EDITOR'S NOTE: Book Reviews So many books are sent to this department of EDUCATION that it is impossible to review them all. Naturally we feel under obligation to give preference to the books of those publishing houses which more or less frequently use our advertising pages. Outside of the limitations thus set, we shall usually be able and glad to mention by title, authors, publisher and price, such books as are sent to us for this purpose. More elaborate notices will necessarily be conditional upon our convenience and the character of the books themselves. A SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR. By Albert E. McKinley, Ph. D., Charles A. Coulomb, Ph. D., and Armand J. Gerson, Ph. D. The American Book Company. Price 60 cents. Prepared for the use of schools, at the request of the National Board for Historical Service, this book covers the causes and events of the World War in a condensed yet clear and satisfactory manner. While the young people of today were immensely interested in the course of events as they happened from day to day, they had to receive their impressions chiefly from the often conflicting accounts given in the newspapers and from other "scrappy" sources. The larger import of the conflict must of necessity have been often obscured and the mind confused. Therefore it is most important to teach the lessons of the war, in our schools; and this should be so accomplished as to promote a true appreciation of the spirit in which we, as a nation, entered into it. The use of this volume in the classroom will accomplish this end. It will promote a true spirit of Americanism. The chapters have been arranged largely according to an outline which was first published by the United States Bureau of Education as "Teachers' Leaflet No. 4," in August, 1918. THE CHADSEY-SPAIN READERS. Seventh and Eighth (grade) Readers. By Charles E. Chadsey and Charles L. Spain. The Century Company. These two books are published before the other books of the series, which will follow later. The editors are respectively Dean of the School of Education of the University of Illinois, and Deputy Superintendent of Schools, Detroit, Michigan. The publishers have opened to them the rich mine of juvenile and other literary material which, as publishers of St. Nicholas and The Century Magazine, is available to them. This insures unusual variety combined with high literary qualities. The selections are largely modern and lose nothing thereby. They are of the stuff that intelligent parents and teachers would choose for the guidance and cultivation of their children's taste. They are of inherent interest and there is little duplication. They are real collections of interesting, inspiring and informing literature. Like all books emanating from the Century Company they are artistic in design and illustration, and printed and bound in the best manner possible. We shall look with interest for the appearance of the remaining books of the series. MODERN JUNIOR MATHEMATICS. Books One and Two. By Marie Gugle. The Gregg Publishing Company. Price 80 cents and 90 cents, respectively. These books have some distinctive features which are of real psychological and pedagogical value. They are based on the idea that "Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry should be taught together from beginning to end, each subject illustrating and illuminating the other two." (President Charles W. Eliot.) The first lesson opens more like an interesting story than like a study that most pupils think to be a dry and hard task. The pupil is led to discover facts and principles for himself. The presentation is simple and real. Useful short cuts are disclosed or discovered and graphs are made that show the relations of things. All is practical and the student realizes that he is getting hold of things that will count in his favor when he gets out into business life. We congratulate the authors and the publishers on their success in transforming a study which so many pupils have in the past regarded as a sort of valley of despair, into an alluring pathway through lovely vales and over mountains of vision and inspiration. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOY AND HIS PROBLEMS. By Thomas Arkle Clark. The Macmillan Company. Price $1.20. Every teacher and every parent who has a boy ready to enter the high school or already there, should read this discerning and sympathetic study of the problems, experiences and needs of the boy of high school age. The author is in full sympathy with the boy and young man who is just looking out earnestly into the future of life, questioning himself and his teachers and parents as to what business or profession will be best adapted to his personal case, what preparation to make for it, what the prospects are for the future, what studies to take up, whether to go or not to go to college, etc., etc. It is a critical time and the lad who has at hand such an adviser as the author of this volume is indeed fortunate. The perusal of Professor Clark's book will make almost any teacher a better teacher and almost any father a wiser adviser and parent. THE AMERICAN ERA. By H. H. Powers. The Macmillan Company. Price $1.40. In a series of pregnant chapters the author discusses the position of America in the world today, and finds staggering problems, magnificent opportunities, and stupendous dangers set before us. Here are two or three sentences from his Preface. "I am dazed by the height to which we have suddenly been lifted as a people, and appalled at the abyss that yawns before us. Our opportunity is so immeasurably great, our temper so lawless, and our thought so unconscious, that I await developments with mingled anticipation and terror. We seem at times to be walking like the somnambulist along some dizzy ledge where waking men fear to go. Yet wake we must and choose our path with open eyes." In the interests of a wise, strong, wholesome and world-saving Americanism this book speaks out in a straightforward manner that clarifies the reader's thoughts and purpose to aid in the process of developing a new and worth-while type of personal and civic life. JUNIOR LATIN. Book I; Ditto, Book II. By John Evans Forsythe, A. B. and Richard Mott Gummere, Ph. D. Square 12mo, 135 and 288 pages, respectively, with illustrations, maps, etc. Christopher Sower Company, Philadelphia, Pa. These two books give the pupil a very thorough training in Latin. The books are of such a different make-up from the ordinary language book that they allure at the start. They are more like the ordinary school geography in size, shape and appearance of the pages, which abound in attractive illustrations. The pupil is interested at once and his study of the language is tied up closely, from the start, with the interesting things in ancient Rome. He feels the throb of the old Roman martial spirit and life as he studies the language the Romans spoke