American Cardinal Readers: Book 6

Book cover: American Cardinal Readers: Book Six
Author(s): 
Edith M. McLaughlin
Adrian T. Curtis
Number of pages: 
390 pages
Copyright: 
1930
ISBN: 
9780911845419
Publisher: 
Neumann Press
Binding: 
Sewn Hardcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

Fifty-nine stories including "Bethlehem 1918", "Daniel Boone" by Teddy Roosevelt, " St Aloysisus", "O Captain! My Captian" by Walt Whitman","St Isaac Jogues", "The Address of the Roman Catholics to George Washington, Esq. President of the United States". Includes study suggestions for each story and a glossary. A few black and white pictures.

In the story "Bethlehem, 1918" on page 88, there is a troubling sentence: "In Jerusalem, in spite of its overwhelming interest, the Catholic pilgrim is distressed by the discord of jarring creeds, by the crowds of Mohammedans and foreign Jews that infest it..." While we certainly can't judge the author's intentions in referring to people as infesting a place, it certainly seems contradictory to Catholic teaching on the value of each human life, regardless of race or religion. I would be anxious to make clear to my children that it is inappropriate to refer to people as infesting a place. While some may choose to skip the story entirely, I think it can be valuable for children to read such things and discuss them with their parents in order to be better prepared to avoid such errors and evils in the future. (A.V.H.)

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99