A Programme for Sunday Reading
“Who aimeth at a star,
Shoots higher, far,
Than he who means a tree.”
Charlotte Mason quotes this phrase from the poet George Herbert when describing “the power and beauty of a holy youth” (Formation of Character, p. 209). She chides us for not having a higher standard when it comes to the religious training of our children. Thankfully, she shares with us in detail how we might go about all of it, from our daily schoolwork of reading the Scriptures to the habit of Sunday-keeping. Her simple and direct advice on observing the Sabbath with our children inspired me as my husband and I brought up our six children. She states:
The habit of Sunday observances, not rigid, not dull, and yet peculiar to the day, is especially important. Sunday stories, Sunday hymns, Sunday walks, Sunday talks, Sunday painting, Sunday knitting even, Sunday card-games, should all be special to the day,—quiet, glad, serene. The people who clamour for a Sunday that shall be as other days little know how healing to the jaded brain is the change of thought and occupation the seventh day brings with it. (School Education, p. 144)
This type of Sunday, particularly in our busy, distracted 21st century, shoots “higher, far” than what is typically practiced in our communities and homes. I wanted to look more closely at what she prescribed for the “Sunday stories” mentioned above. This aspect of Sunday-keeping was so important that the titles recommended are listed on each school programme as “Sunday Reading”.
Enjoy this question-and-answer format of things I wanted to know and the handy, comprehensive list of all the titles at the end. My conclusions were drawn from Charlotte’s words, Parents’ Review articles, and 119 programmes from 1922–1933. The years represented here include eleven years following her death as we know her ideas and wishes were faithfully followed during this time. “Sunday Reading” was listed under “Bible Lessons” for forms I–IV and under “Scripture” for forms V–VI. Also at least one title (Pilgrim’s Progress) moved from the Monday–Saturday programmes to the Sunday Reading list and vice versa.
What is the point of the Sunday Readings?
Charlotte tells us the purpose of these special readings. She says, “The point in the Sunday readings and occupations, is, to keep the heart at peace and the mind alive and receptive, open to any holy impression which may come from above” (Formation of Character, p. 211). This is all part of her emphasis on habits of the religious life; well-chosen books reserved for Sundays are a special habit that can be carried on throughout one’s life, attuning the child and us to things Divine.
Were Sunday Readings optional?
On many of the programmes, the listing of the Sunday Reading books was followed by the word “optional” in parenthesis, but not on all of them. And as previously quoted, Charlotte talks frequently about these books and the importance of Sunday reading, making them part and parcel of a living education.
Were the books in the Sunday Readings narrated or were exam questions asked?
I don’t see any evidence that these books were narrated but the programmes do not always explicitly state that narrating is expected (i.e. under History). I do read of families sharing the ideas and discussing the books on Sundays, so narrating very likely took place. It appears that Sunday Readings were not generally covered in the exams.
What types of books were read for Sunday Reading?
We find a wide variety of books on the programmes assigned to Sunday Reading. “Any pure, thoughtful study of character, earnest picture of life, will do to carry our thoughts upward, though the Divine Name be not mentioned; but tales full of affairs and society, or tales of passion, are hardly to be chosen” (Formation of Character, p. 211). Poetry was included and Charlotte’s instructions here apply to all the types of readings:
A little poetry may well be got in: there is time to digest it on Sunday; not only George Herbert, Vaughan, Keble, and the like, but any poet who feeds the heart with wise thoughts, and does not too much disturb the peace of the day with the stir of life and passion. (p. 211)
Here is a list of the categories I found: classics, biographies, catechism, church history, church teaching, church life, Bible study helps, geography of the Holy Land, prayer, children in other lands, folktales, great saints, history of Christianity, poetry, philosophy, missionary stories, voyages, science, and natural history.
Which titles were the most popular overall?
The two most frequently used titles were assigned in 26 programmes: A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Mary Yonge and The Child’s Book of Saints by William Canton. These are followed by Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty (24 programmes), St. Paul’s Life and Letters by John Paterson Smyth (17 programmes), Helps to the Study of the Bible published by Oxford University Press (16 programmes) and The Children’s Year. Talks to the Church’s Children on the Church’s Seasons by Reverend G. R. Oakley (16 programmes).
