呈现于读者面前的这套《美国语文读本》，亦名《麦加菲读本》，其编者威廉·H·麦加菲曾先后任美国迈阿密大学语言学教授和俄亥俄大学校长。

《美国语文》从19世纪中期至20世纪中叶，一直被广泛用作美国学校的语文教材，据称有10000多所美国学校拿它当作教材。美国著名汽车制造商亨利·福特称赞这套书是他儿童时代最有兴趣的读物，后来他自费大量印刷这套书，分发给很多学校。到了21世纪，西方一些私立学校(Private School)和家庭学校(Homeschool(仍用它作为教材，足见这套书的价值与影响力。

This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes who was a professor at Miami University McGuffey, had a profound influence on public education in the United States. The eclectic readers, meaning that the selections were chosen from a number of sources, were considered remarkably literary works and probably exerted a greater influence upon literary tastes in the United States more than any other book, excluding the Bible.

It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark. McGuffey's Readers are still in use today in some school systems, and by parents for home schooling purposes.

This first reader of 1841 introduces children to McGuffey's ethical code. The child modeled in this book is prompt, good, kind, honest and truthful. This first book contained fifty-five lessons.

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LESSON 1 EVENING AT HOME

LESSON 2 BUBBLES

LESSON 3 WILLIE’S LETTER

LESSON 4 THE LITTLE STAR

LESSON 5 TWO DOGS

LESSON 6 AFRAID IN THE DARK

LESSON 7 BABY BYE

LESSON 8 PUSS AND HER KITTENS

LESSON 9 KITTY AND MOUSIE

LESSON 10 AT WORK

LESSON 11 WHAT A BIRD TAUGHT

LESSON 12 SUSIE SUNBEAM

LESSON 13 IF I WERE A SUNBEAM

LESSON 14 HENRY, THE BOOTBLACK

LESSON 15 DON’T WAKE THE BABY

LESSON 16 A KIND BROTHER

LESSON 17 MY GOOD-FOR-NOTHING

LESSON 18 THE KINGBIRD

LESSON 19 EVENING HYMN

LESSON 20 THE QUARREL

LESSON 21 THE BEE

LESSON 22 THE SONG OF THE BEE

LESSON 23 THE TORN DOLL

LESSON 24 SHEEP-SHEARING

LESSON 25 THE CLOUDS

LESSON 26 PATTY AND THE SQUIRREL

LESSON 27 THE SPARROW

LESSON 28 SAM AND HARRY

LESSON 29 THE LITTLE HILL

LESSON 30 THE BOAT UPSET

LESSON 31 MARY’S LETTER

LESSON 32 THE TIGER

LESSON 33 THE FIRESIDE

LESSON 34 BIRDIE’S MORNING SONG

LESSON 35 WILLIE AND BOUNCE

LESSON 36 WILLIE AND BOUNCE (CONCLUDED)

LESSON 37 THE KITCHEN CLOCK

LESSON 38 THE NEW SCALES

LESSON 39 THE BEAR AND THE CHILDREN

LESSON 40 THE LITTLE HAREBELL

LESSON 41 THE FISHHAWK

LESSON 42 WHAT THE LEAF SAID

LESSON 43 THE WIND AND THE LEAVES

LESSON 44 MAMMA’S PRESENT

LESSON 45 MARY’S STORY

LESSON 46 RALPH WICK

LESSON 47 COASTING DOWN THE HILL

LESSON 48 THE FOX AND THE DUCKS

LESSON 49 PRETTY IS THAT PRETTY DOES

LESSON 50 THE STORY-TELLER

LESSON 51 THE STORY TELLER (CONCLUDED)

LESSON 52 THE OWL

LESSON 53 THE OWL (CONCLUDED)

LESSON 54 GRANDFATHER’S STORY

LESSON 55 GOD IS GREAT AND GOOD

LESSON 56 A GOOD OLD MAN

LESSON 57 THE GREEDY GIRL

LESSON 58 A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

LESSON 59 MY MOTHER

LESSON 60 THE BROKEN WINDOW

LESSON 61 THE BROKEN WINDOW (CONCLUDED)

LESSON 62 FRANK AND THE HOURGLASS

LESSON 63 MARCH

LESSON 64 JENNY’S CALL

LESSON 65 POOR DAVY

LESSON 66 ALICE’S SUPPER

LESSON 67 A SNOWSTORM

LESSON 68 BESSIE

LESSON 69 BESSIE (CONCLUDED)

LESSON 70 CHEERFULNESS

LESSON 71 LULLABY

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