COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY PREFACE My purpose here is to interest the child in the stars, which are always with him; to stimulate his imagination; and to direct him in a pastime-the hunting out of the constellations and individual stars-that may become an enduring joy. With the help of the oblong charts and their duplicates, in which Miss Boroughs has placed the animals, he can learn the constellations separately and in groups, with the ancient mythic animals in their places; and by using the round charts at the back of the book, he can see the sky as a whole, as it appears from our Northern Hemisphere during the different seasons, and trace out the smaller or less important constellations which I have not given. A good way to learn the configurations that form the constellations is to draw them. If the charts are held over the head, with the cardinal points in the proper places, the stars can be seen as they are in the sky; or the same result can be obtained by one who sits facing the south and holds the charts with the north end upwards. If any child has as much pleasure in reading this book as I have had in preparing it, or obtains a broader outlook upon life from its perusal, all my efforts will be fully repaid. A. M. M. G. |