Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/21



most elementary form of small library is that which belongs to the Baby who, as yet, has not acquired the art of reading. He or she—it matters little how they are named, as both are clad alike in petticoats and bibs—prefers the pictorial tale of love or glory, or treatise on natural history, or handbook to the labyrinth of the alphabet. Parents, as a rule, exercise very little care in the selection of the first toy-books for their children, if, indeed, they purchase any at all, and both children and parents are equally indifferent to the fate of the books during their brief and tumultuous existence. These are both fundamental mistakes in the training of the young. It is not only important that the most artistic and amusing picture-books should be chosen, but that some means should be taken to preserve the books from wanton destruction. It is bad enough to see a common, garish, and inartistic book being used to wipe the floor or thrash the fender, but it is positively criminal to allow the works of Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway—to name no 11