Which titles were listed most often in each form?
Form I — A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Mary Yonge (26), The Child’s Book of Saints by William Canton (26), Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty (24), and In the Beginning: A First History for Children by Eva Erleigh (7).
Form II — Helps to the Study of the Bible published by Oxford University Press (16), The Children’s Year. Talks to the Church’s Children on the Church’s Seasons by Reverend G. R. Oakley (16), Bible Atlas published by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (10), The Book of Other Lands by Dorothy Margaret Stuart (7), and The Book of the Long Trail by Sir Henry John Newbolt (7).
Form III — How to Read the Bible by John Paterson Smyth (9), How We Got Our Bible by John Paterson Smyth (7), Ecce Homo, Ecce Rex by Elizabeth Rundle Charles (7), Heroes and Writers of the Book of Common Prayer by Georgiana M. Forde (6), St. Paul’s Life and Letters by John Paterson Smyth (6), The Roll Call of Honour by Arthur Quiller-Couch (6).
Form IV — What Mean Ye By These Stones? by J. M. C. Crum (7), St. Paul’s Life and Letters by John Paterson Smyth (7), Heroes and Writers of the Book of Common Prayer by Georgiana M. Forde (5), and Our Bible in the Making by John Paterson Smyth (5).
Form V — Sinai and Palestine by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (13), Sunday Epistles by Canon John Howard Bertram Masterman (6), The Religions of Mankind by S. M. E. Trood (6), and Daily Readings and Notes (Series A) (5).
Form VI — A Short History of Our Religion by David Churchill Somervell (13), The Eastern Church by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (13), The Testament of Beauty by Robert Seymour Bridges (6), Christianity and Science in the Twentieth Century by Reverend A. E. Baker (5), and Daily Readings and Notes (Series A) (5).
Were any books assigned in 3 or more forms?
Yes, but the reason is unclear. Perhaps the book was moved up or down due to difficulty or maybe it followed a group through a year and into the next or it was assigned simultaneously. Those titles are:
- A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus by Washington Irving (Forms II, III, IV)
- Abraham Lincoln by William Makepeace Thayer (Forms II, III, IV)
- In The Choir Of Westminster Abbey: A Story Of Henry Purcell’s Days by Emma Martin Marshall (Forms II, III, IV)
- Life of Nelson by Robert Southey, Esq. LL.D. (Forms III, IV, V)
- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (Forms II, III, and IV)
- Paul’s Life and Letters by John Paterson Smyth (Forms III, IV, V, VI)
- The Holy Grail by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Forms IV, V, VI)
- The Holy War by John Bunyan (Forms III, IV, V)
- The Life of Sam Pollard of China by Walter Pollard (Forms II, III, IV)
Any other considerations?
Charlotte mentions “an hour’s reading aloud, from Sunday to Sunday, of a work of real power and interest, might add to the interest of Sunday afternoon; and this family reading should supply a pleasant intellectual stimulus” (p. 211). These Sunday readings will help children grow in the knowledge and fear of God, bring quiet meditative habits, and keep Sundays as a day set apart. And if you consider how many Sundays you have with your sweet children, just think of the possibilities for them and you! As George Herbert wrote, let’s aim at the stars and not underestimate the capacity of our children’s hearts and minds to grow in their spiritual lives, utilizing the potential gift of reading on Sundays.
