-Blessings on the man who says that there are some things a teacher need not know, and need not do. Such a man is Professor James, who in his "Talks to Teachers" says that experimental psychology is of very limited service to the teacher, and that he is not to make his school a psychological laboratory for the discovery of right methods of teaching. The insight of genuine interest will be greater than science can furnish. It reads the dispositions of the soul through the veil of the corpo real as the eye of science cannot do. Psychology

is most useful in determining limitations and lines by which we verify and guide our courses. It is the aid, but not the master of the teacher.

-How shall good teachers be retained? The mere fact that the public are considering such a proposition is evidence of progress. Change is the rule where but little distinction between good and poor teachers exists. Mere likes and dislikes, favoritism and prejudice, call for change from year to year and from term to term. These unappreciative patrons of education get their first lesson in seeing their good teachers regularly called and taken from them by offers of better salaries and more permanent positions. Only the poorest country districts. of this state now engage teachers by the term. In some states, as New York, no engagements are for less than the school year. Superintendents are frequently elected for a term of three or four years, and in some cities, as Cleveland, Ohio, during satisfac tory service. In colleges, likewise, their election is during satisfactory service. Another and recent means for securing more continuous service is the adoption of the pension system. That is well estab lished in Germany, while here it is but entering the stage of discussion. A class of civil servants of the state, who by the very nature of their calling are prevented from accumulating property deserve the same consideration that the military servants of the state receive.

-But there is still another side. Neither high salaries, long term of service nor pensions will make a profession or secure permanency of service. We must have teachers who have staying qualities, who will last. The man who has but one story to tell must move on to find new listeners. The teacher whose methods and ideas are suited to but one, and that a past age, must retire with the age. The teacher that lasts is the one who is a student of the present and prospective life of society. To do that he must live in vital contact and sympathy with the present and coming age. A hermit teacher is necessarily a relic of the past. There is no "dead-line" for stirring men of business, for lawyers nor statesmen. It is only for those who consciously or otherwise live out of touch with the throbbing life of the present, and are therefore ignorant of its wants.

If, then, we are to have a profession, and a permanency of service, we must have educated teachers, students, who grow wiser as they grow older. Great teachers have been greatest in their maturest years, and younger as they grew older. By the operation and co-operation of these two movements, an appreciative public and an educated profession, we shall soon have the permanency we desire.

Books Reviewed

School Education Company can furnish the books here listed

Reviewed by

Fannie Guptill-Hoblett, Minneapolis. HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. By Reuben Post Halleck, M. A. Cloth, 499 pages, $1.25. American Book Company, Chicago.

This book will prove an invaluable aid to teachers of English for the following good points. It has an excellent Literary Map of England. It is a complete and concise history of English Literature. It gives importance to literary movements, the essential characteristics of literary epochs, and the relation of an author's work to the age which produced it. It contains a carefully prepared list of reference books, and the summaries are concise and pertinent.

SCHOOL

The

SANITATION AND DECORATION, by Severance Burrage and Henry Turner Bailey. D. C. Heath.& Co.; cloth, $1.50.

This book is charmingly written, and is attractive throughout, giving much information pertinent to the present need of more light on the subject of the best way to train children, hygienically as well as mentally. Country teachers will find the book valuable for the suggestions relating to the best ways of utilizing their meager furnishings. The chapter on Ventilation, Heating and Lighting is full of good thoughts forcibly expressed. Some of the topics discussed, are: School Architecture, Exterior and Interior Designs, Effects and Tests of Bad Air, Sanitaries, sewerage disposal, sweeping, drinking accommodations, etc.

It deals in an instructive way with the artistic disposal of written work upon paper; the relation of decoration to good daily work, the choice of proper art works for the space to be filled, and makes beauty in school work supplementary to beauty in the schoolroom.

On Enrichment, we find these words:

"A work of art has a 'fullness of intention.' Every sheet produced by pupils should have this same fullness of intention. Each sheet should be the sum total of his powers at the time. Only when one gives his first best every time, is he sure of haying something better to give next time." "Beautiful things in the schoolroom should lead to an enrichment of the school along the lines of language, history, literature and art." A classified list of art works suitable for schoolrooms is appended. The book is intended to contribute to the forces which are co-operating to produce a royal race of men and women in America.

Reviewed by

Jean Gowdy, Author of Ideals and Programs, Minneapolis.

FOLK STORY AND VERSE, by William Adams. Western Publishing House, Chicago. Cloth, 176 pages, 40 cents.

"Folk Story and Verse" is a book of very well-chosen stories and poems for the little ones. It contains most of the old folkstories so dear to the hearts of children, and for occasional reading it will be of use in the schoolroom.

