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. Addendum 11/6/13: For those wondering why the dog had that name, it turns out that there was a dog in Dicken's David Copperfield named "Jip" -- short for "Gypsy."
**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).
130 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!!!
I learned to read in the Cleveland Public School System with this series of books and I learned to sound out. I cold read and spell perfectly so it must have been a good method. These were such lovely books that I've hunted down and collected several of them in adulthood. But, is my memory playing tricks on me? I thought I remembered one called "If I Were Going Again," similar to "If I Were Going," (a wonderful book). Anyone know definitively if I'm imagining things?
Alice and Jerry and Jip the dog at my elementary school in Phila. Other schools in the district used Dick and Jane. We were inconsistent. I knew how to read at age 2 (my sister was an excellent teacher, even then) and my teachers were not amused that I was bored to tears with "Oh, look, look and see" crap. I wanted something with more meat. Loved "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle."
so ..its true ..a whole real world of people who know alice and jerry and jip. i grew up in sheridan, wyoming.i remember my first day of school in the first grade.there was an big lettered alphabet on the walls of 3 sides of the room.my teacher handed us our books and sounded out jip. MAGIC. i could read !! i love alice and jerry and jip.the next book i remember is green grass of wyoming.i had to get permission to check this out of the grown up side of the library.
I was in Lehman's Hardware (store that caters to the Amish) yesterday with some friends and in the toy department we found a whole collection of Dick and Jane books. All I could remember of the books I learned to read from was "Jip". Suddenly today "Alice & Jerry" popped into my head so I looked on the internet and found them! Called my friends right away to let them know I'm not crazy. My education in a very small school in Holmes County, Ohio, was quite adequate and I still love to read today at age 68, so Alice, Jerry, and Jip must have done a good job!
What a wonderful trip down memory lane. I read Alice and Jerry in the mid-1950s in a South Georgia elementary school. I never thought to look in old book stores as some have. I came to this site looking dor sample names of the reading groups we had - red birds, blue birds, etc. Does anyone remember others?
Our reading groups were simple: Reading Group 1, Reading Group 2, and Reading Group 3. No need to sugar coat it.
I learned to read in the fall of 1947, from the Alice and Jerry book Skip Along. It seems to me that we used that series only in first grade, but on my own I discovered and read, several times, If I Were Going. I remember learning that English children, instead of getting their treats at a soda fountain or candy store, got them at a bakery--and that in France people ate SNAILS! Years later, when my husband mentioned a book he had loved as a child, Run Away Home, I always though of If I Were Going, but not until I set out to find him a copy for Christmas a few years ago did I realize that it, too, was an Alice and Jerry Book.
Does anyone remember which book it was where Alice - in red - and Miss Betsy Blue - in blue, of course - are walking next to the sea. It's a sunny day and maybe windy and they are walking along together very happy.
I still think about that book - it had a red cover - and when I visited an island recently and thought I was stepping into the book.
Does anyone know which book this would be?
I thought we had only the Dick and Jane series--but always remembered the dog Jip. Obviously my school district must have utilized both! NW Ohio.
Does anyone know which Runaway Home book has the first chapter in which the family travels in a trailer to Nantucket Island during the summer? We have "The New Runaway Home" book published in in 1955, but the first chapter is not about Nantucket Island. If anyone knows which Runaway Home book we are looking for, please reply. Thanks!
i have a copy of the new round about 1955 and the pages # 71 thru 74 are out of order. has anyone else seen one like this?
I have so enjoyed everyone's posts about Alice and Jerry books. I, too, have discovered through the years in South Dakota that most of the other schools seemed to have used the Dick and Jane series. Can anyone tell me if they recall a book that showed a chubby lady with a green and yellow flowered dress or apron out in her front yard with a picket fence? Was that Friendly Village?
I went to school in Maryland in 1960-1965. Alice and jerry were my best friends too. I remember they had a friend from another country who couldn't believe that hand soap was so plentiful.Either they travelled or the friend was here. So many stories.Some of the kids read Dick and Jane, the better readers, I don't remember what they called us, we had Alice and Jerry. We split into 2 groups at reading time.
I loved Alice and Jerry. I saw a photo of "Singing Wheels" and that stirred memories also. I started first grade in 1951 in Toledo OH at McKinley.
