Show ft f of 0 f H Happiness Children Ignore Bad Books 1 i If Good Ones Are Around t Hubbard I Hoover and belle bene Macrae Hoover Heres another article Hub- Hub rd hI- hI 1 d about the stuff children are ding ading nowadays All AU the ills of e y youngest o 0 u un n g o e s B t generation are arc ed on the books they read rents are up in arms Pub- Pub hers hers ers are on the defensive Ive I'Ve Ye no doubt Isabelle that ildren's books could be greatly proved d. d At the same time I 1 Sure that parents exaggerate e harm that can come to their through h reading Parents tiet how hov it was when they were cre They forget that chile chil- chil e read selectively Children ct f fro from r o m their rea reading ng the ings gs that make sense to them o other her things they skim over r ignore 1 I e always keen een grateful to toty ty t parents for or having in their Diary i ry a complete unexpurgated HUon of the Arabian Nights nd- nd d for allowing me to read it let or hindrance If the uth Loth be told there are arc many parts I the thc Arabian Nights which alost al- al ost oat any adult would consider equitable for tor children But belleI belle I am sure the book did me harm hann I skipped the sexy and fastened on the i rc re parts The net result was od and od-and and stimulus for the I. I I. I That Far Would you go so far Hubbard ito to say that parents should I low their children to read any- any i ng g the they please Yes I think so Nine children I ot ten will not be injured b by Y they read A child who harmed by a book is a child 10 10 has already been damaged i life ilife e. e The only book my father ever er bade me to read rend was a novel novelI I Elinor Glyn called Three eek Naturally I couldn't it t t. t until I read it What a di dis- dis My mind had been for or sin and I read with hands and feverish ex- ex ement but all my childish eyes m mI I II I I J SE could find was a man and women behaving in the senseless way so 50 common with grown If I hadn't been forbidden to read the book I would have dropped it after a few pages from utter boredom Double Thrill No boy was ever fool enough to i iash ask ash his parents parent's permission to I read the garish nickle pickle novels that brighten the windows of the corner corner cor cor- ner tobacconist But every boy read them them Nick Nick Carter Pluck and Luck Secret Service Read them in school behind his big red geography thus geography thus having the double double double dou dou- ble thrill of outwitting ng teacher as aswell aswell aswell well as parent The amount of trash I read between age 8 and 11 1 is beyond belief It did no harm but neither did it do me any good T That at is the important point I would gladly have chosen more nutritious ious i- i ous fare arc if it h had a d been easily available attractively illustrated and not forced on me mc by teacher or parent When a child is forbidden to read a book that book takes on ona ona ona a value It doesn't deserve |