1930's Elson-Gray Basic Readers

This guide is a reference page for collectors on the rare and early Dick and Jane series of 1936, known as the Elson-Gray Basic Readers. Describes each of the eight books that make up the set, plus the supplementary pre-primer, More Dick and Jane Stories. Includes a few notes on the accompanying Silent-Reading Work-Books as well as the activity book for the pre-reading period, Before We Read.

Dick and Jane (Basic Pre-primer)
©1930, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 40 page paperback pre-primer that introduces the three main characters (Dick, Jane, and Baby) and contains 9 short stories using a 68 word vocabulary. Some of the stories include Spot and Little Mew, Dick and Jane, and A Funny Baby. Color illustrations on every page.

More Dick and Jane Stories (Supplementary Pre-primer)
©1934 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 48 page paperback pre-primer that contains 10 stories using 80 different words. This book is hard to find because it was an optional supplementary pre-primer for those students who needed extra help in learning to read. Most schools ordered the basic pre-primer and primer, but not every school had a copy of this book. It is at a reading level between the pre-primer and primer. Students who were having difficulty reading the primer (even after completing the pre-primer) used this book to reinforce their previous reading skills plus learn a dozen new words. This book contains 68 words which were introduced in the pre-primer and 12 new words which have been taken from the first part of the Elson Basic Primer. Stories center around Dick, Jane, Baby, Spot, Little Mew, Grandmother, and Grandfather! Some of the stories include Dick and Jane and Baby, Spot and the Cookies, and Baby and Little Mew. Color illustrations on every page.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Primer
©1930, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 144 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson, William S. Gray and Lura E. Runkel. Contains Uses 68 words previously taught in the pre-primer plus 152 new words for a total vocabulary of 220 words. Contains 24 stories. Spot is a kitten in this book! Some of the stories include Spot and the Red Ball, Ned and Grandmother, and Dark Pony. Color illustrations on nearly every page. Not all stories are about Dick and Jane; there are stories about the other neighborhood friends too.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book One
©1930, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 176 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson and William S. Gray. Contains Introduces 282 new words that were not taught in previous readers for a total vocabulary of 502 words. Contains 33 stories. Some of the stories include Bunny Boy, The Wind and the Toys, Johnny-Cake, and The Billy Goats Gruff. Color illustrations on nearly every page.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book Two
©1931, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 240 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson and William S. Gray. Contains Introduces 471 new words that were not taught in previous readers for a total vocabulary of 973 words. Contains 41 stories. Some of the stories include The North Wind, White Satin, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Old Woman and the Cakes. Color illustrations on approximately every other page.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book Three
©1931, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 337 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson and William S. Gray. Contains Introduces 714 new words that were not taught in previous readers for a total vocabulary of 1687 words. Contains 46 stories. Some of the stories include The Princess Who Could Not Cry, Why the Rabbit's Tail is Short, Cinderella, Paddy's Christmas, and Christopher Columbus. Color illustrations throughout the book on approximately every 2 or 3 pages.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book Four
©1931, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 383 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson and William S. Gray. Contains 56 stories. Some of the stories include Bunnyboy Learns a Lesson, Safety First in the City, Moni and His Goats, Rumplestiltskin, and Halloween. Color illustrations throughout the book on approximately every 3 pages.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book Five
©1931, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 447 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson and William S. Gray. Contains 62 stories. Some of the stories include Four-Leaf Clovers, The Golden Touch, Hiawatha's Childhood, How Candy Mints are Made, Arabian Nights, and Robinson Crusoe. There are no color illustrations in the book. There are approximately two black and white illustrations to accompany every story.

Elson-Gray Basic Readers, Book Six
©1931, 1936 Scott, Foresman and Company

A 465 page hardback book by authors William H. Elson, William S. Gray and Christine M. Keck. Contains 65 stories. Some of the stories include Starting a Wild-Life Sancuary, The World is Full of Roads, Pandora's Box, Young George Washington, and Great Heroes Live Forever. There are no color illustrations in the book. There are approximately two black and white illustrations to accompany every story.

Additional Notes:

The Elson set described here is the 1936 edition, which is the 2nd edition published. It is easy to tell the 1936 series because of the orange spines. The earliest Dick and Jane series was the 1st edition of the Elson Basic Readers, published around 5 years earlier (1930 and 1931); the spines were black and green. The insides of the books were almost identical (some of the illustrations were revised or updated). These first editions are quite scarce, even more so than the 1936 set.

In 1937, a paperback Dick and Jane activity book titled Before We Read was published. It was designed to be used by the youngest pupils who were not yet ready to begin reading. It introduced the main characters and involved pupils in activities such as coloring. It is the earliest Dick and Jane workbook. The 1937 edition of Before We Read is even harder to come by than the supplementary pre-primer, More Dick and Jane stories. Later editions of Before We Read were published up through the 1960's and are much more common.

Each Elson-Gray Basic Reader also had an accompanying workbook. It was called the Silent-Reading Work-Book for use with the Elson-Gray Basic Readers. The pre-primer and primer had one workbook that encompassed both books. Remaining readers each had a workbook. The workbooks were filled with activities and questions for the students to answer, match up, cut out, color, etc. Finding one of the Silent-Reading Work-Books today in unused condition is a collector's dream. Even finding a used copy of the workbook is rare, because most were discarded at the end of the school year.