This textbook the second reader in a series of school readers to help children acquire the art and the habit of reading well enough to give pleasure not only to themselves, but also to those who listen to them. New words are introduced gradually, and the stories and poems are short and of such character as to appeal directly to the interest and understanding of young learners. The progress in the study of unfamiliar words and the mastery of more difficult forms of expression, while not too rapid, are regular and positive, and each new page bears witness to some new acquisition. Special attention has been given to the presentation of lessons which invite and require correctness (and therefore naturalness) of expression. Writings by authors such as Eliza Lee Follen, George Cooper, Kate Greenaway, Francis C. Woodworth, Sara Coleridge, Lord Houghton, and Victor Hugo are presented.