From second through fourth grades in Savannah, GA (1957-60), we read Alice and Jerry. I specifically remember "Friendly Village," "Through The Green Gate" and "If I Were Going." I have copies at home. I don't remember "learning" to read... I just read...and enjoyed them. I would love to see a contemporary "urban" version of the series; perhaps it would help increase love of reading.
First grade in 1944 in Gnadenhutten Ohio -- I was introduced to Alice and Jerry and their dog Jip. I loved the stories. I was learning to read! Very few friends have heard of them. They remember Dick and Jane.
I learned to read with the Alice and Jerry readers... and a wonderful first and second grade teacher Mrs. Tracy. As I write this I am sitting in a coffee shop on Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I made my first trip to the OUter Banks with my partner and our son in the mid 1980s almost exclusively because what I remembered reading about The Outer Banks in the Alice and Jerry Reader "Runaway Home". I've loved the place ever since, thought he changes on the Outer Banks are monumental even in the time I've visited... and with climate change the chance that they will even be in existence in another hundred years is questionable. Still... I have been fortunate, and these readers made me a lover of books and of far places.... Bob Vance
I remember reading a book in first grade, and about the only thing I remember is 'run run run, see Jip run'. I'm glad to see that other people remember this book, too.
P. S.
My first grade teacher was Phyllis Brulett.
I too learned to read using the Alice and Jerry books, up to (I believe) the fourth grade. This was in the late 1940's in Queens, NYC. I also seem to remember that there were workbooks that came with the readers. Other parts of the city used the Dick and Jane series.
I grew up in eastern Kentucky in the 1950s (I was born in '51). It seems like that we had Dick and Jane readers in the first grade, but I definitely remember reading the Alice and Jerry books. I loved the stories and the illustrations. I had to read from Runaway Home in front of the class and mispronounced "bedragged" as "bed-raggled" and was embarrassed when the teacher corrected me, although she did it gently and kindly. Runaway Home was my favorite book of the series, especially the part about Cape Hatteras. I finally visited there a few years ago, after wanting to go there ever since reading the book! Wonderful series of books! They opened my eyes about the world beyond our close hills. This was a great way to learn reading and I always looked forward to the next book in the series. These books helped me enjoy reading and fueled my love for reading.
I learned to read in the first grade 1962-1963. My first books were, Alice and Jerry with Jip. I'd forgotten the childrens names but never forgot Jip. See Jip run, run Jip run. Even today it brings a smile when I think of it.
In the late 1950's I was in the slow reading group (we were actually called the slow boats, there was a middle group and the smart kids were the oceanliners) and my reader was Alice, Jerry and Jip. I have no fond memories of them all they ever did was go up and down and run. Turns out I am dyslexic.
i grew up reading the Alice and Jerry books in the late 1970's and early 1980's. My father, a schoolteacher by trade, made sure that I had good reading material to improve my reading skills. I loved those books, and I read them many times!
Just this summer, I visited my parents with my son, who is just turning 5 years old. I came across those books and made the decision to pay for the books to be shipped to my home. Now, I read these books to my son - and he loves them!
I loved Alice and Jerry and Jip! They were out of favor by the time I started school, but my dad was older and remembered them from his schooldays.
We named our dog Jip, because he looked like Jip! I miss that dog...
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and started the Alice and Jerry series in 2nd grade in 1957. I really got to hate those two kids! (Of course I was not exactly a model student, I think today I would have been diagnosed with add). The thing that bugged me the most, I think, is that they never seemed to go to school, or get into trouble. By contrast, I hated school and was always in trouble.
Somehow I survived and did manage to learn to read. My teachers must have had the patience of Job. The books must have worked. Today I am a university professor!
I live in south-central Pennsylvania and have many of these Alice and Jerry books. I always wanted to travel to some of the places in the world from these books. I eventually have been able to do this and felt like these books were a launching pad. What a joy it is to be able to link the books of the past to my contemporary travel experiences. My sisters and I enjoyed the Alice and Jerry books so much that some of us memorized several pages, and even still can recite after 50 years.
I loved the Alice and Jerry books, but few of my friends remember them. There was something about the setting, the lake, and the village that drew me in and resembled by own small town childhood. Thanks for remembering them.
I grew up in San Francisco and started with the Dick and Jane books. I was placed in the accelerated reading class, and after the first semester of the first grade, I never had to see D & J again. "Singing Wheels" was not one of our official readers, but it was in the library. I think it was my third grade teacher who recommended it. I had started reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, so I was already familiar with much of the information contained in "Singing Wheels." However, the beautiful illustrations in the latter were what drew me back to the book through the rest of my years in elementary school.
