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[Illustration: The naval battle between the Serapis and the Poor
Richard.]

[Illustration:




                       GRADED LITERATURE READERS


                               EDITED BY
                      HARRY PRATT JUDSON, LL.D.,
                PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
                                  AND
                             IDA C. <DW12>
  SUPERVISOR OF PRIMARY GRADES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BUFFALO, NEW
                                 YORK

                              FOURTH BOOK

                  CHARLES E. MERRILL CO., PUBLISHERS]

                          COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY
                        MAYNARD, MERRILL, & CO.
                                 [24]




PREFACE


It is believed that the Graded Literature Readers will commend
themselves to thoughtful teachers by their careful grading, their sound
methods, and the variety and literary character of their subject-matter.

They have been made not only in recognition of the growing discontent
with the selections in the older readers, but also with an appreciation
of the value of the educational features which many of those readers
contained. Their chief points of divergence from other new books,
therefore, are their choice of subject-matter and their conservatism in
method.

A great consideration governing the choice of all the selections has
been that they shall interest children. The difficulty of learning to
read is minimized when the interest is aroused.

School readers, which supply almost the only reading of many children,
should stimulate a taste for good literature and awaken interest in a
wide range of subjects.

In the Graded Literature Readers good literature has been presented as
early as possible, and the classic tales and fables, to which constant
allusion is made in literature and daily life, are largely used.

Nature study has received due attention. The lessons on scientific
subjects, though necessarily simple at first, preserve always a strict
accuracy.

The careful drawings