c1941-c1961
Alice and Jerry were my best friends. They taught me to read.
Back in the 50s, when I was first going to school, it wasn't considered proper for students to start reading actual books. It was the day of the basal reader, and by far the best-known reader was the Dick and Jane series from the publisher Scott, Foresman. But there were others, and my school chose Alice and Jerry, from Row, Peterson and Company.
That wasn't the name of the individual books. As I researched this article, I realized that I had forgotten the individual titles. I had long since called them Alice and Jerry.
Like Dick and Jane, Alice and Jerry were brother and sister, along with their dog, Jip.* I do remember the immortal words:
"See Jip. See Jip jump."
What impressed me about the books at the time was that they were interconnected. Of course the early ones were just a series of stories about the two,** but as things advanced, the connections were less obvious. Toward the end, you'd be reading all year about some pioneers on the prairie, and discover that they were Alice and Jerry's great grandparents.
The books were usually written by Mabel O'Donnell, with art by Florence and Margaret Hoopes. Obviously, they weren't great literature or art, but there was something about the first day of school when you'd find the new books there like familiar friends.
The series was discontinued in the early 60s, as the reading instruction switched away from basal readers,*** and Row, Peterson joined Harper Brothers to become Harper and Row and now HarperCollins. Alice and Jerry seem to have been overlooked while Dick and Jane became a catchword.
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* Even in first grade, I thought that "Jip" was a stupid name for a dog.
**Typical American kids, if you assume all Americans were white and middle class. Since I was, it seemed reasonable at the time.
***There was an uproar about US reading levels, centered around Rudolf Flesch's book Why Johnny Can't Read from 1955. Flesch blamed the readers -- and their "see and say" method of instructions -- as being inferior to teaching phonics. Like all educational theories, the truth lies in between: some children do better with phonics, and some do better with "see and say" (and some do better with some other method).
33 comments:
I loved Alice and Jerry, too. The book that I remember best was called, I believe, If I Were Going. It was about the town stationmaster, who, upon retirement, was given an around the world ticket by the train company. So we learned some geography and social studies as well as improving our reading skills that year.
jeanne in Canada
You say the Alice & Jerry books were from 1941-61, but I thought you might like to know that I was in an antique store today and saw a group of four small framed pictures of Alice & Jerry that were listed as being from 1933.
I personally gew up in Ohio on Dick and Jane.
I started school in September, 1939. There was no kindergarten, so in Grade 1 we learned to read and love the Alice and Jerry and Jip books. We learned cursive handwriting rather than printing. Imagine that! I told my grandchildren about Jip and am looking at this page today because my grown grandson just told me he plans to name his dog Jip.
I have in hand an Alice and Jerry "Day In and Day Out" book given to me for Christmas in 1938. The cover corners are all well worn but the binding is intact as are all of the interior pages. It was well used by me and all my children, now 49, 43 an 40. I came across it today while cleaning our attic space. Amazing how well I recall its brief stories.
I'm glad someone create this page because today a verse ran through my head of "Run Jip Run" and I asked my co-workers (whom most are near and above my age) did they remember Jip in the elementary school books that we learn to read from and they all said "No". They all thought that I was confused with Spot from Dick and Jane and I said no way. I found this page and now I've proved them wrong. I wasn't confused (and I knew I wasn't) Thanks for the information on this page.
I also grew up reading Alice and Jerry. Book authors today would do well to look back 50-60 years and copy some of the techniques used in those days. We learned to read, learned history, geography, and our children's imaginations were working hard as well. Brings back many fond memories of the early 1950s and the times spent going to school in those days.
I was so happy to find these old books again I cried. I read online that a lot of the characters were based on real people--it was posted by Jerry's niece or great-niece. The lady in through the green gate was real, too, it said.
There were also Catholic school readers that used the Alice and Jerry characters. These were published by Ginn and Co., as I recall (perhaps licensed specifically for Catholic schools). Ours were the Through the Green Gate readers. Since my name is Alice, I loved them, but especially because of one story in particular (not featuring Alice or Jerry) about two colonial girls in New England. The story was "The Dimity Dress." It was my favorite because I had a dimity Communion dress which was passed down in my family.
In a fit of nostalgia I acquired the three books that I remembered from my school days in Ohio in the 40's. I was also impressed with the continuum of the series and specifically remember how surprised I was that the boy on the stagecoach at the very beginning of "Singing Wheels" was the grandfather at the end of "Engine Whistles"
In addition to reading, the books provided lessons in history, science, travel and civics through the story line. "If I Were Going", the first in the series in addition to teaching about different cultures provided us with an introduction to good grammar by using the subjunctive case in the title, thereby setting a pattern for a frequently difficult concept. We learned a lot from these books.
I specifically remember my concern when the last chapter began: "An early morning in 194_!". I thought what happens if it is later than the 1940's...then, since I was 8 years old and it was 1947, that time would be so far in the future it was likely never to come.
