Reading-Literature First Reader

by Harriet Taylor Treadwell

Second volume in the series of Reading-Literature readers, whose purpose is to train children in reading and appreciating literature through the reading of literature. Contains thirteen of the best folk tales, of gradually increasing difficulty, and 33 of the best rhymes and jingles suitable for young children. Includes The Three Little Pigs, The Cat and the Mouse, The Bremen Band, The Straw Ox, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, Little Two Eyes, Little Half Chick, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Sheep and the Pig and others. Attractive black and white illustrations are appealing to children. Suitable for ages 5 and up.

Genres: Childrens, Classics

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2007

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 3 out of 5]

I'm marking this done even though we didn't finish it... we've moved on to the Second Reader after some fits and starts with this one.

I wouldn't invest in this if you already have an elementary collection of some sort -- the kind with repetitive text a la "The Little Red Hen" and "The House That Jack Built." Plus a bunch of nursery rhymes.

There's nothing wrong with this text if you don't have access to those already at home or your local library... but if you do, honestly this isn't going to add anything to improve the process. It's just a collection of those & the printing isn't particularly beautiful.