What do Boys and Girls Read? : An Investigation into Reading Habits with Some Suggestions about the Teaching of Literature in Secondary and Senior Schools (Routledge Library Editions: Literacy)

Originally published in 1940. This book studies the facts regarding the actual reading of children aged 12 to 15 years, but is no mere compendium. It analyses the number and sorts of newspapers, books, magazines, poems and plays which are read during one month by boys and girls in senior and secondary schools, either in school or at home. The children's characteristic tastes and the changes in their tastes as they grow from 12 to 15 are clearly set out. The author identifies that the teacher's main function should be to supply and open up an ample range of literature suitable to the given age and that private reading in school is the realm where the teacher may exert the most exemplary influence. An excellent insight into the history of education.