I read from Alice and Jerry readers in elementary school in the mid to late 50's.
Every year I could not wait to get to the next reader. My favorite was "Runaway Home". How I envied those kids whose parents let them travel for a year in a camper. I still remember vividly some of the pictures in that book! I bought "Through the Green Gate" for my 2 year old granddaughter. I plan to find the whole series for her.
These books, along with Dick and Jane, were based on systematic phonics along with sight words. From the late 20s to the early 70s, children successfully learned to read this way. The words were repeated at least 5 times in a set of 1 or 2 pages so that a child could repeat and remember. You could sound out Jip and Spot. Words like "come" are sight words so repeating it would fix it in your mind. My 5th child has severe learning problems. I bought her a set of old Dick and Jane books and she learned to read using these. Almost 60 years of children learning couldn't be wrong! I saw, however, that in the 60s and on, the books reduced the vocabulary, the children did mean things and the TV was pictured. I believe the TV was a culprit in why kids struggled to read in later years, not this method of teaching. My oldest had, in his only 6 months at school before I homeschooled, "whole language" which he thought was silly. He already knew how to read at 3 by sounding out words and having me tell him the sight words which he then remembered. Whole language is guessing off the picture! No phonics, no repeating, nothing! That method seems to have been abandoned, thank goodness!
When I moved to Aurora, IL, to enter college I experienced many days of deja vu moments -- I had walked certain streets before, or an older building would look very familiar. Eventually I learned that Mabel O'Donnel based the Alice and Jerry books on what was once the village of Aurora and the surrounding prairie and farm land.
I was so enamored of the books, I began to buy them on eBay a number of years ago. I have all of the hardback books, but am missing some of the pre-primers. My granddaughter loves them! A first grader, she thinks learning from the books her grandmother learned from is great.
I also grew up reading Alice/Jerry books. My teacher use to call us to her desk to read. I use to read up to 10 pages each day. If I stammered over one word, I was made to go back to my desk and the word, "Study" was written on the page beside the word I had failed to pronounce. I remember it like it was yesterday. Because of that dedicated, loving, and no none-sense teacher, and those wonderful books, I developed a love for reading that I have to this day.
I loved my Alice and Jerry books! If I Were going was certainly my favorite..... It felt as if you were looking into exotic lands .... It was an adventure!!! Quite honestly I would love to find a copy to give to my grandchildren so they can learn how reading can transport you to far away places!!
You know, I'd love to name my dog Jip... Just to see how many recognize the name...... Hehe
Cindy Raymond q
I started school in 1958 in Georgia in a segregated school, and I loved the Alice and Jerry books. I especially remember the kindly older neighbor Mr.Carl; I think he did a lot of fishing. Most of the kids in my class were reading pretty well by Christmas break if I remember correctly.
Wow, what a rush. I learned to read, Alice & Jerry in Mineral City, Ohio, 1965-66 or 67. Then throughout life heard of "Dick and Jane" and felt sort of like my own experience was "left out" somehow of the culture.
thanks for researching & writng this! Must add your site to my list to check; Best to you!
Though I went to grade school in the 70`s, I had a few A and J books a teacher friend had given us. Along with Dr. Seuss and an adapted Alice, they were among the first things I read on my own. Still have "The Wishing Well."
I started school in 1950 in Canton, Ohio and the Alice and Jerry White readers were used in our school and I became not only a good reader, but an avid reader as did both my older sisters. I moved to the West Coast after high school and seldom found anyone who remembered these characters...they insisted that I must have meant the Dick and Jane readers...NOT! Finally I happily can post this bit of trivia on my facebook page...However, I do not consider the readers trivia...they were a valuable reading tool for teachers and it seems that fewer and fewer students graduating from high school have any reading skills or spelling for that matter...I am grateful for the fine education I received in the Ohio school system and honestly feel my generation was the last of those receiving a great education. Amen
I started kindergarten in 1961, and at my school we used mostly Dick and Jane books, but were introduced to Alice and Jerry in about 3rd grade.
I never really liked Alice and Jerry, and it was probably all about the illustrations. At that time I would pick books to read almost totally based on the style of illustration, and I didn't like the A&J style as much as I did the D&J style. I'm guessing that if the A&J books were illustrated by the D&J people, I would've liked them better. My impression was that the D&J books seemed bright and new, while the A&J books seemed dim and old.
I also remember, as GilHigh mentioned, a connection to Aurora, IL. I think our teacher told us about that.