I started 1st grade around 1966, and we had I think 3 different reading groups. They had names for the groups and I think I was in the best reading group. When it was time for your reading group you went to the front corner of the classroom and all the little wooden chairs were arranged in a circle and the teacher sat with us. That was my favorite time of the day; better than recess. I came from a single parent home, which was practically unheard of then. I was the only one in my class.My parent was also abusive, so I ESCAPED into those books. It was like a fantasy world to me.Mom and Dad were together at the dinner table, they went to church, the neighbors were all kind and had white picket fences with flowers. They were allowed to have a cute little dog and just play. Those books were a vacation from my life, and I just loved them and going to school.I went to Avondale School in Canton OH. I treasure those books and have a collection of them. I love reading to this day. Thanks Alice and Jerry. You helped me through my childhood.
I spent 2nd grade in troy, ohio in 63-64. we read the alice and jerry with jip books but not sure which one but I do remember being astonished that the stories were based on real experiences as the author explained at the end of the book and that they grew up in aurora, Illinois...never forgot that. 50 years later I google "2nd grade reader/aurora Illinois" and ms mabel O'Donnell comes up and nostalgia is plentiful. great memory.
I, too, learned to read with the 'Alice and Jerry' series, although I only remember Jip the dog. Anyway, I wrote about the process in The Weekly Standard not long ago ...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/i-read-therefore-i-am_748487.html
In 1950 I was introduced to Alice, Jerry, and Jip in first grade. Though Charles R. Drew School (Winter Garden, Fl/grades 1-12) and Holden St. Elementary School (Orlando) were rundown segregated shacks for "colored" students in Orange County, Florida I happily escaped to Friendly Village where all had fun...and lived happily ever after.
Ever since that first day I have been looking for the real "Friendly Village" and finally found it in beautiful DuPont Circle (Washington, DC) where I retired...to live happily ever after!
I never forgot Alice and Jerry. They were my first and only readers. I bought Friendly Village a few years ago but remember the others. Thanks to all of you who helped me remember more of them I had forgotten. I went to school in the early 50s in Pitman NJ. We had 3 reading groups: Dick and Jane, Tom and Betty, and Alice and Jerry. I finished the books in 2nd grade so I was sent to read with the 3rd grade down the hall. Most of the people I talk to remember Dick and Jane. Until I found this page I had never met anyone who read Alice and Jerry. I'm going to track down more of those readers. Brings back happy memories... I spent a lot of time daydreaming that I was in those beautiful books. Does anyone remember blue music books with red print on the cover? I don't remember the titles, but I can still sing many of the songs.
I had Alice and Jerry in 1st grade, too.
Also, I get compliments., to this day, about my handwriting. We had penmenship classes back then.
Is this why I developed a passion to visit Holland? We did a little Dutch dance, too.
Is this why I developed a passion to visit Holland? We did a little Dutch dance, too.
I began school in 1948 at the old Dueber avenue school in Canton, Ohio. We used the Alice & Jerry books at that time; the one I remember best was "Alice and Jerry in Around the Top."
So long ago...I used to laugh at them, but now I remember them fondly.
As a special teacher I have a student who is reading the Alice and Jerry series and loves it. She was informed she could never read when she was in school...but Alice and Jerry for her is easy...We finished "If I were going" and "friendly Village" The stories are clever and not dumbed down. If we were doing these stories today in school, we might have some very intelligent students...
Like the rest of you I have very fond memories of Alice and Jerry. My first school years took place in a one room country school and I remember those children and their puppy as close friends. They seemed to always be playing outside just as my sisters and I did. Alice wore shorts and even pants occasionally, just like we did. Her hair was often a little messy from all her adventures. Sometime in third grade our teacher switched to using the Dick and Jane series. by that time I was a pretty good reader but reading class was never the same with those to "citified" kids.
Recently my sister ran across five tiny blue booklets that are each titled "My Own Book". They are numbered PP 3,PP4, FR 9-11. They are dated 1954 and were published by Row,Peterson and Co. They have color pictures and text that would have gone along with the pre-primers and perhaps the first reader. Does anyone know more about these little booklets? I'm wondering if they were take home items for students who had completed a part of the series?
Not anything long to say, except that I loved the Alice and Jerry books. I was captivated by the illustrations and the imaginary landscape. My school used both A and J and dick and jane (which i enjoyed) but there was something to alice and jerry that spoke to my soul.