BIG PEOPLE AND LITTLE PEOPLE OF OTHER LANDS, by Edward R. Shaw. American Book Co., Chicago. Cloth, 128 pages, 30 cents.

The child who begins the study of the earth as a home loves to be sent to the printed page for information which he may give his schoolmates. Often the teacher is unable to find books which she may safely place in his hands for this purpose. Aside from the "Seven Little Sisters," few really good books of this kind have been written for the young reader. "Big People and Little People of Other Lands" is a book which I can most heartily recommend for such use. It will early create a desire in the child for reading such books as the Carpenter geographical series and "The World and Its People." "Big People and Little People of Other Lands" is purely an information book and in no sense a school reader.

GREAT AMERICAN EDUCATORS, by A. E. Winship, Litt. D. Werner School Book Co., Chicago. Cloth, 252 pages, 50 cents. With the host of biographical books which have poured in upon the reading public of late comes another addition to the Great American series. This book contains the biographies of our greatest American educators with Horace Mann as the leader. It also gives an interesting account of the founding of our most noted colleges and universities.

We have been introduced in the Great American series to heroes in other walks of life, poets, patriots and artists, but it was reserved for Dr. Winship to interest the children in our hero educators. This most excellent book is worthy of a prominent place in the home, in the school, and in our public libraries.

LESSONS ON MORALS. Hinds & Noble, publishers, Cooper Institute, New York City, 282 pages, 75 cents.

One of the most valuable books published during the year 1899 is "Lessons on Morals" by Julia M. Dewey. It is one of those rare books which deal with ethics without preaching; one which makes the heart leap up with new and nobler desires. I have witnessed the wonderful effects wrought by simply reading to a school the chapter on "Courage." If the teachers would make this little book a basis for morning talks I am sure great results would come to their schools and "self-government" would grow in the heart, where it should be early planted.

Reviewed by

Sadie Geer, Minneapolis Public Schoola. HEIDI, by Frau Johanna Spyri, translated by Helen B. Dole. Ginn and Co., publishers.

That the author succeeded in writing "a book for children and those who love children" one concedes before one is well into the story. If that which is natural and true, that which is simple and vivacious, wholesome and sincere, that which appeals to the heart and intellect is classic, then this little book is destined to be established as classic reading for children. The experi ences and conversations of the little Heidi are so vividly portrayed and so charmingly written that one feels that one has actually

known this little Swiss girl, who dwel's among Alpine pastures, dotted with shaky mountain huts. The culture of the merchant, the generosity of the doctor, the loving wisdom of the grandmother, the old grandfather's magnificence of soul, the patience of the invalid daughter, the granŭeur of natural scenery,-all these silent forces register their formative influences upon the beautiful, harmonious development of Heidi's nature. And permeating all there is the sweet religious spirit,-the simple, trusting religion of childhood. To read this book, whether one be child or adult, is to be refreshed in soul and mind.

Reviewed by

Jennie Schaffer, Minneapolis. BEACON BIOGRAPHIES. Small, Maynard and Co., 6 Beacon street, Boston; 125 pages each, cloth, 75 cents.

At the first glimpse these volumes attach themselves to a book lover because of their daintiness, but the artistic form, good print and paper rather enhance their price.

The neat little volume which can be tossed onto a library table, tucked into a pocket for street-car moments, or carried in a satchel, which takes up little space in a schoolroom and which can be held during an entire recitation without fatigue is a commendable departure from the weighty volumes that too often have discouraged the beginner in history and biography. A point of excellence in the Beacon Biographies is the chronology filling the first dozen pages of each volume; this will be of assistance to the student who desires a summary or is preparing for an examination. The pages of the book are thus left for elaborating the few deeds that made the man worthy a place in biography, and well selected quotations from his utterances that indeliblize his character upon the reader. In this last point Mrs. Fields has excelled in her life of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a most delightful little volume, which contains many of his letters.

Thus far the series includes the life of John Brown, by Joseph Edgar Chamberlain; Phillips Brooks, by the editor; Aaron Burr, by Henry Childs Merwin; Nathaniel Hawthorne, by Mrs. James T. Fields; David G. Farragut, by James Barnes; Robert E. Lee, by W. P. Trent; James Russell Lowell, by Edgar Everett Hale, Jr.; Daniel Webster, by Norman Hapgood; Frederick Douglas, by C. W. Chestnutt; Thomas Paine, by Ellery Sedgwick. In preparation are John James Audubon, Edwin Booth, James Fenimore Cooper, Benjamin Franklin, Sam

Houston.