Thanks for this page! I loved Alice, Jerry and Jip, their pup. We had them in first and second grade (this was the early 1950s in New Orleans, Louisiana) and I have told others that I believe that my wanderlust started as a result of reading those books. I remember things from some of the books like I read them last year (and I'm old!) - I remember the bakery that they would visit to buy tarts and the view from a hilltop looking down at their village. I wanted to live in their town! And the travelogue that took them to the Netherlands (the Dutch bed in the wall and the wooden clogs) and the visit to the pyramids of Egypt! I've wanted to see Egypt for as long as I can remember and I attribute that to the Alice, Jerry and Jip books! What a wonderful way to learn to read.
95I have wonderful memories of Alice and Jerry books. I loved the name Jip for the dog. I loved their stories and I was happy and proud of myself for finally learning how to read! At 7 years old! I had to wait to go into 1st grade until I became 7 years old on January 7th 1955.
Septenber 1954 I could not go into 1st grade since I had to be 7 yrs
old if my memory is correct. So I had to wait until September 1955 to go to school. I am so happy that I have found these Alice and Jerry and Jip books on the internet!
Also I used to want to be able to read the comics on Sunday mornings in the newspaper when I was 5 or 6 and even 7! I remember starring at the words in the speech balloons and wish that I could know what they said.I guess that i thought if i starred at them long enough they would magically become easy for me to read them!But it never happened!I enjoyed looking at the drawn comics too very much! When I finally learned to read the Alice and Jerry books in school, I was thrilled to finally be able to read the words in the comics!
I devoured every book in our second grade class library section long before the school year was even half way over, and I remember my teacher, Mrs. Pinscke digging out some old Alice and Jerry books for me to read. I loved them, but of course, that made me the only kid in town who even knew who Alice and Jerry were!
And, yes, they were originally published in the 1930's.
I grew up on Alice and Jerry while attending public school in Southern Illinois in 1959-1961. I loved the illustrations. My favorite book was Friendly Village. When I was bored in Reading class I used to stare wistfully at the cover of the book - wishing I could live in a wonderful town like that. I still own a few of the books, and once in a while I pull them out just to enjoy the pictures. They really are great watercolor illustrations. As a girl, I also loved the fact that Alice was a bit of a tomboy, and that the kids did get in trouble now and then.
I came over from Germany in early '58 and didn't know any English. I was put in first grade and we had the Dick and Jane books and I picked up the language in no time. I really loved those stories. We also had Alice and Jerry books later on in the upper grades and they were very enjoyable as well. Brings back so many memories of years gone by. "See Jip jump" - something you never forget !
No one ever believed me when I said we read Alice and Jerry books in first grade! Imagine the laughs when I told them that their dog was Jip. Some friends said I was dreaming up those names. Others thought I was loosing it!! Wait till I show them this page. I get the last laugh!! Ha Ha
I read the alice and Jerry books in 1964 when I was in first grade. I still remember my spelling list (which I used to memorize) containing the words Alice, Jerry, come, look, and, see, the, Jip.... Whenever I mention this series to other people they never heard of it. I am happy (and relieved) to know it wasn't a figment of my imagination!!
I am retired, living in rural Mexico. I have 4 students, that is, two pairs of siblings who wanted to learn English. Teaching them to speak English has been very slow and boring. So, I ordered several A&J books from Amazon used books.
One of the students had her 15th birthday last summer, which is a big deal here. So, I gave her the copy of Friendly Village we had used in her class.
We started with Friendly Village, and the first class is nearly done with IF WE WERE GOING. Trivia point -- the free trip was not at retirement, but after 25 years on the job, and Mr. Sanders comes back to sell more tickets.
Singing Wheels is next.
The kids love A&J books, because they have stories. These kids are as old as 16, but they say even the kid stories in the books are much better than another story about Benito Juarez or Porfirio Diaz, which is what they have here.
Anonymous age 70
I love the Alice and Jerry books. I have collected as many as I could. Does anyone know how many A & J books there are? I would love to get them all. I loved them in school and still do. I went to Elementary school in the fifties in Bunkie, Louisiana.
What do you know about the illustrators of the Alice and Jerry books which were written by Mabel O'Donnell. The illustrators were Florence J. Hoopes and Margaret C. Hoopes.
I grew up in northeast Ohio and began kindergarten in 1950. We had both Dick and Jane books and the Alice and Jerry series which I preferred because of the lovely watercolor illustrations. I have most of the books now. The ones I really loved and so did my children were the two extra readers Singing Wheels and Engine Whistles. They were quite special and gave a lot of American history and used popular books such as the Laura Ingalls Wilder series as inspiration. Also as someone else commented the two books together gave a sense of time and the changes it brings which we could never have imagined as grade school children of the early '50s. Thanks for writing about these books.
I started 1st grade in 1956 in central Kentucky. The Alice, Jerry, Jip stories are still so vivid in my mind!! I remember staring and staring at the picture of Miss Betsy Blue in her yard with all the beautiful flowers! Also, Betsy Lee, the doll, will stay in my mind FOREVER!! And all the other characters throughout the series--just wonderful!!!
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