What an interesting forum! I never read Dick and Jane or Alice and Jerry - I went to a Catholic grade school in Milwaukee in the 1960's and we read about David and Ann and their dog Zip. Although I entered school already reading, I loved the books and their illustrations. It was difficult for me to stay with the group reading because I always finished ahead of the others and would peek ahead to see what happened next! I taught special ed students for 25 years and often wished there were better books for them to read - interesting topics yet with simpler vocabulary. I found this forum trying to find the story about the dimity dress and I was so happy to know that someone actually wore a dimity First Communion dress as I believe that was part of the story. Thanks, everyone, for the walk down memory lane!
In third grade, we had "If I Were Going" for our reader. I remember the retired couple went to Brittany. Fast forward 62 years and on my 4th trip to France, I'm going to Brittany myself, and I hope I enjoy it as much as Mr. and Mrs. Sanders.
I was given a used copy of "If I were going" by a teacher when I was about 8 years old. This book was among several discontinued books donated to Jamaican schools by well-wishers. Until this day, (I'm now 45 years old) I still remember Mr and Mrs Sanders and their fascinating trip. I lived in a deep-rural village and had no siblings at home, so reading was my chance to escape by imagination.
My school used the Alice and Jerry books to teach reading. I was in first grade in 1966, so these books were dated. But I enjoyed seeing illustrations of an era before mine. It made me conscious of the passage of time and changing styles. So these books were a form of time travel. Great and never forgotten.
I have looked everywhere for a copy of The Wishing Well, one of the books in the series. It was my favorite book as an early reader.
Abebooks.com has 38 copies of 'The Wishing Well'
"Look, Alice, look. See Jip? See Jip run? Run, Jip, run." Does anyone know the title of the book that this quote is from? I attended first grade in central Florida in 1958 and have been looking for this book.
I do know the background color of that book was green....I had the same one in first grade.
I am using these books in my homeschool. My older kids were reading chapter books by age 5 using these books as our starting point. Combining sight reading with typical phonics was key for us. My youngest was slower to learn, but now six years old--she is in the second grade reader. The pictures are simple and direct. The stories interest the children. The images create as much interest as the words. It is the simple stories about real kids (not bears or cats) that really gets them interested. We have lots of newer readers we have also read, but these books are always preferred. When the youngest began reading, I pulled out the box of readers and my ninth grader took the time to reread the whole set (pre primers through Six grade). I asked why and he simply replied, "I really like them."
I was blessed in that my one room school had both the Alice and Jerry books and the Dick and Jane books. My favorite was "Engine Whistles" and all the antique cars the village people owned. I now run a used book store and have copies of several of the Alice and Jerry Readers. I seam to remember a science book using the Alice and Jerry characters and having a Blue Pond where they learned about wild life. There was a wet season mud hole we passed when walking home that we called the Blue Pond. Great memories.
I read Dick and Jane in kindergarten (teacher's name not remembered). Then Alice and Jerry with Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Geohagen, and Mrs Tucker (my favorite of all ever teachers). I remember being somewhat resentful at first leaving Dick and Jane behind, because I wondered what happened to them, and how they fared. But Alice and Jerry were somehow more complex (or I was, by then). Recently I revisited that old elementary school—now some 1500 miles away. It is in horrible disrepair, windows boarded up, and forgotten. Except by the likes of me.
I urned six and began first grade in Seattle, WA. My first readers were the Dick and Jane series. My family moved frequently within the state, so I changed schools in the middle of the years many times. Because of this, I met Alice and Jerry. I agree with another poster who said that something about the illustrations of Alice and Jerry spoke to the soul. I remember the words of Dick and Jane, but I remember the world the illustrations of Alice and Jerry created. At any rate, I learned to love reading and to this day, it is my favorite way to spend free time. All that moving had a very negative effect on my arithmetic and math skills, however!
I was reading this page and beginning to wonder if I was the only person who learned from these after the '60s! My dad bought an assortment of these books at an auction when I was young, and I learned to read with them- in the early '80s. My son is about to turn 5 as well, and I'm now asking my dad and siblings where our copies of these books are. I can't refer to them with anyone of my generation without getting quizzical looks, but I adored them and think my son will too. Here's hoping we can find them. :)
Someone mentioned music. Was this for "If I Were Going"? I was under the impression that our kindergarten teacher in St. Paul, Minnesota, Mrs. Florence Ray, wrote some music for this book, and I still remember bits of the songs. The England one went "The fog has lifted, the sun is up, we have a holiday. No school for us, we board the bus, across the moors to play." The Brittany one went "Over the sea in Brittany, the fishermen brave and strong go sailing out to fish the sea, and work the whole day long. The colored sails against the sky--the fishermen's voices rising high." Does anyone else remember these?