AMONG OURSELVES, by A. R. Taylor of the Kansas Normal. E. L. Kellogg & Co., New York, publishers. Cloth, 149 pages, 50 cents. This book made its appearance last month, and its opening chapters certainly suggest spring; the season when renovating measures are engrossing all minds. The first paragraphs are on "Wake up, Wash Brh up. up. Brace up. Look up. Work up and Keep up."

It is a book from the hand of a teacher who has associated with men and the world and who sees things as they exist in June, 1900. By all means read the book; it is one of those restful, amusing but true volumes that tell so exactly the faults of our neighbors and will be an interesting companion for a party going to the N. E. A. The quotations are from the sayings of teachers of to-day, and circumstances are mentioned as they actually exist at this period: "Mary whipped Henry with a withe," said the speaker, and thirty teachers had to go to the dictionary to see if he pronounced the last three words correctly! is one of the many spicy paragraphs.

SONGS OF ALL THE COLLEGES. Hinds & Noble, New York, publishers. Size **

by 81⁄2 inches, 218 pages. Cloth, $1.50. Graduating classes and school societies are here furnished what is as essential in school life as a text-book. Nothing is more worthy of encouragement than class singing, and in this book a Harvard student and a Wesleyan student have collected from all quarters; putting new words to many old tunes and repeating the really choice ones we already have. At this season the new book will be welcomed with delight, as there will be a relish for this collection of new and old songs, and a number of them are humorous. For class day, field day and class reunions it will be valuable. The book is cheap, for such material and binding. Many of the selections suggest the Alma Mater. The book includes nearly 200 songs.

HISTORY OF CANADA, by J. M. McIlwraith, D. Appleton & Co., New York. Cloth, 250 pages, 60 cents.

This book begins with the location and a description of the various tribes of Canadian Indians and gives much space to the beriod of discovery. It describes minutely the adventures of the explorers, including the early missionaries, and gives a clear idea of the events which shaped the history It of the northern part of the continent. will be of aid in studying the history of our own nation, because thus the student will have both sides of many questions. The French and Indian war, and the War of 1812 are described from Canada's point of view, and her military operations are The civic growth and the develextolled. opment of the Northwest, including the Riel Rebellion occupy the last 50 pages. The period of exploration and the French and Indian war are given more in detail than in most histories of one volume. They are the best features of the book. The language is excellent, because simple. A surprising numbers of the makers of history are herein named and their deeds recorded. STORIES OF MAINE, by Sophie Swett. Cloth, 278 pages, with maps and illustrations. Price, 60 cents. American Book Company, Chicago.

The educators are demanding that more time be spent in teaching state history, and in nearly every one of our states a history has been gotten out or is being prepared. The author here has furnished us the interior history of the "Old Pine Tree State," which describes the part Maine took in the important national affairs together with matters of import to her alone. The author has accomplished the task of preserving valuable records, much of which are unknown, because hitherto found only in books out of print or in the archives of historical societies, yet which are so full of interest that they "read like folk lore and legend and other than veritable history." Readers will wonder that so little has been written about some of the bloodiest Indian wars, bitterest fights for supremacy among old world nations and most heroic struggles of pioneers to be found anywhere in American annals. From the account of the early visit of the northerner to the present time the reader is taken through a series of events which make a complete and accurate history with a vivid picture of the struggles and hardships encountered by the pioneers and their descendants. It is an invaluable addition to the text-books of schools.

THE PRACTICAL SPELLER. by William C. Jacobs. Published by Ginn and Co., 132 pages, 30 cents.

Ginn and Co. have issued in this book one that is deserving of its name. One spelling-book maker has wisely refrained from devoting the first few pages to those The hardest of all words-monosyllables. book begins by grouping the words that describe things, the names of things found in the dining-room, the kitchen, the school, words relating to clothing, words often confused, and then come the needful lists of Miscellaneous words.

exercises are arranged to aid the work in Nature Study, Geography and History.

Pub

SILAS MARNER, by George Eliot. lished by D. Appleton and Co.; 45 cents. This book, with its excellent print and board covers, is a great improvement on the majority of school books: it is restful to the eyes, and easy to hold during a class exercise. The extensive introduction, The Study of Fiction, by Richard Jones, Ph. D., of Vanderbilt University, and J. Rose Colby, Ph. D., of Illinois State Normal University, with the questions and comments, make valuable additions to an already excellent book. The appendix is a list of examination questions in English from many of the large colleges of the United States.

ALMANAC AND ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR 1900.

The World, publishers, the Pulitzer Bldg., N. Y., 25 cents.

This book has 600 pages of condensed information that will be useful to a student in any grade. Most of the material is arranged in tables and is not easy to obtain The list of from any other one source. ruling families, colleges and their. presidents, army and navy officers, trusts, religious sects, political affairs, etc., are valuable references.

