Synopsis
Rollo Learning To Read by Jacob Abbott. Rollo Learning To Read is a nineteenth-century children's primer designed to teach reading and instill daily virtue. Framed by the character Rollo and his family, the book blends instructional prose with short, instructive tales. It follows Rollo's father and sister Mary as they organize a structured reading program—daily lessons, letter recognition, and a gradual progression from letters to words to simple sentences. The book integrates moral instruction: work, perseverance, obedience, gratitude, kindness to animals, and reverence. It offers explicit guidance on how to read aloud, punctuation, capitalization, and typographic features (paragraphs, italics, capitals, dashes, notes), making it an educational tool as well as a narrative. Throughout, the stories—such as How Rollo Learned to Read, The First Lessons in Looking, Tick-Tick-Tick, The Cold Morning, The Fly's Morning Walk, Jonas, Bunny, The Raft, and The Kittens—present gentle dilemmas and resolutions to teach character and problem-solving. Originally published in 1854, this edition preserves the didactic spirit of early American children's literature.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.