TITLES FOR SUNDAY READING FROM PROGRAMMES 95–127
| A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Mary Yonge
A Child’s History of Rhodesia by Myfawny Williams A Great Missionary Pioneer the Story of Samuel Marsden’s Work in New Zealand by E. M. Dunlop A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus by Washington Irving A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Lucy Bishop A Life of Jesus by Basil Joseph Matthews A Merry Mountaineer (The Story of Clifford Harris of Persia) by R. W. Howard A Philosophy from Prison: A Study of the Epistle to the Ephesians by Frank Russell Barry A Short History of Our Religion by David Churchill Somervell Abraham Lincoln by William Makepeace Thayer Abraham Lincoln published by T. Nelson and Sons Adventures in Engineering published by Collins Adventures in Science by Arthur Malle Africa and Her Peoples by Frank Deaville Walker African Idylls by Donald Fraser Agathos: And Other Sunday Stories by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce Alexander Duff by William Paton Alive Unto God by Alan Hugh McNeile An English Church History for Children, Vol. I. by Mary Shipley An Eskimo Village by Samuel King Hutton Ancient Crete: The Sea-Kings of Crete by Reverend James Baikie, F.R.A.S. Ancient Jerusalem by Reverend James Baikie, F.R.A.S. Animal Tales from Africa by J. H. MacNair Animals of the Bible by Eleonore E. Helme Ann Epistle by Robert Browning Anselm by Ethel Mary Wilmot-Buxton At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald Baby Sahib by A. A. Methley Barbrooke Grubb of Paraguay by C. T. Bedford, B.A. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Saint Bede Bemol and Kusum by Herbert E. Wyman Ben Hur by Lewis Wallace Bible Atlas published by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Bible in Spain by George Henry Borrow Bishop Patteson of the Cannibal Islands by Elizabeth Grierson Boys and Girls and Friendly Beasts by Mary Entwistle Boys and Girls of Africa published by Church Mission Society Boys and Girls of the Near East published by Highway Press Captain Cook published by T. Nelson and Sons Charles George Gordon by Colonel Sir William Butler Chopsticks by F. I. Codrington Christ and Society by Charles Gore Christian Beliefs and Modern Questions by Oliver Chase Quick Christian Faith and Life by William Temple Christian Year by John Keble Christianity and Science in the Twentieth Century by Reverend A. E. Baker Christmas Eve and Easter Day by Robert Browning Christopher Columbus published by T. Nelson and Sons Courage, Truth, Purity by Robert Henry Charles Cuckoo Clock by Mary Louisa Molesworth Daily Readings and Notes (Series A) published by Dramatis Personæ by Robert Browning Dutch Agnes Her Valentine by William Gershom Collingwood Early Life by Thomas De Quincey Ecce Homo, Ecce Rex by Elizabeth Rundle Charles Enter China by George G. Barnes Eothen by Samuel King Hutton Ethics of the Dust by John Ruskin Eton Fables by Cyril Alington Everyday Life in the Holy Land by James Neil Florence Nightingale by Florence Allshorn Fragrance and the others: Adventures in China (“Round the world” series) by Mary Entwistle François Coillard: A Wayfaring Man by Edward Shillito From Log Cabin to White House: Life of James A. Garfield by William Makepeace Thayer George Washington by Ada Russell Granny’s Wonderful Chair by Frances Browne Greatheart of Papua (James Chalmers) by W. P. Nairn Heidi by Johanna Spyri Helps to the Study of the Bible published by Oxford University Press Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faith by Constance Evelyn Padwick Heroes and Writers of the Book of Common Prayer by Georgiana M. Forde Homes of the Psalms by Stacy Waddy Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson How the League of Nations Works by Kathleen Elizabeth Royds Innes How to Read the Bible by John Paterson Smyth How to Use the Prayer Book by Mrs. Romanes How We Got Our Bible by John Paterson Smyth Hymns by William Cowper If I lived in Africa by Cicely Hooper If I lived in Japan by Gwendoline R. Barclay If I lived in Palestine by Mary Entwistle In Memoriam by Alfred, Lord Tennyson In the Beginning: a First History for Children by Eva Erleigh In The Choir Of Westminster Abbey: A Story Of Henry Purcell’s Days by Emma Martin Marshall India and Her Peoples by Frank Deaville Walker Jackanapes and other Stories by Juliana Horatia Ewing James Gilmour of Mongolia by Richard Lovett Joan of Arc published