpretation 133 before this war began, as the former and present popularity of Henry and Homlinson, etc., attests. Undoubtedly the war accentuated and stimulated this interest but back of it all is that instinct of fighting. Also, it might be maintained that the instinct of manipulation expresses itself and is directed into the making of birds' houses, tents and such like. His everyday interest in puzzles is reflected in the popularity of books on puzzles. That kindliness is a driving force one must read the most gory of stories for even here the savage chief cannot bear to see his noble rival destroyed. The hero 's welfare is more important than the carrying on of the Indian's cause. In the school stories we see this kindliness flowing out upon all that are around the hero. He likes to see everybody happy. In fact his main business in life is to make more people happy. The instincts of " counter attack," " escape from restraint," ' ' overcoming a moving obstacle, " " irrational response to pain, ' ' " combat in rivalry," and " being thwarted," which together may be designated as the fighting instinct, play a tremendous part in the life of the boys. Just how much one can realize by glancing at the titles of books which catch and hold the in- terest. Altsheler, Tomlinson, or Henty, and many others of like nature are popular in every library. Boys imaginatively fight the hero 's battles with him, they are breathless when he is entangled in a death struggle with some powerful and despicable enemy. In a milder form and mixed with rivalry we see it playing a large part in school sports. The hero must enter into several fisticuffs before his prestige is established, but he must always fight for the right. In the Boy Scouts there are many characteristics resem- bling military organizations, yet there is little appeal to the fighting instinct. But even here Don Strong must assert his leadership at the expense of the bully who makes life miserable for him, and a real battle ensues. In the books for boys one is not surprised at a considerable sprinkling of fights. The con- trast between the books read by boys and those read by girls is here most sharp: the boys' books being filled with fighting, self-assertion, and strenuous rivalry; the girls' with kindliness, self-forgetfulness and mild rivalry. 134 Children's Interests in Beading The boys' heroes are not so susceptible to approval and scornfttl behavior as are those of the girls. They are apt to care less about what people think and to go ahead, driven rather by the instinct of mastery. Nevertheless, Don Strong enjoys the commendation of the scout leader as well as the plaudits of his comrades. He fears the jibes of his friend. The brother of a hero feels downcast indeed when suspicion of wrongdoing has been skillfully directed toward him by an enemy. In one case a miscreant suddenly disapppeared from school because moral opprobrium was his lot. The Scout's commendation of the younger lad makes the latter cheerful for many a day. Illus- trations of this could be multiplied to an almost endless extent. On the other hand, the hero directs his approval to those who deserve it by being strong, honest, and open, and his scorn against the opposite. Scorn, however, rarely is becoming to a real hero and is not dwelt upon. Greed, teasing, tormenting, bullying, envy, and jealousy are unreservedly condemned. The drives concomitant with the instincts of " multiform mental activity " and of " multiform physical activity " may properly be considered together since the chief joy of life comes in the mental control over physical activity. The joy of mental control comes in the control over a game of baseball, or over the building of a tent, or over shooting unerringly. The hero's greatest happiness is in that self-control in those situations which makes him independent not of others but of others in doing that particular thing he sets out to do. Complicated with this is the drive of mastery. When he is no longer rattled if his team is behind, or flurried when an Indian is beyond a nearby tree, he gets the fullest satisfaction. The higher types of mental ac- tivity are not emphasized except now and then by some wise scoutmaster or perspicacious teacher. The most important drives have already been mentioned but there remain a few instincts important enough to deserve brief mention. Among this group perhaps the most important is the gregarious instinct which is appealed to again and again. The hero must have friends. When he walks out alone, except on rare occasions he misses the comradeship of his fellows. Sur- rounded by his team, or by his Boy Scout comrades, or by his admiring school he is the happiest. In the midst of the Indians Interpretation 135 nothing is more comforting than the sight of a friend. It is team work that he admires. What then are the great satisfiers of boybxjod at this age as expressed in the heroes of the books they read? Below is a list of the most important ones ; The chief Satisfiers deduced from books frequently chosen i Physical strength and aptitude. Self-control, particularly in critical situations. Independence