BROOKS'S READERS

FIRST YEAR

BY
STRATTON D BROOKS

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

NEW YORK · CINCINNATI · CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

Copyright, 1906, by
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
Copyright, 1907, Tokyo.

BROOKS'S READERS, FIRST YEAR.

CONTENTS

The sole purpose of this book is to help the children to learn to read. While it may ultimately lead to the acquisition of knowledge concerning many subjects, its present aim is only to make reading easy. The lessons are, therefore, on subjects familiar to every child. The words are such as children habitually use in conversation; they are introduced gradually, and as a rule are repeated many times. Since proficiency in reading is best attained by much practice, care has been taken to present as large an amount as possible of interesting matter which the child can readily master. Every line is for the pupil to read. The stories are so constructed as to encourage and secure naturalness of expression without the intervention of rules or formal drills. The gradation both in thought and in expression is easy and natural.

Although the learning of words by much repetition and familiarity with their forms is an essential feature of this book, its foundation is nevertheless phonetic. Yet, for the sake of leaving it perfectly adaptable to any method of teaching, the phonetic basis has not been emphasized. The systematic introduction of words which may serve as key-words for the acquisition of others containing similar phonetic elements has been carefully observed, and it is believed that this is the natural method untrammeled by any artificial classification.

As further aids toward making the child's first reading lessons easy, the sentences are short. There are no broken lines in the first hundred pages. Indentations help the young reader to keep the place. There are no interfering illustrations in the text. Each story is complete without turning a leaf.

Grateful acknowledgments are extended to Miss Frances Lilian Taylor of Galesburg, Illinois, to Mr. W. J. Button of Chicago, and to Miss Matilda Mitchell, primary teacher, Phillips Brooks School, Boston, for valuable suggestions and assistance.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

As stated on the preceding page, the foundation of this work is phonetic. The author believes that children may profitably learn many words without reference to their phonetic composition, and that among these certain key-words should be selected from which the elementary sounds of the language may be developed. These elements will give the pupils the power of acquiring new words. For example, observe the following key-words and the sounds developed from them:—

Observe the great number of easy and common words that may be developed from the sounds thus learned from the first ten key-words named above. The list includes an, as, ran, had, pan, man, tan, let, met, pet, bet, men, pen, fig, did, bit, little, not, lot, got, hot, log, and a great many more. Similar key-words emphasizing the remaining sounds should be selected as the work proceeds. Teachers preferring to introduce the sounds less rapidly, may teach these first words as words and select others later in the book to serve as key-words. The blackboard should be in constant use, and the pupils' ingenuity in forming new words and new sentences should be tested at every recitation. The few exercises in script given at the beginning of the book are suggestive of the manner in which much additional drill in reading may be presented on the blackboard. The diacritical marks should not be taught to the children.

a flag a flag

I have a fan. I see the fan. See the fan. See the fan I have.

I have a fan. I see the fan. See the fan I have.

See the flag. I have the fan. I can see the flag. I have a dog. Can the dog have the flag? The dog can see the flag. Can I see the dog? Can I see a fan? Can the dog see the fan?

can  fan  flag  dog

I see a flag. I see a fan. I see a dog. The dog can see. The dog can have the flag. I can have the fan. I can see the dog.

I see a flag. I see a fan. I see a dog. The dog can see. The dog can have the flag. I can have the flag. I can see the dog.

has  get  boy

See! The dog has the flag. The boy has the dog. Can the boy get the flag? I can get the flag.

I have the dog. I can get the flag.

  girl    and

See the girl and the fan.

    cap    hat

cap   hat The boy has a cap. The girl has a hat. I see the girl and the hat. I see the boy and the cap. I have a hat and a cap. Can the dog have the cap? The boy has a cap and a flag.

 run    drum  run   drum See the dog run. The boy has a drum. The dog has a hat. Can the boy get the hat? Can the dog get the drum? The girl can run. The girl can get the drum.

am    my    little

I am a boy. I am a little boy. See my drum and my cap.

not    big    is

 cat    you    me    to

I see you. I see you, little cat. Can you not see me? Run, run to me, little cat. The big dog can not get you.

I can run to you, little girl. Can you run to me? I am not a big cat. I am a little cat. I see you and I run to you.

 ball    play    catch    it

The ball! Get the ball! Can the girl play ball? Can the boy catch the ball?

