by William McGuffey (Author)
Learn to read the old fashioned way, with McGuffey's Eclectic Primer. This first reading book begins with the alphabet and moves from simple sentences made up of one-syllable words (A cat and a rat.) through more difficult sentences of one-syllable words (A good child likes to go to school.). The book includes slate exercises of the script alphabet and charming 19th-century illustrations throughout. This is the revised 1881 edition. The McGuffey Readers are among the best known schoolbooks in the history of American education, having sold more than 120 million copies since the time of their first publication in 1836.
Author Biography
William McGuffey (1800-1873), American educator, author, and Presbyterian minister is best known for creating the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used textbooks in the U.S. William McGuffey, who had a lifelong interest in teaching children, compiled the first four readers beginning in 1836, while his brother Alexander created the fifth and sixth readers in the 1840s. In 1879, the readers were revised to better portray America as a melting pot of moralities and middle-class values. The McGuffey Readers have been popular for more than 150 years, have sold more than 120 million copies since 1836, and are still in use today.