based on actuality. Making a team at the expense of an unjust rival. Saving a person's life. Gaining the mastery in a physical combat when the opponent is despicable. Being loyal. Going somewhere. Having new experiences of almost any kind. Gaining the plaudits of his fellows. Being honest, straightforward, open, trustworthy. Winning admiration, even of an enemy, in these things. Annoy ers: The opposites of the above would in almost every case be annoying. The Inteeests of Girls, Age ,10-13 Yeabs, Treated From the Psychological Point of View The fighting instinct on the one hand and the maternal instinct on the other are the most potent causes of the differences between the reading of boys and girls at this period. The instinct ' ' to nurse, to care for, and fuss over others, to relieve, comfort, and console ' ' is expressed again and again in the heroines of the book. Any failure to relieve or comfort is unreservedly condemned. Not only is the mother in Little Women willing to give up her breakfast but even the young and at times thoughtless daughters comprehend that it would also give them pleasure to give up their breakfast. Out of sheer good fellowship the girls like to cheer the lonely two next door. It is real fun to carry flowers to a sick individual in the neighborhood. In Peggy the heart of the west- ern girl is wrung at the sight of her oppressed fellow classman. 136 Children's Interests in Beading The author skillfully puts the reader in a mood receptive to such kindness and the girls evidently like it. There are few heroines who show more of this instinct than Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She helps out the neighboring poor families in every way that she can. Even the hero of the story shows in a large degree this quality so liked by girls. He is one of the trustees of a girls ' school and brings presents to all the children of his neighboring town. Hans Brinker is kindness itself. Clover of the story of The High Valley is all one could ask in love and kindness to her neighbors. Katrina in the story of that name enjoys helping others and her fond aunt is much praised for her kindness and philanthropy. Burnett's Sara Crewe, though hungry, gives away her rolls to the street waif who is near starvation. This story is full of thoughtf ulness for others. In sampling and read- ing these books these facts forced themselves upon me again and again. Sometimes even where these characteristics are almost apothieo^izedi — as in the Elsie Dinsmore Series (not Jn the libraries) — the books are still extremely popular. This type of thing is what the girls call a " nice story." This maternal in- stinct is so closely akin to kindliness that what has been said of the former would also apply to the latter. Attention and interest in sharp contrasts and sudden changes are not nearly so evident as is the case with books for boys. In fact the opposite is often the case. In Anne of Green Gables, for instance, the action is rather slow. Anne likes to sit and dream of the cherry and apple blossoms. The action in every case is not nearly so rapid. We have more time to get thoroughly acquainted with the intimate details of everyday life, particu- larly of the home and neighborhood, as well as with the desires and aspirations of the heroines. The interest in visual explora- tion often takes the form of a trip to the city where the gay people, handsome clothes, and magnificent equipages rather startle but tremendously attract the girl. If, as in The Little Gray House, a girl takes interest in manipulating a mechanical situation, it is because of her needy parent and her love of her dreamy father. The joy of being together is best exemplified in school stories, although the joys of the large family are exemplified in such books as The Little Grey House, Five Little Peppers and How Interpretation 137 They Grew, or Little Women, and the joylessness of life without them, ia Behecca of SunnybrooTc Farm. When Rebecca was settled in a much more comfortable but less joyous home she missed the pleasures of her former home associations. This long- ing for fellowship with others of like nature is so universally expressed that it needs no further comment. The responses to approval and to scornful behavior show themselves particularly in the unusual interest of the heroines in dress, for with the women mentioned, dress brings approval both of thedr own sex and of the other. The girls in Little Women are so much concerned about their clothes that one is treated to half a chapter showing in minute detail how they patched here, covered up there, prepared to keep their backs to the wall, that their clothes might be presentable. And when one of the girls went to a fashionable country home her little hostess was so chagrined at the simple dress of her guest that she con- trived to get her visitor to wear one of her own. Rebecca had a great struggle with her aunts to get her some presentable dresses. This very method was used also in Katrina when the heroine went to the city. The good breeding of the heroine's; friends always prevents them from displaying a scorn