Run, little boy, and catch it. See, I can play ball. I have it. I can catch it. You can not get it, little boy. You can not catch a ball. The little girl and I can play ball.

 jump    hop    like

See the big boy and the little boy. Can the little boy jump?

Jump, jump, jump! Hop, hop, hop! Can you hop to me, little boy? I can not hop to you. I can jump to you. I like to run and jump. I see you can jump, little boy. You can jump like a big boy.

 bird       fly

I see a little bird. The bird can fly. Fly, little bird, fly. I like to see you fly. Can you fly, little girl? Can you fly like me? I like to fly. I am a bird.

The dog and the cat can play. The boy can hop and jump. The little girl can not fly like the bird.

 in     tree

I am a bird. I am in a tree. Can you see me, little boy?

 nest    by    wall

The bird has a nest. The nest is in the tree. The tree is by the wall. Can you see the bird in the nest? I can see the tree by the wall. I can see the nest in the tree. The bird is not in the nest. Fly to the nest, little bird. Fly to the nest in the tree.

 do    sing    let

I have a bird. My bird can sing to me. Do you see it in the tree? Let it fly and sing. I can sing to you, little boy. Can you sing to me? Sing to me, fly to me. I am in the tree. The tree is by the wall. I can not fly like you, little bird. You can not play like me. Do you like to play? You have a nest and can sing. You can not get me, little boy. The cat can not catch me. I am in my nest in the tree.

 one    two    bed    dogs

I have two little dogs. I have one cat. Do you see it? My dogs like to run and play. My dogs have a little bed. Do you see the dogs in the bed? I like my dogs and my cat.

 milk    drink    good    for

Run to me, little dogs. Do you like milk? I have a little milk for you. See the milk. Do you like it? Can you drink it? Is it good? I like to drink milk. I like to see you drink it. Milk is good for you.

 doll    pretty    with    here

The little girl has a doll. Is it not a pretty doll?

My pretty doll, I like to play with you. You can not run with the dogs. You can not sing with the bird. You can play here with me. I have a pretty bed for you. Here it is. Here is your bed. I like to play with my pretty doll.

 Grace    our    sister    she

The girl with the doll is Grace. She is our little sister. She is a good girl. She likes to play with the doll. She likes to sing to it. She sings about the bird in the tree.

   will    song

Will you sing to me, Grace? Will you sing me a pretty song? The bird will sing to you, sister. Little bird, pretty bird, Little bird in the tree, Sing a song, little bird, Sing to sister and me.

   this    rabbit    how

See this pretty rabbit, Grace. I like this little rabbit. See how it can jump. Rabbit, run to me. Jump, rabbit. Let me see how you can jump. I like to play with you. I like to see you hop and jump. Do you like milk, little rabbit? Can you drink like my dogs? Do you have a pretty bed like the doll? My dogs will not catch you, rabbit.

 Bennie    brother    many

This is Bennie. Bennie is my brother. See the little rabbits with Bennie. How many rabbits do you see? See how the rabbits jump and play.

about    gray

Here is a song I sing about Bennie.

Our Bennie Boy has a little rabbit, Our Bennie Boy has a little rabbit, Our Bennie Boy has a little rabbit, One little rabbit gray. One little, two little, three little rabbits, Four little, five little, six little rabbits, Seven little, eight little, nine little rabbits, Ten little rabbits gray.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

 look    at    top    spin

Look, look, Grace! Look, sister! Look at my big top. See how I can spin it. Can you spin it, Grace? I can not spin a top, Bennie. I like to play with my doll. Boys like to spin tops. Girls do not like to spin tops.

 come   book   give   mother   tell

Come here, Bennie, my little boy. Do you see this pretty book? I will give it to a good little boy. Will you give it to me, mother? Am I a good boy? I like a pretty book. I will tell sister Grace about it. Grace will like to look at it.

 picture    some    of

Come here, Grace, and see this book. It is a pretty picture book. Come and look at the pictures with me. I will tell you about some of the pictures. How good mother is! How good she is to give you this book! See this picture of a boy and a girl.

See! Here is a picture of a dog. It looks like one of my dogs.

Here is a picture of a rabbit. It is a big gray rabbit.

Here is a picture of some boys. See the boys run and play.

