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Book Review of McGuffey's Eclectic Primer

McGuffey's Eclectic Primer
McGuffey's Eclectic Primer
Author: J. E. Thompson
Genre: Reference
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 61 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


What a fabulous set of books. I found a reproduction of these readers in a used bookstore in Florida for $10 and snapped them up without much review, as I know older readers usually have quality stories. I am so delighted with this find. They do smell a bit dusty, but the bindings feel and look as if the books have never been opened. As a very special bonus, when I showed them to my father, he announced that these were the same readers that he used in school as a child.

What a precious connection between the generations that will be. The first reader is a "Primer" and introduces the alphabet and proceeds with the teaching of three letter words. By the sixth reader, the student is reading such selections as "The Death of Little Nell" by Dickens and "Speech Before the Virginia Convention" by Patrick Henry. The reading assignments are an education into the founding of this country and its people unto itself. In addition there are advanced language instructions on articulation, inflection, instructions for reading verse and more. I am truly delighted with this set, all the more so because of its history and the price.