by T. Nelson and Sons John Williams the Shipbuilder by Basil Joseph Matthews King Khama of Bechuanaland by Florence Allshorn Legends of the Stars by Mary Procter Legends of the Sun and the Moon by Mary Procter Letters to my Grandson on the World about him by Stephen William Buchanan Coleridge Life and times of Girolamo Savonarola by Pasquale Villari Life of General Gordon by D. C. Boulger Life of Nelson by Robert Southey, Esq. LL.D. Life of St. Francis by Gilbert K. Chesterton Lion-hearted : Bishop Hannington’s life told for boys and Girls by Canon E.C. Dawson Livingstone the Pathfinder by Basil Joseph Matthews Lockhart’s Life of Scott by John Gibson Lockhart Lysbeth A Tale of the Dutch by Sir Henry Rider Haggard Mackay of the Great Lake by Constance Evelyn Padwick Maro, the Lion-keeper by Marjorie Bruce Mary Slessor of Calabar by W. P. Livingstone Master Thinkers by R. J. Harvey-Gibson Memorials of Canterbury: Edward the Black Prince by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley More Eton Fables by Cyril Alington On the Road: Adventures in India by Mary Entwistle Our Bible in the Making by John Paterson Smyth Parables from Nature by Margaret (Scott) Gatty Paradise Lost by John Milton Paths of Peace, Book IV. by H. Bellis Peloubet’s Bible Dictionary by Francis Nathan Peloubet, D.D. Persian Wonder Tales by C. F. Mackenzie Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte by Mark Twain Piers Plowman by William Langland Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan Pioneer Women by Margaret E. Tabor Pioneering for Peace (League of Nations) by Hebe Spaull Poems by Matthew Arnold Poems by John Milton Poems and Letters by Thomas Gray Pioneers of the Kingdom (Part I, A.D. 33–1300) by Phyllis L. Garlick |
Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. by William Cowper
Praeterita by John Ruskin Praises with Understanding: A Book about the Psalms by Gertrude Hollis Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning Reflections on the Litany by Charles Gore Robert Moffat by Edwin W. Smith Robert Morrison by Marshall Broomhall Saint George of England by Basil Hood Saints and Heroes of the Western World by Muriel Orlidge Davies Saul by Robert Browning Science and the Unseen World by Arthur Stanley Eddington Scott’s Last Expedition by Robert Falcon Scott Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin Short Studies on Great Subjects by James Anthony Froude Sidelights on the Bible by Mrs. Brightwen Sinai and Palestine by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley Sintram and His Companions by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Sir Walter Raleigh published by T. Nelson and Sons Sketches of Church History by Elizabeth Grierson Sonnets to National Independence and Liberty by William Wordsworth St. Elizabeth of Hungary by William Canton St. Patrick, the Travelling Man by Winifred M. Letts St. Paul’s Life and Letters by John Paterson Smyth Stories from Chinese History by A. S. Roe Stories From Mediaeval Spain by Ierne Lifford Plunket Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary MacLeod Stories of Scientific Discovery by Doris B. Hammond Sunday Collects by Canon John Howard Bertram Masterman Sunday Epistles by Canon John Howard Bertram Masterman Sunday Gospels by Canon John Howard Bertram Masterman Tennyson’s Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The Adventure of Paul of Tarsus by Reverend Henry Falconar Barclay Mackay The Ancient Documents and the Modern Bible by John Paterson Smyth The Book of an Indian Baby: Prema, the Loved One by Mary Entwistle The Book of Job The Book of Nature Myths by Florence Holbrook The Book of Other Lands by Dorothy Margaret Stuart The Book of Saints and Heroes by Andrew Lang The Book of the African Baby by Mary Entwistle The Book of the Long Trail by Sir Henry John Newbolt The Call Drum: Forest Adventures in Africa (‘Round the World’ Series, No. 3) by Mary Entwistle The Carved Cartoon (Grinling Gibbons) by Austin Clare The Chaplet of Pearls (St. Bartholomew’s Eve) by Charlotte Mary Yonge The Child’s Book of Saints by William Canton The Children’s Year. Talks to the Church’s Children on the Church’s Seasons by Reverend G. R. Oakley The Christ of the Indian Road by Eli Stanley Jones The Christian Outlook in the Modern World by Charles Frederick D’Arcy The Chronicles of the Schönberg Cotta Family by Elizabeth Rundle Charles The Church Catechism Explained by A. W. Robinson The Clash