Photograph: Descriptions of animals were a common feature of the Royal Readers.
The Royal Readers or the Blue Readers were introduced into Queensland schools in 1892. Other books including the first four books of Blackie's Century Readers and the sixth book of Blackwood's Geographical Readers supplemented them.
The Royal Readers had been prepared especially for Victorian schools and featured some Australian content. The authors made great use of the natural world as well as incidents and common daily events to attract children to the stories.
Teachers were encouraged to teach children not only the 'art of reading' but also a 'love of reading'. Illustrations were used effectively to attract children 'through the eye' to the stories and to help them understand same.
These readers comprised:
During the 1890s and especially the early 1900s, the government came under increasing pressure to change the reading books again for the following reasons:
Senior officers of the Department of Public Instruction did not support a change of reading scheme. They described the Royal Readers as excellent and still suited to their needs.
Photograph: The Royal Readers also included sections of Useful knowledge on topics such as clothing, common things (e.g. gutta percha, sealing wax and whalebone), metals and The world we live in.
Last updated: May 2006
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education and Training) 2003.