Here is a picture of a little girl. She has a doll and a fan. She looks like you, Grace.

 baby    child    love

This is our baby sister. Is she not a pretty child? I love our baby. Have you a baby sister?

 walk    talk    far    your

Can our baby walk? She can walk a little. She can not walk far. See how she can walk. Come, baby, come to your sister. See how far you can walk. The good child can walk to me. She can not talk to me.

 well    call    soon    too

Look, mother, look! Call the baby. See how well she can walk. See how far she can walk. Soon she can run and play. She will soon talk, too. She likes to look at pictures. I will let her look at my book. Come, baby! See this pretty book! I will let you see the pictures. Here is a picture of a flag. Here is a girl with a fan. Here is a dog with a hat. Call the dog, baby. Call the dog. The baby calls. The dog will not come. Our baby sister will soon talk. She will talk to mother and Grace.

 ground    found    round    eggs

Bennie, come here, come here. Look here on the ground. What have you found, Grace? I have found a nest. It has eggs in it. See the eggs. How round they are!

 any   oh   no   her   we

How many birds are in this nest? Let me see the pretty nest. I do not see any birds in it. I see some eggs in the nest. How many do you see? Is the nest for me? Oh, no, no, no. Is the nest for you? Oh, no, no, no. The bird made the nest on the ground. The nest is not for me. The nest is not for you. The nest is for the good little bird. We found the nest on the ground. She loves her nest and her round eggs. We will not get any of her eggs.

    kittens    on    what

Here is a picture of some cats. I see one big cat and two kittens. The mother cat is on some books. She calls the kittens. Come, kittens, come. See what is here. See what I have found. What can the mother cat see?

     under    they    now

The mother cat is on the books. What can she see under the books? Now the kittens come and look. What can they see? They look on the books. They look under the books. They look in one book. What do they see now? Have you a little kitten? What can it do? My kitten plays with a ball. I give it milk to drink. Our brother Bennie has ten gray rabbits. Has he any little kittens? I can not tell you now. I will call Bennie. He can tell.

 morning    bright    sun    sky

What a bright morning this is! It is a good morning for play. Look at the sun in the sky. Do you like to see the sun? How bright it is this morning!

kite   high   so   as   down

Look at my kite, brother. See how high it can fly. Oh, it is a good kite. It looks like a big bird. It can fly as high as a bird. I will run and it will fly high. See it! See it now! See how high in the sky it is! How bright it looks in the sky! Will it fly to the sun? Oh, no, no! It can not fly so high. The sun is too high. No bird can fly to the sun. Now, let it come down. Do not let it come down in the tree. Oh, how I like my pretty kite!

 cradle   may   take   make   name

I see a pretty cradle. The cradle is high in the tree. Tell me about this little cradle. Tell me what is in the cradle. I see some birds in the cradle. One, two, three baby birds. What is your name, little bird? The bird will not tell you. What can you make, little bird? I can make a nest. My nest is high in the tree. It is a cradle for my little birds. Can you make a cradle, little boy? Oh, no, I can not make a cradle. I can not make a nest. May I take your nest? May I take it for our baby? She will like to play with it. No, no, little boy. The nest is not for your baby. It is for my three little birds.

Don    care    all    time

Our baby is in her cradle. The cradle is not like the bird's cradle. Our big dog is by the cradle. The dog's name is Don. Can Don take care of the baby? He takes care of her all the time. What a good dog he is!

 go    stay    must    side

No, Don, you can not go with me. You must stay here with mother. You must take care of the baby. You must stay by her cradle. Take the baby with you, Grace. She can walk by your side. You may take the dog, too.

 brook    water    sit

Now, baby, come with me. You and Don may walk with me. We will walk down by the brook. I like to see the pretty brook. We will sit here and look at it. How the water runs and runs! It runs all the time.

 fall    into    from    home

Sit here by my side, baby. See all the water in the brook. See how the water runs and runs. You must not fall into it. Water is good to drink. We do not drink it from the brook. The birds drink it. Don drinks it. How do birds drink? How do dogs drink? Soon we must go home. Mother will call and we must go. We can not stay here all the time. The birds sing in the trees by the brook. The rabbits come to see the water. Don must not catch the rabbits.

 yes    sir    school    Marian

Good morning, little girl. What is your name? Good morning, sir. My name is Marian. Do you go to school? Yes, sir, I go with my little brother. Bennie is my brother, too.

 read    father    gave    write

What do you do at school, Marian? Can you read? Can you write? Yes, sir, I can read a little. Here is my book. My father gave it to me. I can write, too. Let me see how you can write.