of Colour by Basil Joseph Matthews The Confessions of St. Augustine by Aurelius Augustine The Conversion of the English by H. Curtois The Eastern Church by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser The Firebrand of the Indies – A Romance of Francis Xavier by E. K. Seth Smith The Flame Tree by Rosetta George Baskerville The Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The High History of the Holy Graal published by J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. The Highwayman and other Stories by Albert Bushnell Lloyd The Holy Grail by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The Holy War by John Bunyan The Jesus of History by Terrot Reavely Glover The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin The King of the Snakes and Other Folk-Lore Stories From Uganda by Rosetta George Baskerville The Land of the Incarnation by Gertrude Hollis The Land of Troy and Tarsus by James Elgin Wetherell The Last Abbot of Glastonbury by Reverend A. D. Crake, M.A. The Last Secrets by John Buchan The Life and Works of Charles Kingsley published by MacMillan and Co., Ltd. The Life of David Livingstone by William Garden Blaikie, D.D, LLD. The Life of Sam Pollard of China by Walter Pollard The Life of Wesley: And the Rise and Progress of Methodism by Robert Southey, Esq. LL.D. The Little Blue Man by Giuseppe Fanciulli The Little Flowers of St. Francis by T. W. Arnold The Mabinogion by Lady Charlotte Guest The Mighty Army by Winifred M. Letts The Moslem World in Revolution by William Wilson Cash The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne by Gilbert White The Passing of Arthur by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The Poems of George Herbert by George Herbert The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Prelude by William Wordsworth The Princess by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The Prophets of Israel by Alfred Walter Frank Blunt The Quest of Nations by Theodore R. W. Lunt The Re-Making of Man in Africa by Joseph Houldsworth Oldham The Realism of Christ’s Parables by Oliver Chase Quick The Red Book of Heroes by Leonora Blanche Lang The Religions of Mankind by S. M. E. Trood The Riddle of Life by Neville Stewart Talbot The Roll Call of Honour by Arthur Quiller-Couch The Romance of Excavation by David Masters The Romance of the Bible by Gertrude Hollis The Seven Champions of Christendom by F. J. Harvey Darton The Story of a Labrador Doctor by Wilfred Thomason Grenfell The Story of a Red Deer by John William Fortescue The Story of a Short Life by Juliana Horatia Ewing The Story of Islam by Theodore R. W. Lunt The Story of Joan of Arc by Andrew Lang The Story of Livingstone published by T. Nelson and Sons The Story of Lord Roberts published by T. Nelson and Sons The Story of My Life by Helen Keller The Story of Stanley published by T. Nelson and Sons The Story of the League of Nations by Kathleen Elizabeth Royds Innes The Story of the Life of Mackay of Uganda Told for Boys by Alexina Mackay Harrison The Testament of Beauty by Robert Seymour Bridges The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby by Charles Kingsley The Winchester Hymn Supplement: With Tunes published by Warren and Son Ltd. The Wonderful Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer and Its Teaching Explained by Gertrude Hollis The World of the New Testament by Terrot Reavely Glover Theras: The Story of an Athenian Boy by Caroline Dale Snedeker Things New and Old by Dean William Ralph Inge Thomas Becket by Susan Cunnington Uganda in Transformation by Herbert Gresford Jones Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Lucy Bishop Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Victorian Worthies by George Henry Blore What Mean Ye By These Stones? by J. M. C. Crum Wigwam Stories by Mary Catherine Judd William Carey by Frank Deaville Walker Yount Islam on Trek by Basil Joseph Matthews |
Special thanks to Michael Walkup for providing research support for this article.
For 30 years, author Nancy Kelly has been practicing the principles and living the lifestyle that Charlotte Mason championed. She has been called a “master teacher” of Mason’s methods and enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through mentoring, consulting, teaching, and speaking. You can read about her family (6 CM graduates!) and the books they love on her website, Sage Parnassus.
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