standards for this important phase of guidance. The report made by this committee discusses such topics as location of offices, office equipment, hours, registration card, interview references, tests employers' visits, reports and clearance. Vocational guidance has no quarrel whatever with cultural subjects in the curriculum. It represents an effort to rationalize and achieve one of the important aims of education; it does not minimize cultural, ethical, civic, and social values in life, but rather cooperates with all those engaged in furthering these supremely important activities. The completion of the estimates of losses caused by the war now makes it possible to state the number of little villages, farms, and real estate holdings which were partly or wholly destroyed in France. These final estimates, prepared for the use of minister delegates to fortheoming allied conferences, show that 1,659 towns and villages were totally wiped out by war's ravages. Some of the more interesting returns of these official figures, which have been obtained by the French Section of the Foreign Information Service of the Bankers Trust Company, are as follows: Number of towns and villages injured In the six departments which were invaded, Number of towns and villages in which de 4,022 173 EDITOR'S NOTE: Book Reviews So many books are sent to this department of EDUCATION that it is impossible to review them all. Naturally we feel under obligation to give preference to the books of those publishing houses which more or less frequently use our advertising pages. Outside of the limitations thus set, we shall usually be able and glad to mention by title, authors, publisher and price, such books as are sent to us for this purpose. More elaborate notices will necessarily be conditional upon our convenience and the character of the books themselves. HOW TO VITALIZE THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. By P. G. Holden. Published by The International Harvester Company, Chicago. This is one of the most interesting and suggestive educational documents that has come to our desk in a long time. We understand that it will be sent to any teacher upon application. It sets forth in a convincing manner a great educational principle which is as applicable to other subjects in the curriculum as it is to the teaching of Agriculture. It is in accord with the "project-teaching" idea. It gives suggestion and scope for initiative. It emphasizes expression in place of impression as a teaching principle. It shows how,-and the only way,-to get the pupil to do things for himself, with intelligence, efficiency and enthusiasm. Its pages are bristling with vitalized thought that cannot fail to be contagious to the thought and practice of any but a fossilized teacher. The key note is "Teach real things." What a joy it would be to the jaded boys and girls to have their old-fashioned schoolrooms and their tiresome daily routine enlivened by these live-wire experiences and methods! ANITA. By Bertha B. and Ernest Cobb. Boston. The Arlo Publishing Company. Price 60 cents. The "Arlo" books have achieved, in a short time, an eviable success as "Readers" for grades three to six. This volume is the latest of the progressive series. Among the distinctive features of these books may be mentioned their unfailing interest to the children, their progressive vocabulary, the purity and vividness of the impression which they make upon the imagination, and their faithfulness to life. The adventures of their heroes and heroines are natural and such as might come within the experience of any child. There is nothing false and artificial and nerve-racking, yet the story is always of deep interest and one chapter lures the reader on to read the next, to see how everything comes out. In other words, these books are real "novels" in the best and purest sense, and not mere "readers." This is a great gain. It should be added that reliable information is imparted by indirection upon every page. The scene of "Anita" is laid in the Rocky Mountains, and where is there a child that does not long to know more of the mystery of great mountains? This is an excellent volume in its "correlations" with geography, history, elementary science, and Americanism. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD WAR AND THE PEACE TREATIES. By Frank M. McMurry, Ph. D. The Macmillan Company. Price 40 cents. The material in this paper-covered pamphlet, which is a little smaller than the ordinary school geography page,-is indispensable to the man, woman or child who would gain a really intelligent conception of the causes and events of the late World War. It is fully illustrated with maps, drawings, tables, etc., which throw definite and authoritative light upon various territorial, political, diplomatic, and racial matters involved in the war. The growth of Germany's ambition to become master of the world is traced to its sources in Germany's physical situation and needs in relation to surrounding nations. What she did and why she wanted to do it become clear when this pamphlet is open before the reader. Its use in the school, home or office will wonderfully clarify any one's vision and thinking about the epoch-making events of the past few years. EDUCATION AND THE GENERAL WELFARE. A Text Book of School Law, Hygiene and Management. By Frank K. Sechrist. The Macmillan Company. The author of this book has a well-articulated philosophy of life. He places the child in the center of all school activities and makes them function with his interests in mind. We should not speak of a child being a misfit in the school any more than we should say that he does not fit his clothes. Schools, like clothes, must be made to fit the child. The author writes his entire book from this point of view. He cannot be charged as holding to the philosophy of mediaeval formalism. Rather