Was Alice and Jerry a whole word method like Dick and Jane?
I found a copy of Singing Wheels today at the Good will. I remember reading Dick and Jane in first grade, but I didn't actually learn to read that year. as you mentioned in your blog, different people do better with different methods and Dick and Jane didn't work for me. I ended up in a special class that was regional with a teacher who could evaluate how each of us learned best. Some of us learned enough there we got to move on to 3rd grade, others didn't. I was one of the fortunate ones who got to move on. I was reading Charlotte's Web by the end of second grade. I don't remember this book at all, so I don't think my school used the Alice and Jerry books. I bought it because it was from 1940 and I was curious.
I was in first grade in the early sixties and still have all three of my Alice and Jerry primers - Day In and Day out, The Wishing Well and Round About. All are in great shape and are among my most treasured possessions.
I learned to read with Alice and Jerry in first grade, 1958, and enjoyed the basal series immensely. I became a teacher, and came upon some copies 9f the hardback books when a storeroom was being cleaned. But I dearly wish I had the paperback pre-primers (each cover in a primary color) that were my very first texts. When we finished a preprimer, our teacher let us take home the book to read to our parents, which was super exciting. She also taught us how to decode phonetically, but I'm sure she had to build that in herself. I've always been grateful for her teaching skill and inventiveness. After a week or two, we were sorted by ability, in groups labeled by color. This was probably to disguise who were the more and less proficient readers, but, of course, that didn't work. Though my parents did not teach me how to read at home (that was thought to be a bad idea at the time), I was more than ready to read in first grade (Kindergarten was optional and I didn't go) and I can still feel the thrill of opening up that first pre-primer and finding I could READ!
I, too, went to Catholic school in East St. Louis Illinois during the late 1950's and early 1960's. While in the 4th grade I read the wonderful story of The Dimity Dress. I loved the story and read it over and over. Throughout the years I have remembered this one particular story and smile each time I think of it. I became a seamstress and until recently I always wondered what dimity looked like. My research found that it was originally made of wool, but developed into cotton during more modern times. I tried several times to find the book, which contains this story without any luck. I would like to make a dimity dress for a special little girl and share with her the delightful story. Maybe a new memory can be made and carried on throughout her life. If anyone knows which book contains The Dimity Dress, and where I might be able to purchase it, I would be very grateful for the information.
I found this third grade reader on line and ordered it. Loved, loved, loved it as a child.
I found and bought two copies of If I Were Going, different times, on line simply by doing a Google search. Different sellers, good condition, and both were about 30.00 each.
I started public school in Brooklyn, NY in the late 1960s. I clearly remember reading the Alice and Jerry books in the first and second grades. As a young reader, I really enjoyed those gentle books and always read further ahead than the teacher had assigned. By third grade, we had switched to more modern textbooks that contained a variety of unrelated stories. We also began focusing more on phonics. Anyway, until the day I die, I'll always remember the phrase "See Jip run. Run, run Jip."
I grew up reading The Friendly Village and the memory of the adventure stuck with me. I am 54 now and my late dad who got us the book for our library made a great impact on our reading habit. I am glad to find the author because I searched with just the book title. I am feeling so nostalgic just seeing the hard cover...I am ordering this book for my 9 year old niece she is a voracious reader like I was at her age. Dad has been gone now for 24 years but his legacy lives on. My love for books and reading is very much alive and my sister runs a children reading club. I am a Nigerian living in Abuja. There are no borders with books and reading.
Helen Bassey-Osijo
When I was a child, my Dad bought Alice and Jerry books for my sister and me, to stimulate our interest in reading. The stories were so interesting , I read them over and over again! The books helped boost my imagination in a positive way, transporting me to another world called Friendly Village. Now at age 55, I smile when I remember Alice, Jerry and their dog.
Nike Ofole
Nigeria.
You just brought back a wonderful memory. If I were going was a book that I must have read in the third grade.
