Reading-Literature: Second Reader

by Harriet Taylor Treadwell, Margaret Free, Sheila Carroll (Editor)

Reading-Literature: Second Reader uses well-written folk tales, Mother Goose rhymes, and poetry to teach reading basics. The simple style of the stories and rhymes allows children to read for themselves right away. Second Reader is part of the Reading-Literature Series by Harriette Treadwell and Margaret Free published by Living Books Press. The series challenges the notion that learning to read is a matter of word repetition and phonic drill. Learning to read is an easy road when using literature that captures the child's interest. Reading-Literature: Second Reader is a republication of the 1912 edition. Living Books Press has taken care to faithfully reproduce the type and illustrations of the original. The book includes guidelines for phonics instruction and vocabulary building coordinated with Reading-Literature Teacher's Guide: To accompany The Primer and First and Second Reader.

200 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2012

About the author

Harriette Taylor Treadwell was born in 1870 in Williamstown, NY to Delia C. Taylor and Hiram Taylor. She married Charles H. Treadwell in 1897, who died in 1918. She had a son, Charles H. Treadwell, Jr. In the 1920 census, Harriette Taylor Treadwell was listed as widowed and living in Chicago Ward 7, Illinois. She died in 1931 in Hammond, Lake County, Indiana.

After graduating from Oswego High School and Normal School, Harriette Treadwell move to Chicago in 1911 to complete her education at the University of Chicago. She was principal at the West Pullman School, Chicago, and in 1905 she was president of the Teachers' Federation of Chicago. As president, she announced that the local Letter-Carriers' Association of Oswego would adopt a woman suffrage resolution. She was also president of the Chicago League of Women Voters in 1913 and president of the Illinois Women's Legislative Congress in 1915.

In 1911, Harriette Treadwell was part of the Federated Marketing Clubs movement that influenced the health and the finances of every family in the USA. The focus was on food quality, which was required to be good to be sold, as well as guaranteed weights and measures, and fair prices.

Harriette Treadwell and Harriet Strokes Thompson lead the Political Equity League in 1914. This league had more than 2000 dues-paying members, did important suffrage work, kept a steady educational campaign in civics, held study, and kept watch over politics and the city council.

Harriette Treadwell, along with Margaret Free, published their first book in 1910, The Primer, which focused on teaching children from 5 to 8 years old to read and appreciate literature. All the books they wrote were specialized for children of a certain age group and each one had a different purpose. For instance, The First Reader (1911) contains rhymes and jingles suitable for children from 6 to 8 years old; The Second Reader (1912) introduces fables and fairy stories so that the children can associate related literature and organize it, and the Third Reader (1912) has fairy tales that highlight the interest of children ages 8 to 9 with a focus animals and nature. In 1913 Treadwell wrote a book for teachers to show how simple the essential principles of teaching were when teaching young children to read. She believed that the best literature was introduced in the early years of a child's life.

--from Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920

Reviews

[Ardyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son wasn't a big fan of the Primer or First Reader, but he seems to have enjoyed this one. Some good, fun, wowzah vocab in here, too, to keep it interesting for the learner... like czar. Also includes a rendition of "Hansel and Gretel" in play format, so the kiddo learns how to read and perform scripts.

Obviously, a 6yo living in south China in 2020 lacks a lot of reference points which probably helped with interest in the place and time of publication -- but we did okay.

/Edit 2020-05-13/ We were watching Humperdinck's "Hansel und Gretel" today for our Music Appreciation (this was the plan in our curriculum and not related to his reading lessons which are planned separately). I recognized some of the lines in the first scene... turns out Treadwell's text is actually snippets from the libretto for Humperdinck's opera. Treadwell credits the writer (Adelheid Wette) but doesn't mention the opera itself & I failed to make the connection on my own. "And if you don't know... well, now you know!" ;) Here's a link to one production available on YouTube with English subtitles that line up to some of the text in Treadwell. My son was delighted.

https://youtu.be/JnMEI4aoUfo

N.B. I would not recommend this for read aloud nor as the only written English a kid sees. It's quite good, but it's still written for someone *learning* to read. It will stretch them & that's tiring... but it would not be fun for a fluent adult reader. So you'll want some easier, interest-led options around for read-to-self during their free time, plus some stories with really advanced vocabulary / turns of phrase / stuff you both enjoy together for read aloud.

[Zak Kyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lying around the shelf. Decided to read it. Fun.