and wrote. This is a master stroke and insures a real interest in this too often "dry-as-dust" study. There are many other novel features. The first book deals largely with nouns and adjectives. Declensions are clearly and abundantly presented. Vocabularies present families of words of kindred meaning, thus utilizing the law of association. Book II contains the third declension. English etymology receives attention. The verb is carefully developed in its conjugations, printed on a new plan. The syntax of the noun and of the verb are distinctly separated. Teachers of Latin will be much pleased, we are sure, with this new treatment of an immortal subject; immortal in spite of the vicious attacks upon it which have been so frequent in these degenerate, utilitarian days. EDUCATION DURING ADOLESCENCE. By Ransom A. Mackie. With an Introduction by G. Stanley Hall, LL. D. E. P. Dutton & Company. Dr. Mackie is well known to the readers of EDUCATION as one of the younger men in the front ranks of the professional educators of the country. He has several times contributed instructive articles to this magazine. His book states in a fresh and readable way many of the advanced positions of the best educators of the day, and the effect of his teachings when adopted and put into the every-day practice of the schoolroom would be to freshen, vitalize and humanize teaching. He makes a fine statement of the claims of those who believe in the so-called "Problem" or "Project" method and also the “Socialized” recitation. He presents clearly and convincingly the aims of the high school; points out the advantages of educational reorganization; discusses the elective principle in secondary education; argues that a few studies,—English, History, Biology, Economics, Sociology, and Government, should be required. Dr. Hall gives this work the following high praise: "This work," he says, "represents a point of view which, though not entirely new, shows much original and careful thought and represents better than anything I know the general principles of what I believe to be the education of the near future." The practical, progressive superintendent, principal or teacher who wishes real inspiration and aid in rightly conceiving and successfully carrying out the daily work of the classroom will do well to obtain this book and carefully read and frequently consult it. It will be of real service in improving the "tone" and securing the best permanent results of both public and private school teaching. PROBLEMS OF THE SECONDARY TEACHER. By William Jerusalem. Translated by Charles F. Sanders. Richard G. Badger, Boston, Price $1.75. Net A book which systematizes the pedagogics of secondary education, It will receive the respectful attention of many teachers in High Schools, Academies and Colleges and make them conscious of a wider vision and a deeper insight in their high calling. It belongs to a series of books on "Educational Methods," each of which is a gem in its particular field. We can give space only to name them: College Study and College Life, Bernard C. Ewer On the Firing Line in Education, A. J. Ladd, $1.50 1.75 The Rural School and the Community, H. T. Lewis, 1.25 A Book for Children in the First School Year, L. S. Mills, .90 Selections for Reading by the Direct Method, L. S. Mills, 1.50 2.50 1.75 The Philosophical Basis of Education, Rolland Merritt Shreves, 1.50 1.75 Growth During School Age and Its Application to Education, Paul Godin, M. D., Translated by Samuel L. Eby, The Value of Music in Education, Rose Yont, Ph.D., 3.00 3.00 Blessing Esau, Experiments in High School English Teaching, Julia Davenport Randall, 1.50 THE JUNIOR COOK BOOK. By Clara Ingram Judson. New York. Barse & Hopkins, publishers. A look at this attractive book makes the reader hungry. While intended for girls who are ambitious to learn how to be good homemakers, it is an excellent condensed manual for any older housewife. It gives directions for making and serving many dainty dishes. We wonder that more young people are not in love with this constructive profession of cooking. There is a real education in it; and certainly there is a good deal of truth in the old saying about "the way to a man's heart." We are glad that Domestic Science is finding its way into so many of our public and private schools. We commend this volume to the interested attention of both schools and homes where there are young girls. STORIES OF LUTHER BURBANK AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL. By Effie Young Slusser, Mary Belle Williams and Emma Burbank Williams. Edited by Lillian McLean Waldo. With an Introduction by Luther Burbank. Charles Scribner's Sons. Price 88 cents. This little book gives a most interesting account of some of Mr. Burbank's wonderful transformations of useless or apparently useless plants into valuable and beautiful ones, that minister to the needs of man. The plant "wizard," Dr. Burbank, is represented as playing the role of schoolmaster to the refractory plant-children that were going to the bad. By his patient and gentle discipline they are turned about and become useful members of decent society. This is no fairy tale, but more interesting and suggestive by far than any mere human imagination. EVERY STEP IN CANNING. The Cold-Pack Method. By Grace Viall Gray, Ph. B., Ed. N. Forbes & Company, Chicago. Price $1.25. This book will be a real help and lead to great economies if any person who "cans" can be induced to carefully read it and follow directions. It is clearly written, is full in its treatment of particulars and covers the canning of about everything that can be canned. The publishers have produced a book mechanically and artistically attractive. Periodical Notes. The Century Magazine for September contains a most interesting article on "The Virgin Islands'' by Harry A. French. It is illustrated by many views of scenes in these new possessions of Uncle Sam. In the same magazine the contributions by Arthur Hobson Quinn on "The Art of William Dean Howells" and the one by L. Frank Tooker on "Sailor Men and Other Mortals" are well worth reading. A thoughtful and unusual article is contributed to the Record of Christian Work for September by Rev. J. Edgar Park on "The Technique of Prayer.'' Teachers should be interested in Hazel Tanner's brief description of "A Boys' Nature Club" in The Library Journal for August. Charles A. Ellwood of the University of Missouri, who is well known to readers of EDUCATION, contributes an excellent article on "Education for Citizenship in a Democracy' to The American Journal of Sociology for July. "Patting Heart Into Work," by Sherman Rogers in the Outlook for Aug. 25, while intended particularly for hand workers, is not without its valuable relations to brain workers as well. We commend all the issues of "Inter-America" to teachers for its valuable material about conditions of various kinds in Central and South America. |