I'm now 82 years old. I recently reread Friendly Village and If I Were Going. Years ago I watched Mr. Rogers with my children. I regret that I did not see then how much the graceful world of these books paved the way for him. We may never fully recover their impact, but we should salvage from them what we can of their spirit of simplicity. We could begin by again teaching something of their gentle rhythms, their open minded and easy going adventures. Our children might have good reason to thank us. There's a reason so many of us recall Alice and Jerry fondly.
Oh, how I remember Alice, Jerry, and Jip! I was a school kid in NYC in the early 1950s and those were the first books we had too. You obviously remember a great deal more about them than I do! Between Alice & Jerry and my mother reading to me every night I've been an avid reader to this day. (73 this coming January, and I'm not about to stop reading now.)
September 1960 Small town in Eastern Ontario.Grade 1 . I was introduced to Alice&Jerry as my first reader.I remember a paragraph that told about burying "truck" in the garden. In my little mind I'm thinking "Why would they bury a truck in the garden?"Come to find out later that "truck" was another word for garbage:) It was a great book to start out with. To this day I am a sucker for a good read. I turn 64 next Saturday . A good book has been a life long passion. My teacher's name was Miss McCrimmon. She rapped my knuckles with a pointer as I started writing with my left hand. Mind you..she only did that once! Still a lefty to this day!
I just Googled Alice and Jerry books. This site came up. I loved the stories and the illustrations in the Alice and Jerry books. We moved to a new house in the middle of 1st grade. It was in the same town, Upper Arlington Ohio, but the new school used the Dick and Jane series. Years later I found a few Alice and Jerry books in yard sales and it was like finding old friends. I showed them to my students when I taught 1st grade and often put them out on display for Grandparents Day.
I also loved the story about The Dimity Dress. It led to a love of history and I do living history/reenacting as my hobby. I loved reading and still do. We had books with Jack and Janet not Dick and Jane.
I just found this. How wonderful. I did NOT know that the stories that took place earlier in history were about Alice & Jerry's grandparents. My favorite was Singing Wheels. I have a copy of all the hard bound books, but when I started this series, 64 years ago, there were 4 paper bound books before we got to the New Day In & Day Out hardbound. Does anyone remember those? I would love to find them as well.
Starting in Jan., 1957, I went to Overbrook Elementary (public) with Dick, Jane, and Sally, then to St. Rose of Lima with John, Jean, and Judy in the Cathedral Edition (both schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). In the Catholic school, we were eventually separated into 3 reading groups by making the slower groups read the same chapter over and over again so they could fall behind while the better group kept advancing to the next story in the Reader. The 1st 2 groups were Joseph and Mary, the slowest was "Baby Jesus".
I bought "Engine Whistles", copyright 1942, at the New York Museum of Transportation's book store, and was amazed at the continuity between the chapters - nothing like the readers I had been taught with.
I started first grade in 1940 and learned to read with Alice and Jerry. Seems they were replaced by Dick and Jane . I don’t believe I knew then as brother and sister. I thought they were friends.
As one other has said, I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and started in 1958. I still remember "Friendly Village" and recognize the other titles when I read them, but the thing that stuck with me was the card illustrations that came with the books. The teacher would put a card on an easel that was 24"x36" and she had the watercolor illustrations for a few of the pages inside the book, one to a card. The end of summer, school starts, the windows are open and the breezes blowing and there is that beautiful child skipping down a walk in the dappled sunshine filtered through the greeen, green trees. We had serious phonics in 3rd Grade, but Alice and Jerry (and Jip! See Jip run!) were always there... and when my six-years-younger brother started with Sally Dick and Jane I had to wonder what was wrong with the system? How had it broken so badly?
I could only remember the books as "Alice and Jerry books" myself! As another person posted, I thought they were best friends as well and not brother and sister for some reason. I love the illustration of them sitting on the high hill above the town. Ahhh...such fond memories! Thank you for this blog!
I have been looking for the dimity dress story.i had David and Ann early readers in Catholic schools.how can I find that particular story?
Oh yes, I am so glad I found other folks that shared the experience of learning reading about Alice, Jerry and Jip. My 1st grade class started reading about them in 1953, not realizing we were learning a lifelong skill. I was in Mrs Thornton's class at Orange Street School in Jesup, GA. Look Alice, see Jip jump. Oh, that was the real Golden Years.
I have looked for the story The Dimity Dress for a long time. Any luck anyone has had? I don't remember which grade reader it was in. I went to parochial school.