CATOR has made its appearance at a seasonable time and will have a full halfyear's start before it is really scheduled for appearance. It is published at Rochester, N. Y., size 10 by 61⁄2 inches. Geo. S. Crittenden, Editor.

Many of New York's best educators are on the list of contributors for the year. Their work will appeal to teachers all over the United States who are at all acquainted with the educational leaders of that state. The value of the first number bespeaks for the journal a successful career, and we congratulate the new venture upon being able to start with such a strong list of educational supporters.

THE DELINEATOR FOR JUNE. A fine illustrated article on Paris Exposition. A three-page article on college founders. A pattern for an inexpensive chatelaine pocket. The material is silk and can be made to match any suit. (After a trial such as we have made, the universal verdict will be that the idea is worth the price of a year's subscription to the Delineator, $1.) It certainly is a happy combination of daintiness and utility and will prove indispensable in touring.

Bertha L. Corbett, whose drawings have appeared from time to time in School Education, has about completed a unique book which will be ready for the public June 1. It is the life of the Sunbonnet Babies, their childish pranks are given in drawings and verse. The book will be worth thrice its price as an incentive in schoolroom work, besides being decorative for a living-room table. Price $1.

Reviewed by

over, they are much nearer the hearts of our people, many of whom can claim Germanic parentage. The quaint stories of Loki, the mischief-maker, of the great Thor and of beautiful Freya will be enjoyed by all children. Simple language is used throughout, so that the stories will be easily understood by young readers.

AUS MEINEM KOENIGREICH, by Carmen Sylva. Published by D. C. Heath and Co., Boston. Cloth, 35 cents.

In this volume for German students, the queen of Roumania, who styles herself "Carmen Sylva," tells the legends that cluster about her Carpathian mountains. They are related in simple German that can be easily mastered. There are valuable notes and an introduction by Dr. Wilhelm Bernhardt.

Teachers in search of good reading material for their pupils will be glad of the edi tion of Thackeray's Henry Esmond, issued by Houghton, Mifflin and Co. in their famous Riverside series. It is in the form of a "quintuple" number, and costs 60 cents. The print and notes leave nothing to be de sired. Reading that will interest as well as instruct is here provided for the higher grades. The reading of classical English should be encouraged. "Henry Esmond" is well adapted to the use of high schools. Three beautiful essays, The Procession of the Flowers," "April Days," and "WaterLilies," by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, are united in "Three Outdoor Papers," another of the Riverside publications.

Reviewed by

Mary C. Judd, Author of Classic Myths,
Minneapolis.

THE WOOSTER ARITHMETIC FOR
GRADE I. Crane & Co., publishers, To-
peka, Kansas. Price, 25 cents.
This little book is filled with work such
as is usually put upon the blackboard in
schools where first primary children have
become somewhat familiar with figures. To
many teachers it will prove a relief from
so much blackboard writing, and many lit
tle children would have a rest from the
eye-strain necessary in seeing work upon
poor blackboards in badly lighted rooms.
The domino designs in blue and red are
pleasing and help the children to see the
dots as indicative of a whole number
rather than the ones which help to form
that number. The illustrations are simple
and easy for the pupils to copy. The words
in the problems are simple and thus avoid
explanation of unknown reading matter.
SKETCHES OF SOME AMERICAN BIRDS
by P. M. Silloway, 14 photographs of birds from
life: 331 pp. The Editor Publishing Company,
Cincinnati, O.

These snapshots at birds will be sure to encourage some enthusiastic birdlover with a camera to go out and obtain similar results. Country teachers have such opportunities for bird study that all books upon this subject should be as so many inducements to incite them to outdo the city resident. It is doubtful whether the student who can quickly name thirty rivers upon the Eastern continent could as quickly name thirty common American birds. The author gives explicit descriptions of the birds, their nests, eggs and young, and interesting accounts of the habits and habitat of these feathered fellow citizens.

FIRST STEPS IN ARITHMETIC, by Ella M Pierce, Supervisor of Primary Grades, Provicence, R. I. Cloth, 160 pages, price. Silver Burdett & Co, Boston.

This book, by a practical teacher, is intended to reduce the amount of blackboard work in num ber, usually necessary in primary grades. The plan is to put the books into the hands of the ppils beginning second grade. The numerous illustrations with dominoes, although here called tablets, the number of dictation exercises to be written out by pupils. and the preference for the word, instead of the figure, to represent number in the first lessons, show something of the plan adopted. The working of the problems is not too difficult for a second grade pupil to master by himself.