My name is Marian.

You can write well, little girl. Does your dog go to school with you? Oh, no, no, sir! Dogs do not care for books. They do not read. They do not write. The school is for boys and girls. It is not for dogs.

Rose   wagon   horse   fine   that

What little girl is this? Her name is Rose. She is in her little wagon. It is a pretty wagon. See what a fine big horse she has. Oh, that is not a horse. That is a big dog. Well, he looks a little like a horse.

Jo   ho   draw   are   where

The dog's name is Jo. He can draw the wagon for Rose. What a fine horse he is! Where will he go with Rose? He will take her to school.

Now, here we are at school. Ho! ho, Jo! You are a good dog, Jo. You must not go in with me. All the girls say, Good morning, Rose. Good morning, girls. Where will your horse go now? Will he go into school with you? Oh, no, he must go home. Dogs do not go to school.

ride   Ned   old   hold   know

See my pretty wagon, Bennie. You may have a ride in it. I will play that I am a horse. Where did you get this wagon, Ned? My father gave it to me this morning. Come, get into it. I will be your horse. I will draw the wagon with you in it. You are a good old horse, Ned. I like to ride in your wagon. You must not run away. Ho! ho! You must hold your horse, Bennie. You must not let him run. I know you will not run away, Ned. You will give me a good ride. Here we are at the old tree. Ho! Now we will go home. You may draw the wagon, Bennie. I will get into it and ride. How do you like to be a horse? I like to play that I am a horse.

going    but    day    away

Our little baby boy is going away. Do you know where he is going? Is he going to school, mother? May he go with me in my wagon? Some day he may go with you. But he is not going to school now.

Shut  Eye  Town    sleep    say

Can you tell where the baby is going? Oh, I know, I know. He is going to sleep. He is going to Shut Eye Town. Will you go with him, Marian? Where is Shut Eye Town, mother? Is it far, far away? It is where baby is going. Baby is going to sleep. Now shut your eyes, baby. Shut your bright eyes and go to sleep. Now he is in Shut Eye Town. He will come home in the morning. He will say, Good morning, mother. He will say, Here I am, Marian. I have come home from Shut Eye Town.

 ring    train    cars    bell

Ring! ring! ring! Do you see our train? We are on the cars. Where is this train going? Is it going to Shut Eye Town? Oh, no! We do not go to that town. Ring the bell, sister. Here we go.

REVIEW

Come here, my good child. Tell me your name. How old are you? Do you go to school? What do you do at school? Have you any books? Do you like to read? Have you a flag at your school? Can you play ball with Bennie? What is your doll's name? How many dogs have you? What can birds do? Do you like to look at pictures? Where is Shut Eye Town? Can you ride to that town? Have you a baby at home? How many little girls do you know?

 rain   cloud   house   black   think

See how black that cloud is. I think it is going to rain. Yes, I see the rain now. We must run to the house. Do you like the rain, Bennie? No, I do not like the rain now. I can not fly my kite in the rain.

 wind   blow   hear   loud   roar

Do you hear the wind, Bennie? Hear it blow! Hear it roar! Yes, I hear it. How loud it blows! It blows and blows. It roars and roars. We can hear the wind roar. But we can not see it. It blows all about the house. It blows the clouds and it blows the trees. It roars on the house top. It roars in the rain. I do not like to hear the wind roar. It blows my kite away. It blows the birds about the trees. Wind, do not blow all day. Let the bright sun shine.

flowers  grow  show   snow   find
blue   red   white   yellow  lily

Ring, ring! Sing, sing! Here come the flowers to town. I have some blue flowers. I have a red, red rose. How pretty they are! Do you know where the flowers grow? Oh, yes, yes! We know. Come with us and we will show you. Show me where the roses grow. Show me where to find blue flowers. Go down by the brook. Go and look, look, look. You will find a white lily. It is as white as snow.

