you and will always come when you want them and are always willing to
talk or play--the people that live in books. Be sure to pick out the
best of them for your chums--the bravest and the kindest and the most
courteous, and the cleanest and the most honorable. You have the whole
world to choose from; and it is never worth your while to get
acquainted with cheap, badly behaved, second-rate people when you can
have your pick of the best. Your mother and your father and your
teacher will help you to choose, and you will soon find that what they
call "good literature" is good stories, and about the right sort of
men and women and boys and girls--the kind that you would like to
know, and that you would want to be like. Once try it, and you find
that you like that kind of reading better than you do the cheap,
slangy, trashy stuff, just as you like, and never get tired of, good
bread and butter and roast beef and apples and milk and cream and
pudding and pie. Good sound stories of home life and adventure and
travel are just as important in making your minds wholesome and happy
as these good foods are in keeping your bodies strong and healthy.

Be sure that the paper of the books and magazines you read is white
and _not_ glossy, and is fairly thick and firm; for this makes them
much easier to read and strains your eyes less. See, too, that the
type is large and clear; for small, close type and yellow or shiny
paper are very hard on the eyes.

Be sure, of course, when you sit down to read _not_ to sit with your
face to the lamp and your head bending forward; but settle yourself in
a comfortable chair with your back to the light, and hold your book so
that you can keep your chin up and your head erect while you read. You
can breathe better, and read better, and enjoy what you read better in
this position than in any other.