Objective of the work
Children's World is for children. In this sentence the objective of this work was summarized. This supposes that the editors of the same knew perfectly the centers of interest and the needs of the child. Parents quickly realized that the topics covered were those that most interested their children's curiosity, that one volume or another gave the appropriate answer to the questions they asked most frequently and that new and interesting topics were dealt with designed to channel the restless spirit of older children.
Children's World is useful to its readers in four ways:
- Offers the appropriate material according to the stage of elementary education the child is going through.
- Presents a selection of the best and most interesting literature, both in prose and in verse, whether classic or modern. This literary wealth enriches the cultural background and stimulates interest in reading.
- Use rhythmic language, pleasant to the ear, and at the same time, suitable for children's vocabulary.
- Features illustrations that spark the creative imagination and are aesthetically pleasing and stimulating. The connection between text and illustration provokes in the child the need to ask questions and draw conclusions.
Language
The Children's World was written in clear and entertaining language that facilitated understanding and created in children's minds a desire to acquire new knowledge.
The first three volumes offer the reader a short summary of children's literature. The volume 1, Poetry and songs, contains a selection of compositions in verse by classical and contemporary authors who have excelled in this difficult specialty. In volume 2, Tales and fables, some of the masterpieces of the universal narrative are collected. The volume 3, Children around the world, collect stories from the four continents.
Volumes 4 al 14 are informative and accomplish the difficult task of exposing complicated concepts in a simple way. The answers children ask for cannot always be given in simple words. However, the editors have managed to maintain clear language and an engaging style, able to captivate your attention. When it has been necessary to use a technicality - calling things by their proper names- It has been done, trying to clarify it in context and, sometimes, including its definition in a final section of Difficult Words.
Drawings and photographs
It was not enough to select the topics appropriate to the interests of the children's audience or present them in simple and appropriate language. Something more was needed. In El Mundo de los Niños it was solved with drawings and photographs. Thousands of illustrations, most in color, helped to understand the text.
A good illustration explains as well or better than the most perfect of texts. For example, In Children's World, a drawing has been used to show that an electricity switch acts as a drawbridge, that an airplane flying at supersonic speed produces a strong sound wave, how the water in the houses goes without the bad smell returning to them, why does a doorbell ring when I press the button, etc. Imagination is helped by these drawings, curiosity is satiated, and the child always comes to this conclusion: "I finally see it clear. I had never managed to understand them before ".
Interior plan
The content of the first three volumes was ordered from least to greatest difficulty, so the narratives were not gathered by subject more than when it was possible. So, in volume 2, fables were separated from fairy tales and fairy tales from myths and legends, etc.
Volumes 4 al 14 they were conceived differently. Each double page formed a complete unit and, at the same time, it was part of a general chapter on the same topic. Each of these general chapters consisted of 10 a 15 double pages.
