Parker's Second Reader

Parker, Richard Green, 1798-1869Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 212K words
Chapters: 22

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Parker's Second Reader by Richard Green ParkerAuthor: Parker, Richard Green, 1798-1869,Language: English, Class: PE: Language and Literatures: English, Release Date: Oct 25, 2005

Editor's review

This is the second reader in Richard Green Parker's graded English series, part of the nineteenth-century American tradition of school reading textbooks. Such readers typically consist of short stories, fables, and selections on nature and daily life, with controlled vocabulary and oral reading practice, aiming to move children learning English from word recognition to reading in sentences. Its value lies not in literary merit or depth of thought but in showing how early English teaching actually worked: selections are short, sentences repetitive, and subjects close to everyday life, suited to choral reading and memorization in class. For today's readers it is both a primary source for the history of English education and a light extensive-reading text for language learners, offering a feel for the cadence and rhythm of old-style textbooks. Note that some content carries nineteenth-century social attitudes and moralizing, at odds with the values and tastes of contemporary children's books; readers should view it with historical perspective rather than judge it harshly by today's standards.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Education researchers studying nineteenth-century English textbooks and the history of reading instruction
English learners who want short, old-style selections for light extensive reading
Collectors interested in early children's books and textbook documents
English teachers who need reference material for classroom reading aloud

Not a good fit for

English learners looking for a modern graded system with accompanying exercises
Readers seeking selections of strong literary quality and depth of thought
Parents choosing books for contemporary children

Reading tips

Read through the volume in order; when you meet an unfamiliar word, guess from context first and look it up later, keeping your reading rhythm.
Choose several short pieces for reading aloud to get a feel for the sentence length and pauses of old-style textbooks.
Read alongside a contemporary graded reader and note differences in subject matter, syntax, and vocabulary control.
When using it as a teaching source, mark the moralizing passages and social attitudes as you read for later analysis.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this reader suitable for absolute beginners in English?

Not entirely. It is the second volume of an old graded series and assumes some initial reading ability; sentences are short, but the spelling and usage bear the marks of their time, and beginners may stumble on old-fashioned expressions. It is safer to master basic vocabulary and sentence patterns first, then use it as extensive reading material.

Is the content very different from today's children's books?

Quite different. Nineteenth-century readers consist mainly of short stories, fables, and moral lessons on daily life, emphasizing reading aloud, memorization, and conduct, with subject matter and tone reflecting the social attitudes of the time. Contemporary children's books emphasize fun, imagination, and diverse values; reading the two side by side actually reveals how ideas about English textbooks have changed.

Can it be used to learn contemporary English expression?

With caution. Many usages, spelling habits, and sentence patterns belong to nineteenth-century English and differ from contemporary speech and writing. It is better suited to getting a feel for the cadence of old-style textbooks or as material for the history of education; to learn contemporary English, rely mainly on modern textbooks and contemporary texts.

What can this book show as a historical source?

It reflects how reading was actually taught in nineteenth-century American schools: how selections were arranged, how vocabulary was controlled, how reading aloud was combined with moral instruction. For those studying the history of textbooks, children's reading, and the evolution of English teaching methods, such readers provide concrete textual samples that can be compared with the educational ideas and curriculum standards of the same period.

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About the author

Parker, Richard Green, 1798-1869 Author · American · 1798–1869

Richard Green Parker (1798–1869) was an American educator best known for compiling English readers and basic textbooks. He lived through a period when elementary education was expanding in the United States and schools increasingly needed standardized reading materials. Only one of his works is held in this collection, Parker's Second Reader, a graded reading textbook intended for beginners. Public information about his life is limited, and details of his education, positions, and personal career cannot be reliably confirmed. Judging from the surviving work, his approach emphasized step-by-step progression, with simple and practical selections suitable for classroom recitation and teacher-led instruction. His readers thus had a certain influence in the educational setting of his time and were adopted by a considerable number of schools.