he has given expression to a sounder philosophy that bears some earmarks of voluntaristic idealism, in which the Self is the chief concern and the business of the schools and society to develop. After considering in chapter one the place of education in social or general welfare, the author considers one after another the various agencies now available for extending education to all citizens. These agencies are public sentiment, physical education, the school plant, hygiene, provision for dullards, place of management, efficient mental training, group training, the relation of home and community, recreation, federal, state, public opinion, child labor, school attendance, pupil guidance, directed study, buildings and grounds and fresh air. The book is well planned. It covers a wide range of subjects that are of vital interest to the young teacher and puts them in a way that she can easily grasp them in their relation to her daily work as a teacher. No teacher can read the book thoughtfully and fail to see her vital relations to and dependence upon the community in which she finds herself. It is for this reason that the book should have a strong tendency to socialize and moralize the work of the teacher. It is a good book to put in the hands of all young teachers and it also affords a splendid review of subjects that more mature teachers often forget, The standpoint of the author is refreshing, broadly sane, social and moral.-Review contributed by R. M. Shreves, State Normal School, Kearney, Nebraska. WRITING THROUGH READING. A Suggestive Method of Writing English with Directions and Exercises. By Robert M. Gay. The Atlantic Monthly Press. Price 90 cents. The best way to learn to write well is to read good books. The style of an able writer is infectious. Association with people who use good English is one excellent way to cure careless and incorrect and inelegant speech. This idea is worked out in this interesting little volume, which belongs to the well-known Atlantic Texts series. EFFECT OF THE WAR ON WORLD TRADE AND INDUSTRY. By 0. P. Austin, D. C. Heath & Co. Price 25 cents, paper. Gives account of fifty new political divisions set up by the Peace Treaties, together with interesting facts relating to economic and industrial conditions and prospects. AN INDEX NUMBER FOR STATE SCHOOL SYSTEMS. By Leonard P. Ayres. Department of Education, Russell Sage Foundation. With this little volume in hand, the reader can accurately estimate the relative rank of any state in the United States in educational efficiency and attainment. A great variety of educational data can be found by the tables; and they are shown by means of strictly scientific principles and depend in no manner or degree upon guess work and hearsay. The author has done an inestimable service to the public by these thoroughgoing statistical studies. GENERAL SCIENCE. By Charles H. Lake, M. A. Silver Burdett & Company. This volume presents an adequate course in General Science for the average pupil in the first year of the regular High School, or in the eighth or ninth year Junior High School. The material used includes much that falls within the sphere of observation of the boy or girl in the "teens." They are taught to observe and are guided in the formation of correct ideas of Science study. Some simple laboratory work that can be done at home is suggested. A remarkable, comprehensive, practical and attractively illustrated text book. LA SCIENCE DE L'EDUCATION. Par le Dr. Jean Demoor, Professeur de Medecine de l'Universite de Bruxelles, Directeur de l'Institute de Physiologie, et Tobie Jonckheere, Directeur de l'Ecole Normale, Charge de Cours a la Faculte de Philosophie et Lettres, de l'Universite de Bruxelles. Bruxelles, 1920, Maurice Lamertin. Paris, Felix Alcan. This volume covers, in the French Language, the essentials of the science of education, especially upon the physical side. It is characterized by a spirit of typical French particularity and thoroughness. There are 23 light-giving figures and diagrams. Book first discusses biological bases, the cell as the basis of physical life, its structure, nutrition, irritability, reproduction, variations, etc. The successive chapters carry the life of the developing human being up through the various stages, the changes in bodily structure and the unfolding mental and moral faculties being carefully recorded and explained. All is in reference to possibilities of wise understanding, direction, and education by parents, teachers, and the individual himself, with a view to the making of a healthy, happy, useful and successful manhood and womanhood. We are sure that American physicists, physiologists, professors of pedagogy, superintendents of schools, teachers, and parents who are able to read French will find inspiration and instruction of particular value in this compact and comprehensive volume of 380 pages. WORD STUDY FOR HIGH SCHOOLS. By Nora Lippincott Swan. The Macmillan Company. Price 72 cents. A carefully prepared volume containing lists of words which are most useful and which are most likely to be misspelled, rules for spelling, exercises in pronunciation, common mistakes in speech, story of the growth of the English language, etc. A spelling book on a new and quite original plan calculated to provoke thought and so to correct faults of thinking that are often responsible for incorrect spelling and pronunciation. STORIES OF AMERICANS IN THE WORLD WAR. By William H. Allen and Clare Kleiser. Issued by The Institute for Public Service and The Journal of Education, Boston, Mass. An interesting collection in paper covers, suitable for supplementary reading in the grades. SWIFT PUZZLE MAP OF IDAHO. Published by the Swift Map Company, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Endorsed by educators as geographically accurate and intrinsically interesting. |