We found yellow flowers on the ground. We found some roses on the wall. You may find as many. Go and look. Ring, ring! Sing, sing! Here come the flowers to town.

  taking    shall

Where are you going, Marian? Are you going far? I am taking a walk. Will you not come with me? Oh, yes, Marian. I like to walk. Where shall we go? Let us look for some flowers. I know where they grow.

them   best   there   cold   which

I see some roses now. Shall I run and get them? Some roses are white, some are red. I like this red rose best. Now we will go down by the brook. We will find white flowers there. I found a white lily there one day. It was white as milk. It was white as snow. Some flowers grow under the snow. How cold they must be! Sing, sing, lily bells ring! Here are yellow, red, and blue flowers. Which do you like best? I like the blue flowers best. I will give them to you.

 chickens   wings   can't   don't

Look, look! Look there, brother! See the pretty little birds, We do not call them birds, Marian. They are little chickens. See them run about on the ground. Have they no wings? Can't they fly? Chickens have wings, but they don't fly.

us   chick   something   count

Let us call the little chickens to us. Chick, chick, chick, chick! Come here, little chickens, come to me. I have something for you. Come and get it. See all the chickens run. They know that you have something. They think you will give it to them. Some of my chickens are white. Some are black, and some are yellow. Which do you like best? I can not tell. I like them all. How many chickens have you? I can't tell how many. They run about so I can't count them. Can you count them, Marian?

 falling   shine   drive   out

Oh, Ned, the rain is not falling now. I think we may go and play. The clouds are going away. I think the sun will shine soon. Let us go out and see. Yes, there is the sun in the blue sky. It will drive the rain clouds away. Now I can fly my kite.

 sight   light   night   then

See how the sun shines. It drives the black clouds far away. What a pretty sight it is! It shines on the trees and flowers. It shines for the birds and the brook. How bright it is! How high it is! It is high in the sky. My kite can not fly so high. The sun gives us light. It shines all day. By and by it will go down. Then day will go and night will come. We can not see the sun at night. Where shall we go then, Ned? We shall go home to mother. I think we shall go to Shut Eye Town.

REVIEW

Where do pretty flowers grow? What is as white as snow? Where can the baby go? Who says "Ho! ho!" to our dog Jo? Tell me something that you know. What can little kittens do? What bird is it that says Who! who? Can one boy play as well as two? Where can red roses be found? Does a bird make its nest on the ground? Name something bright and round. Who is going to Shut Eye Town? How many chickens can you count? What bird can fly about at night? What shines bright and gives us light? Tell me what you do at school.

why   said   was   went   did
him   his   guess   shining  fish

One day Ned went down to the brook. No one went with him. The sky was blue. No cloud was in sight. The sun was shining bright. It was a fine day. Why did Ned go to the brook? Did he go to get some flowers? I think not. I will tell you all about it. His mother said to him: "Where are you going, Ned?" "I am going to the brook," said Ned. "What are you going to do there?" "Oh, I am going to catch some fish. I will catch some for you, mother." "Oh, Ned, do not catch all the fish."

Well, Ned, how many fish did you catch? Guess how many, Grace. Let me think. Did you catch ten? Oh, no, not so many as that. Did you catch five fish for mother? Oh, no, not so many as that. Well, then, did you catch one fish for sister? Oh, no, not so many as that.

room   chair   box   table   door

Oh, Marian, let us play house. Here we are at home. What a fine, big room we have! This is the door, and this is the table. The big box will do for a table. The little box will do for a chair. We must have two chairs, Grace. I will go and get mother's chair. The round box is the baby's cradle. But the baby can not sit in it. It is too little. Here are the chairs. Come, now, sit down by the table. The baby may sit here by me. What is that, Grace? I hear the door bell. I think some one is at the door. Come in! Come in! Good morning, Ned. Come in and see our fine house.

bee   honey   busy

Oh, mother, do come here! Here is a big fly. It is in this yellow flower. That is not a fly. It is a bee. It gets honey from the flower. Oh, I like honey. Don't you, mother? See how busy the bee is. It is busy all the day.

A BUSY TIME

We are all busy this morning. The boys are playing. The girls are reading. The flowers are growing. The rabbits are jumping. The birds are singing. I am thinking of something. Father is going to town. Mother is counting her chickens. Brother is ringing the bell. Sister is walking to school. Baby is sleeping at home. The sun is shining. The horses are running. Ned is making a wagon for me. We are all having a good time.

bought   brought   thought   robin

What do you think I have, Grace? I have brought you something. Can you guess what it is? I do not know what it is, Marian. Let me think. I will guess three times. Is it a red rose? Is it a yellow kitten? Is it something you have bought for me?