In the early 1900's a new series of books appeared in print: the Twins
books, by Lucy Fitch Perkins (1865-1937). These are excellent "Living
Geography" materials.
Each book contains the story of a set of (fictional)
twins into which the authors weave historic, geographic, and cultural
information. The books proved so popular that after Lucy Fitch Perkins' death,
further titles were added by Daphne Rooke.
For those who enjoy the Twins books, here is a list of them (taken from the
front of The Japanese Twins), together with suggested grade levels for each
book. I have included asterisks against each of the books currently
online.
Geographical Series
The Dutch Twins Primer Grade I
* The Eskimo Twins Grade II
* The Dutch Twins Grade III
* The Japanese Twins Grade IV
* The Swiss Twins Grade IV
The Filipino Twins Grade V
The Irish Twins Grade V
The Italian Twins Grade V
The Mexican Twins Grade V
* The Scotch Twins Grade VI
* The Belgian Twins Grade VII [set during World
War I]
* The French Twins Grade VII
Historical Series
The Cave Twins Grade IV [Note: There is some evolution in this book, but it is
generally good fun it is set in southern England and the Isle of Wight during the Ice Age]
* The Spartan Twins Grade V
The Colonial Twins of Virginia Grade VI
The American Twins of 1812 Grade VI
The Pioneer Twins Grade VI
The American Twins of the Revolution Grade VII
* The Puritan Twins Grade VII
Not included on the above list are two more books by Lucy Fitch Perkins: The Indian Twins
(American Indians, not Indians from India), The Chinese Twins, and any titles written
by Daphne Rooke, such as The Australian Twins or The South African Twins. Daphne Rooke's
contributions to the series are more recent, and I believe are all still under copyright, though they
can readily be found second-hand. I think they would fit in somewhere about the grade 5 or
6 level.
The first of the Twins books to be published was The Dutch Twins. In it,
Lucy Fitch Perkins explained the purpose behind the series, and included
various teaching suggestions. Some of these ideas are specific to The Dutch
Twins, but others can easily be adapted to other books in the series:
This book is the first of a series of stories for supplementary reading the purpose
of which is to give children a correct idea of life in different countries, both
in the spirit and atmosphere of the story, and in the actual descriptions. These
books will also further a spirit of friendliness and good will for children of
other nationalities. Respect for and an understanding of the life and customs of
other races, are not only educationally valuable, but are fundamentally
important in this crucible of nations, where different races are fusing
themselves together as never before in the history of the world. Tradition is a
precious heritage, and the traditions of other nations should be the natural
inheritance of the American child, since here as nowhere else all the nations of
the earth are entering into our national life.
The author has recognized from the start that the purpose of a book of this kind would fail of
realization if the narrative does not appeal strongly to children. The delight
with which the book has been received by children is evidence that the important
element of interest has not been left out of the narrative.
To make the reading of this story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested that children
be allowed at the outset to turn the pages of the book in order to get glimpses
of Kit and Kat, in the various scenes in which they are portrayed,
in the illustrations, thus arousing their interest. With a globe, or a map of
the world, point out Holland, and tell the children something about the unique
character of the country.
The text is so simply written that any third or fourth grade child can read it without much
preparation. In the third grade it may be well to have the children read it
first in the study period in order to work out the pronunciation of the more
difficult words. In the fourth grade the children can usually read it at sight,
without the preparatory study.
In connection with the reading of the book, have children read selections from their readers and
other books about Holland and its people. The legend of The Hole in the
Dike is an illustration of this kind of collateral reading. Let children also
bring to class postcards and other pictures illustrating scenes in Holland.
The unique illustrations in the book should be much used, both in the reading of the story
and in other ways. Children will enjoy sketching some of the pictures; their
simple treatment makes them especially useful for this purpose. An excellent
oral language exercise would be for the children, after they have read the
story, to take turns telling the story from the pictures; and a good composition
exercise would be for each child to select the picture that he would like to
write upon, make a sketch of it, and write the story in his own words.
These are only a few of the number of ways that will occur to resourceful teachers of making the
book a valuable as well as an interesting exercise in reading.
(Lucy Fitch Perkins, writing in The Dutch Twins)
Copyright © Ruth Marshall 2004
