A child's guide to reading

by John Albert Macy

"A child's guide to reading" by John Albert Macy is a literary guide and reading manual written in the early 20th century. Aimed at helping young readers (and those who guide them) move beyond ephemeral “juveniles” to the enduring riches of literature, it explains why and how to read, champions fiction, poetry, history, and essays, and offers practical lists and examples to steer taste toward the greats without being rigid or priggish. The opening of the work compares a good literary guide to a seasoned Maine woods guide: helpful but never a substitute for the reader’s own effort, judgment, and joy in discovery. It rejects fixed “Hundred Best Books” lists, praises the dictionary, and shows how chance encounters (Mill finding Wordsworth) can shape a life, while cautioning readers to choose books that awaken their best selves. It then argues for reading as contact with the best minds—countering “book-learning” skeptics with vivid examples (Lincoln with Shakespeare, Grant with Scott and Cooper, Napoleon’s omnivorous reading, Franklin’s formative authors)—and urges attentive, sometimes re-read, even memorized engagement. Finally it begins its long section on fiction: defending the novel (with Jane Austen’s wit), explaining plot, character, description, and style through Thackeray’s Henry Esmond, stressing the moral responsibility of storytellers (via Trollope), dissolving the romance vs. realism quarrel with examples from Scott, Dickens, and others, warning against inauthentic dialogue and flabby description, and offering calm, practical advice on choosing novels (and short stories) before launching into a substantial, varied reading list.