at such dresses, which others would not be slow in showing. These small aside-looks of scorn used by women in these stories are often sufiSeient to send the poor heroine upstairs weeping. Externally they often meet scorn with scorn but inwardly nothing seems to hurt so much as to be thought ill-dressed and consequently poor. Even when these girls are scorned because of inelegant clothes they tacitly admit to themselves that the scomers are right. On the other hand the softened scorn of their elders in regard to their slovenliness and carelessness is met with an acquiescence which contains considerable opposition and oftentimes rebellion. The fact that girls are more interested in the sort of clothes they wear at this age is one of the evidences of the greater re- sponse to the attention of human beings. If, a boy — as in Alt- sheler — decides upon a certain course he goes ahead, thinking and caring little for what others think. Not so with the girls. They must consider what father thinks, what mother thinks, and, at least in stories, are always influenced strongly by the 138 Children's Interests in Beading opinions of these people. The mere fact that so many popular books treat of kindliness and good fellowship, of self-sacrifice and of noble giving shows that girls are more interested in these things than are boys. The instinct of shyness manifests itself in a variety of ways. In The Little Grey House the heroine is indescribably shy and faint when she is about to interview her father's old friend. Again she is almost struck speechless when she must meet the directors of a business concern in order to explain the intricacies of her father's invention. But — what girls must like — she fights off this feeling and remembering that she is her father's daugh- ter launches forth into a masterly description of the machine. On the negative side Jo in Little Women felt almost none of that shyness in the presence of strangers. Peggy felt a sinking of the heart when face to face with her principal. Sometimes this shyness is overcome by the magnanimous act of the girl's superior, expressed perhaps by a bind word or a friendly pat. Soon the girl feels at home even in the most unusual circumstances. The instinct of rivalry is, of course, often directed under the author's hand into rivalry in unselfishness, kindliness, thought- fulness, etc. Sometimes, as in Peggy, it is a rivalry for leader- ship in the class ; as in Little Women, a competition for the great- est kindliness to each other and to others; as in Behecca, for the good graces of the teacher ; or as in Hans Brinker, in order to win a skating race. All told, this instinct plays, in comparison with rivalry in boys' books, only a very small part. Teasing and tormenting express themselves most consistently in gossip and sneers. In school pranks, however, they may take on a physical aspect. In every case the authors condemn them unreservedly. Generally speaking, the emotions play a much larger part in girls ' stories. Girls permit themselves to give expression to their feelings more frequently. Nor do they mind a bit of crying. It is joy and happiness one day and grief and sorrow the next. One is struck by this difference. The younger girls in the story are always more easily affected than are boys of the same age in boys' stories. Interpretation 139 The chief great Satisfiers of gMs of age 10-13, as shown by their reading, are thrae: Kindliness to others especially to those who are in distress. To wear beautifully tailored clothes. To hold her position socially as high as any one. In being honorable and possessing a clean mind. In unselfishness. In being useful in the home. In playing pranks at school. In being honest at school. In gaining the esteem of those worth while at school. In being loved and admired for oneself. In protecting those weaker. In having things happen. In being open and not deceitful. In getting a box from home, in having a feast till late hours, and in telling stories. In success in dramatics. In going to a city, if raised in the country. Annoy ers: The opposites of these usually annoy. During the years 13 to 18 the sex instinct in addition to those instincts already mentioned becomes potent. It manifests itself in the increasing amount of adult fiction chosen by both boys and girls. The sex instinct is only slightly evident in the reading of boys up to 12-13 years, but after this age-group its manifesta- tions in the liking for adult fiction are increasingly apparent. The impulses of mastery, rivalry, and fighting continue very strong throughout the high school age. They are expressed in the large number of books of adventure chosen by boys. Thus the interest of boys in adult fiction and in adventure is a direct outgrowth of their original nature. In girls the sex instinct manifests itself as early as the eleventh year. But at 12-13 this instinct makes itself felt in a large percentage of their total reading and from 14-16 becomes the dominant force in determining the type of reading liked. The maternal instinct and the kindliness of the earlier years are reinforced by the sex impulse with