I rememberthe reader,"If i were going" from about 5yrs
old. Reading it took me to places Icould only dream of!
I too had The Alice and Jerry books in my catholic school. I started 1st grade in 1962. Thank you for pointing the differences out between the series geared towards the catholic schools. None of these copies looked familiar and now I know why. I had trouble learning to read by the look and see method (whole language instruction). My teacher recognized this in me and fellow classmates. We were pulled for remedial reading (intensive phonics instruction) for half an hour every day.
We used Alice and Jerry series in our public school in the early 1960's in North Louisiana. What I remember most was of course the little dog Jip, who apparently made the biggest impression on everyone. I also recall illustrations of colorful fall leaves which we had few of that far south. I think there was one where they harvested apples made candied apples. I was always hungry as a child, and those shiny red apples just looked so delicious. Another one in the series I think they went into the woods and tapped sugar maple trees and boiled it down to make maple syrup, and mixed it with snow to make snow ice cream. Again...set my little empty stomach to growling! Then later on in elementary school, it was great to travel around with the family in their camper, when they took a year off work and school.( Of course I broke the class room rules, read ahead, and finished it in one night, but kept my mouth shut about it!) At one point, the family in the story drove to Biloxi, Mississippi, and I was thrilled! In just a few years, my cousins moved to Biloxi, and I got to see the endless horizon of the Gulf of Mexico, for the first time. It looked just like the illustration in my reader! Great little series. Too bad they don't still use something like that.
I started school in 1948. Alice and Jerry and Jip were the books used in the St. Paul, MN schools. I loved the books and learned to read early and easily. I have always been a voracious reader and Majored in English in college and became an English teacher. I think the only problem with sight reading is that learning to spell was more difficult.
I remember Alice and Jerry and Jip from NYC in 1954.
I must say, however, that I found the books tedious. I much preferred Looney Tunes comics and Uncle Scrooge. In fact, that's really how I learned to read: my grandmother read the talk balloons, and I followed along.
Then, almost before I knew it, I was teaching literature at a large university.
Go figure.
Dick and Jane get all the glory. When I heard a reference to those two little twerps, I knew that my school didn’t use them, but I couldn’t remember the names of the kids in my books. Google brought those names back.
We had Alice and Jerry books in elementary school. The only thing I remember is “ run run run see Jip run “
I remember having those books in school in 1955.
Interestingly, I quoted 'run jip run' to a woman
online just yesterday. It was a funny context and
I won't bore you, but it just blew my mind that
Jip should pop into my ancient brain. Alice and Jerry
might have come, had I thought real hard and smoked
a great deal, but good on Jip was right on the tip
of my brain!
OMG! The name Jip just came to mind. Alice and Jerry! It's been said when a person gets old, memories from childhood come to mind. WOW! It's true. 😱
I learned to read in the mid-1950's with the Alice & Jerry series at my elementary school in New Jersey. The school changed to the Dick & Jane series when my youngest brother (6 years younger) was there.
Apparently they are still available for teaching children to read!!
https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/9446/Alice-and-Jerry-Basic-Reading-Program.html
I really loved the detailed illustrations of A & J compared to the simplistic Dick and Jane illustrations with their blank backgrounds.
Susan
This is amazing to see how many people love A&J books! I believe the watercolors of the Hoopes sisters were the biggest aspect that carried me away when I read them. They illustrated many, many books, and were business savvy, maybe having extra time and energy never having married nor having children. I grew up in South St Paul MN, starting school in 1957 when I was only 4 yrs. old because I was smart enough to pass advanced entrance tests, but know now I was so introverted and had already learned to read at four to escape because I was not socially skilled enough to be in kindergarten that early. Mabel O'Donnell, the author and educator who founded their reading series basis has a grade school named after her (even her first name, Go Mabel!) in IL, I believe. My home was no place for good memories and I lived for that first day of school every Fall so I could take home that reader and finish the whole book in one night to find out what happened to all the characters. I'm a bird lover so didn't care so much about Jip, but Mr. Carl's birds, Yeah! I loved the "It takes a village to raise a child" theme, and felt close to all those older single folks who paid such loving attention to Alice and Jerry. Just think how many there were: Miss Lizzy, Mr. Carl, Miss Betsy, Cobbler Jim, the Toy Mender, Mr. Andrews (the guy who owned the fruit store and delivered the milk with his horse Dolly and wagon), and maybe the guy who taught them to shingle his garage roof (notice it wasn't just Jerry, but Alice too). Thanks to this author, and the illustrators, I saw older women as role models in these books living independently in their own homes who were smart, valued, and visible members of society, not to mention vocal, and opinionated too. When I first came upon one of these readers in my 20s, I was so overwhelmed when I opened the book to the picture of snow falling in the house and yard in a pink and blue twilight. Reading the text about the snow falling and that Santa Claus was coming that night, I literally had to sit down right then and there and read that story.
