The Child's World: Third Reader

Withers, SarahProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 188K words
Chapters: 19

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.The Child's World: Third Reader by Browne, Tate, and WithersAuthor: Withers, Sarah,Language: English, Class: PE: Language and Literatures: English, Release Date: Feb 25, 2005

Editor's review

This book is the third reader in The Child's World series, compiled with contributions from Sarah Withers and others, and belongs to the tradition of early English-language readers for native speakers. Its value lies in the window it offers onto the selection tastes and language-training approaches of early twentieth-century children's reading matter: short pieces, controlled vocabulary, and themes close to children's experience, combining reading aloud with comprehension practice. For readers studying the history of English textbooks, the history of children's literature, or early literacy education, it is a useful comparative sample; for contemporary readers, it can also serve as light material for understanding the conventions of older readers. It should be noted that the content and language of the book bear marked features of their era, and some ideas and wording no longer accord with present-day usage; it should be read as a historical text and is not suitable for direct use as a contemporary children's language textbook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying the history of English textbooks and early children's readers
Readers interested in early twentieth-century children's literature and educational ideas
English teachers who need samples of older readers for pedagogical comparison
Adult readers who enjoy short, easy English and wish to learn about historical readers

Not a good fit for

Learners seeking contemporary graded readers or modern English textbooks
Readers who need systematic grammar explanation and practice materials
Young children reading independently, who require adult selection and guidance
Readers of fiction who expect full narrative and literary quality

Reading tips

Begin by browsing the table of contents, then select pieces by theme or difficulty and read them in scattered sessions.
Use each piece as reading-aloud material, noting differences in older wording and sentence patterns.
Compare with contemporary children's readers, recording changes in text selection and language-training approaches.
When selecting passages for children, have an adult read through first and screen out outdated content.

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

Can this book be used directly for today's children to learn English?

It is not recommended for direct use as a contemporary children's English textbook. The language and ideas in the book carry the features of the early twentieth century, and some wording and content no longer accord with current usage. If it is to be used with children, an adult should first screen it, and it should be treated as historical material for understanding older readers, not as a systematic learning tool.

What level does the third reader occupy within the series?

Judging by the conventions of readers, the third reader usually follows the literacy and reading-aloud training of the first two volumes, with longer pieces and richer vocabulary, while still remaining short and easy. The precise difficulty should be judged in light of the contents of the whole book; readers are advised to try one or two pieces first before deciding on a reading pace.

What use is this book for studying the history of English education?

It can serve as a sample of early English-language readers for native speakers, helping researchers observe the selection standards, vocabulary-control methods, and moral-education orientation of the time. Compared with other textbooks of the same period, it can reveal the trajectory of change in children's reading matter and language-teaching ideas, and is suited to textual analysis rather than reading as a general history.

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About the author

Withers, Sarah Author

Sarah Withers is an author about whom little public information is currently available; details such as her nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly recorded. Judging from the work held in the collection, she is associated with The Child's World: Third Reader, a reading book intended for children and belonging to the category of basic reading textbooks. Such readers generally emphasize readability and educational value, often including stories, poems, and informative short pieces designed to cultivate children's interest in reading and their language skills. Although little is known about Withers's own writing career and public activities, the existence of this reader indicates that she took part in compiling educational reading materials for children. Owing to the scarcity of further historical sources, the full scope of her work and its historical influence remain to be verified, and readers should refer primarily to the work itself when citing her.