a result that at least 85 per 140 Children's Interests in Reading cent of the total number of books very much liked is composed of adult and juvenile fiction. That the instinct of kindliness is still powerful throughout these years is evidenced by the popu- larity among girls of Little Women and Pollyanna — books in which the slight thread of the love story is dominated by the emphasis placed on the happiness of others. CHAPTER VI SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE CHOICES OF BOOKS AND MAGAZINES A much more exact measurement of the differences between boys and girls in their choices of books and magazines may be obtained by means of the coefficient of contingency — a coefficient developed by Karl Pearson. In calculating this measure, known as C, the differences between the obtained measures occurring in each category and those calculated as occurring by chance are squared and divided by the measures occurring by chance. The sum of the numbers thus obtained is divided by the total number of cases plus the sum just mentioned and the square root of the resultant number taken. This is the C of mean-square- contingency. An example will make this clear. The following table is taken from Table XXIII, itself a general summary of aU the results obtained by the method of the questionnaire. TABLE XXXVII dlffbrbncbs in choices of books and magazines measured by the Coefficient of Contingency ■s « 3 6 s O -3 Boys 14 (41) 126 (220) 253 (151) 16 ( 8) 6 (3) 18 (10) 4 (4) (1) 18 (16) 455 GiriB 60 (42) 323 (229) 54 (156) 1 ( 9) (3) 1 (1) 3 (11) 5 (5) 3 (2) 14 (16) 473 Total 83 449 307 17 6 1 21 9 3 32 928 N N + X^: 27» X' 942 1022 8» 3' 8' 1 22 272 942 102= — + + + — + — + — + - + — + + + + 41 220 151 8 3 10 1 16 42 229 156 22 gj 32 82 12 1 1 1 1 = 287.17 9 3 11 3 16 287.17 928-1-287.17 .486 141 142 Children's Interests in Beading In like manner coefficients for the age-groups 12-13, 14-16, and 17-18 were found to be .499, .438, and .367 respectively. Again those derived from magazines from Table XXVI for ages 9-11, 12-13r 14-16, and 17-18 were .460, .514, .513, and .483 respectively. In order to determine the individnal categories most respon- sible for the large eoefficieats mentioned above a modifieation of the above method was used as follows : TABLE XXXVIII Books Adtjilt OxHEB Ttpbs Ficnox COMBIMBD TOTAI, Boys, . 14 ....(41) 441 {414) 4&5 Girls... 69 ....(42) 404 (431) 473 Total.. ....83 S45 928 272 27» 27» 27» X2= 1 1 1 = 38.6 41 42 414 431 4 38.6 928 -f- 38.6 .199 TABLE XXXIX All Correlationb Obtajenbd B = Boys G = Girls Books Age-Groups 9-11 12-13 14-16 17-18 AH Types Combined 486 .499 .438 367 Adult Fiction G .199 .309 .287 .264 Juvenile Fiction G .375 .297 .233 .020 Adventure B .420 .477 .378 .302 Magazines All Types Combined 460 .514 .513 483 Adult Fiction G .002 .087 .112 111 Adventure B .397 .231 281 183 Woman's Arts G .256 .404 419 313 Science B .055 .296 .274 .325 In interpreting these scores two things must be considered: (1) that the coefficients are a measure of unlikeness between the sexes and consequently the greater the quantities the greater Sex Differences in Choices 0/ Books and Magazines 143 the sex-differences, and (2) that this coefficient, when ten or more categories are included in its determination, is somewhat comparable to the ordinary Pearson r. The upper limit of this coefficient, when ten classifications are used, is .949. In the case of the individual types the coefficient .420, for example, should be read, " The correlation between being a boy of age 9-11 rather than a girl of the same age and choosing books of adventure is .420 " ; or the score .375 for juvenile fiction at the years 9-11, " The correlation between being a girl rather than a boy, both being 9-11 years old, and choosing juvenile fiction is .375." In both cases the differences are very substantial ones. Clearly, then, there is a large difference between the sexes in their liking for books. This difference is greatest at the ages of 12-13 in the case of both magazines and books. The magni- tude of these differences is, finally, in no small degree determined — as Table XXXIX clearly shows — first by the boys' great in- terest in books of adventure and in magazines of adventure and of science; and second, by the girls' preferences for books of fiction and for magazines of fiction and woman's arts. VITA Arthur M. Jordan was born in Somerton, Virginia, October 9, 1888. Academic Training: Randolph-Macon Academy, 1900-03; Randolph-Macon College, 1903-07, A.B. degree ; Trinity College (N.C.), 1909-10, A.M. degree; University of Chicago, 1912-13 (nine months), 1914 (three months) ; Columbia University, 1917-20. Professional Experience : High School principal, five years ; University of Arkansas, instructor, 1914-15; assistant professor, 191 5-17; Columbia University, instructor, Extension Teaching, 1918-19; University of Arkansas, professor of psychology, 1919-. Previous Publications : " Some Correlations of Army Alpha Test," School and Society, March 20, 1920. " Interests of Chil- dren in Reading," Arkansas Teacher, 1917. ^■jt*H '■''0f^^§^_^d ^^■T:^ ■-^li -^^:^-