I then bought, over the years, every one of these readers, including every paper companion workbook, soft cover pre-primers, and primers. Best of all, I have 2 complete sets of the big teaching posters that were given to the teachers. They're watercolors of them, e.g., Jerry pushing Alice in a go-cart, etc. with some including Kip. These books literally kept me alive, and the posters are matted, framed, and hanging in my bedroom where they still make me smile every day. I wish I could have thanked them in person for their gift to children and adults everywhere. I see they're still being reprinted and used in Canada! Florence, Margaret, and Mabel-- you may have passed on, but your heartfelt gift to children, and the child in everyone you reached--lives on! Many thanks, Nan
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Someone mentioned The Dimity Dress. What book was that in? I would love to find it. I loved that story.
And I would also say that those older folks in Friendly Village who taught, befriended, and guided Alice and Jerry may have influenced Mr. Rogers in his "neighborhood" approach to raising kids in a kinder and deeper way. The parallel A&J primer, Wishing Well, offered lessons or values to live by, also. (The characters in the parallel readers and primers are different, but the stories and illustration follow suit with A&J of course; Alice May and Peter are the characters in this book.) Captain Jerry, who owns an enviably big fishing boat anchored out in the harbor, takes Alice May out fishing in his book to teach the boys a lesson since they had dissed her, saying "Girls don't fish." He has Alice show them her catch next to theirs, and says "Girls catch big fish, they do." The boys "have nothing to say." And, of course, the Puritan ethic comes through clearly when Captain Mac tells Peter that if he wants to buy a toy boat like he did, the Wishing Well had taught him he had to work hard to get it; wish AND work." The books do have morals like bricks; you know, like that, "Crime doesn't pay, but hard work carries the day," approach to teaching values.
Finding that copy of The Wishing Well, and opening it to that watercolor in winter twilight on the first page of the last chapter entitled, Santa Comes to Gay Street, just took me right back to that moment in my childhood when I must have been stricken by the feeling that Christmas could be magical when I escaped into that Friendly Village world.
For anyone interested in teaching kids from A&J author Mabel O'Donnell's basal approach or reminiscing from this 1930s-1940s vintage perspective, O'Donnell also served as Consultant in Reading for The Basic Science Education Series first published in 1948.
These wonderful, evocative books bring back memories just like those evinced by her readers. I still remember detailed learning from them now, like the illustration of Butter-and-Eggs in the Summer is Here book. I spotted some of them while on a country walk a few decades ago. They'll probably be extinct soon if not already because people consider them to be weeds, as do farmers. It made me so happy to those miniature snapdragons with their flowers of soft yellow and orange. It's thanks to the Fall book that I know how to identify Blue Cohosh, and the constellation Pegasus.
This four-book softcover series teaches kids about science through closely observing all of the aspects of nature transforming in each season. She repeats the identical structure in each book to build reading skills (e.g., a picture dictionary inside each front cover), along with scientific concepts: See, then touch the flora and fauna. Identify each by season, observe migration/hibernation, temperature ranges, the night sky, your shadow hinting at the changing angle of the Sun's rays, adult activities/work by season, kid's activities, and family/cultural celebrations to help anchor the knowledge.
Watercolors illustrate these books in a style reminiscent in feeling to the A&J series, but the illustrators were not the Hoopes sisters, Margaret and Florence.
Yes, you are right! Thank you for giving me a warm, loving. And gentle memory!
I am 73. I met a couple yesterday for the first time, a man who introduced himself as Jerry and his wife, Alice. I jokingly, but almost spontaneously asked if they had a dog named Jip. I was stumped where that came from, where in the innermost caverns of my mind did that originate. I thought it was from some book from my earliest childhood, but I wasn't sure until I did some research. "See Jip run". Yep, there it was.
I grew up in Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville Kentucky in the 50’s. I remember Alice and Jerry And Jip. No one I have run into over the years had heard of AJ&J. Good to welcome old friends from my past!
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