A History of The Ginn Basic Readers

 Teaching children to read has a long history and educators differ about effective methods to use in beginning efforts. Even today, those arguments continue. It all started when American educators and parents argued over the best way to teach children how to read in schools nationwide. William McGuffey published phonics-based primers, which approached the reading method by sounding out words by learning letter and sound associations. These primers were in the hands of schoolchildren from the middle of the 19^th century to the early 20^th century.  

During the Progressive Era, many educators and social scientists believed the McGuffey Readers were too difficult for young children. They wanted a simpler approach, one that used limited vocabulary. They also believed it would be better to use contemporary children in a more modern setting that was relevant to children’s lives. 

After the Great War (World War I), John Dewey, William S. Gray, and others wrote those primers. They chose Zerna Sharp, a popular illustrator working with the Scott-Foresman publishing company as their illustrator, and a new series of primers arrived in the publishing world. The new books featured the same set of siblings engaged in normal daily activities with whom children of the times could identify in the stories. 

In 1930, the Dick and Jane characters were introduced in Scott-Foresman’s Elson-Gray Basic Readers. The books featured a special section for teachers explaining how they could adopt the whole word, or look-say method, to teach early readers. The new method emphasized the meaning of words rather than using rote phonics drills. The books constantly repeated the few words in the stories. This method replaced phonics. Each primer had a vocabulary list at the back of the book. Teachers were impressed, and school districts quickly adopted the reading primers.

 The Ginn Basic Readers. (Photo from the free images on the internet).

The new series used pictures to help readers associate a word with its meaning. The characters in the primers were Dick, Jane, Sally, Mother, Father, Spot the dog, Puff the cat, and Tim the teddy bear. Primers were used in schools nationwide into the 1970s, when politics played a big part in their demise.

 Titles such as The Little White House, My Little Red Reader, My Little Green Reader, My Little Blue Reader, Open the Gate, We Are Neighbors, On Cherry Street, Friends Far and Near, and Trails to Treasures helped children learn to read with interesting stories and settings.

 

The Little White House book. (Author photo).

Tom Betty and Susan, along with their mother and father and their pets, Flip the Dog, Frisky the Cat, and Pony, were introduced in the late 1940s in The Little White House, published by Ginn and Company. With this new series of primers designed for elementary students, the writers included workbooks and enrichment readers to scaffold the learning system. Teachers again quickly adapted to the new materials.

 

A peek inside The Little White House. (Author photos).

Edwin Ginn of Boston, Massachusetts, founded Ginn and Company. He almost lost his eyesight during college, and his fellow classmates read to him. To work his way through college, he sold textbooks to a publisher. By 1890, Ginn and Company was the sixth-largest publisher of textbooks. The other five were subsidiaries of The American Book Company, but Ginn refused to become a part of the group. Edwin Ginn died in 1914, and in his will, he left a million dollars to establish The World Peach Foundation. Later, Xerox bought the company.

 Looking through the old children’s primers is a joy to behold. The illustrations are endearing and quite the contrast of today’s world. There are no broken families, no violence or cruelty, and especially no sexual content. Tom, Betty, Susan, and all the other book characters enjoyed daily life in a world where families normally stayed together.

 If you’re looking for stories to read to your children and grandchildren, you might consider these early-day primers. They are solid and enjoyable stories.