PREFACE In this Fifth Reader the Author has preserved the same plan followed in the earlier numbers of the series that of adapting the selections to the develment period of the child. He now stands upon the threshold of adolescence. It is a time of rapidly forming ideals and extreme susceptibility to suggestion. Heroic action, noble motives, and deeds of selfsacrifice appeal most strongly to him. To quicken these noble sentiments, that they may develop into noble ambitions; to cultivate the perception of the ethical in motive and action; to make clear the necessity for and the dignity of honest labor; these have been the controlling ideas in the making of this book and account for the wide range of themes found in it. The noblest stories of Antiquity and the Middle Ages as well as of Modern Times are used as sources, while the busy life of the world to-day-that life in which each school child is soon to become an active unit—is not neglected. “As a man reads so will he think; as he thinks so will he live." It has been the Author's earnest desire in the preparation of THE EATON READERS to make them such as to be a real help to the children of America in their endeavor to become noble men and women, sincere patriots, and worthy citizens of the world at large. The copyrighted material in this book is used with permission of the publishers, and acknowledgment of the courtesy is hereby made. 3 THE AUTHOR. |