Monday, November 22, 2004

She respected chldren

Nancy Larrick has died. Her book A Parent's Guide to Children's Reading was originally published in 1958 and reprinted six times, according to the NYTimes. She was the founder and first president of the International Reading Association and the author of many other articles and books about reading.

Dr. Larrick considered the standard reading workbooks of the 1950's, with their picture games and stories about Dick and Jane, insulting to even a 5-year-old's intelligence. An editor of children's books for Random House, she preferred Dr. Seuss and Little Bear and asserted in a book review in The New York Times that children "can hear the rhythm of beautifully turned phrases and follow the suspense of a good story line."

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