An approach to the teaching of children's literature and storytelling

"'Tis a strange sort of poverty to be finding in a rich country." These words were spoken by an Irish immigrant lad in Ruth Sawyer's The Enchanted Schoolhouse. Though his words of wisdom referred to the inadequate and dilapidated school facilities he found in a wealthy and thriving city in America, they can well apply to another situation in America today: a land, wealthy with a multitude of fine books, and children who have not discovered them. At no previous time in history has there been such an astonishingly large number of children's books being published each year. In 1958 alone, there were 1557 titles published! Yet, in the midst of all this wealth there is great poverty, because so few people partake of these available riches. This poverty may be evidenced in at least three ways