# Are The "Dick and Jane" Readers Still In Use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930 "2010-05-27T11:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/1 "2010-05-27T11:10:22Z")
I remember those elementary school reading textbooks…“see Spot run”…where is Dick?"…etc. Anyway, these were used in the 1950’s and 60’s-are they in use today? And, is the Ginn Co. (publisher) still around? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/2 "2010-05-27T11:17:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > were used in the 1950’s and 60’s-are they in use today? I don’t know about now, but they were still in use during the early 80s. They’re how a lot of my kindergarten classmates learned how to read. Do they still use the alphabet people? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/3 "2010-05-27T11:17:26Z")
[Here’s a relevant article](http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2004-02-25-dick-and-jane-main_x.htm). They may still be published, but for nostalgia value only. I read Alice and Jerry, myself. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/4 "2010-05-27T11:56:53Z")
I have a kindergartener, and they have not used them in school. They have very similar, simple stories (“Nan gets her pan”), but not Dick and Jane. However, as mentioned, they are still published in small paperbacks. I’ve got a half-dozen of them on my shelf right now, published in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/5 "2010-05-27T13:31:27Z")
I doubt it, because they don’t really mirror “reality”, something that a lot of sociologists get all bent out of shape about. Naturally, their point was never to be a commentary of their times, their point was to teach kids how to read. I didn’t learn with them, although there were a few copies around in our school for “supplemental” reading; our readers had John, Janet and Anne. From what I can see, most classrooms don’t even have readers anymore, and oral reading just isn’t done because those kids that don’t read well can face ridicule from those who can. Yep, more touchy-feely bullsh\*t in the classroom. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/6 "2010-05-27T13:35:43Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > I doubt it, because they don’t really mirror “reality”, something that a lot of sociologists get all bent out of shape about. _What?_ Spot doesn’t really run? I’m crushed! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/7 "2010-05-27T13:54:01Z")
I have a copy of [Yiddish with Dick and Jane](http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Dick-Jane-Ellis-Weiner/dp/0316159727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274968254&sr=8-1#noop). Yeah, I know it doesn’t count, but it’s absolutely hilarious so I thought I’d let you all know about it. “Jane loves Bob very much. Bob is a real mensch.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/8 "2010-05-27T14:29:00Z")
As the teaching of phonics got more and more popular as a way to teach reading (starting in the mid 50s. Flesch’s 1955 book “Why Johnny Can’t Read” was largely a diatribe against the Dick and Jane books ), the books became less popular, and the books stopped being published in the 1970s. Dick and Jane weren’t published by Ginn and Co. They were published by Scott, Foresman, which was bought by Time in 1986, then, in 1989, sold to Harper Colins, a division of NewsCorp. In 1997, they were sold to the British company Pearson PLC, and are publishing textbooks under the Pearson label. Ginn and Company’s readers starred Tom and Betty, and their friend Susan. I think Dick and Jane could probably kick Tom and Betty’s asses. Simon and Schuster bought Ginn in 1986, along with another company, Silver Burdett, and they were merged to become Silver Burdett Ginn. In 1998, Silver Burdett Ginn was bought by Pearson as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/9 "2010-05-27T15:10:50Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > _What?_ Spot doesn’t really run? > > I’m crushed! See Spot run. Run Spot Run! See Dick drive. Drive Dick drive! See Dick crush. Crush Dick crush! See Spot limp. Limp Spot limp! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/10 "2010-05-27T17:50:27Z")
I used to work for the publisher that owns the rights to the Dick and Jane books. Most of the revenue from those books is licensing fees for nostalgia products. \* ETA: from Reality Chuck’s link, it looks like nowadays that “most” would be “all” (I worked for Scott Foresman in 1995-96).\* ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/11 "2010-05-27T17:53:49Z")
Fun part? LOTS of internal parodies circulated, stuck to people’s cubicles, used on internal memos, etc. All with original art of course, and often very, very dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/12 "2010-05-27T18:17:22Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Fun part? LOTS of internal parodies circulated, stuck to people’s cubicles, used on internal memos, etc. All with original art of course, and often very, very dirty. One T-shirt that was popular when I was in college consisted of stick figures illustrating the following: See Dick with an erection. (Stick figure man in bed with a big grin and a telltale bulge in the sheets) See Dick with no protection. (Stick figure man in bed next to stick figure woman) See Dick with an infection. (Stick figure man in hospital bed with an IV in his arm.) Don’t be a Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/13 "2010-05-27T18:19:22Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > As the teaching of phonics got more and more popular as a way to teach reading (starting in the mid 50s. Flesch’s 1955 book “Why Johnny Can’t Read” was largely a diatribe against the Dick and Jane books ), the books became less popular, and the books stopped being published in the 1970s. What? This is impossible! The 1950s were the Golden Age of education! Everything about schools was perfect then! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/14 "2010-05-27T18:57:48Z")
It’s funny you asked this. I have a 5 year old son, and just in the last two weeks or so something in his little brain _clicked_ and he is suddenly able to sound out the letters in words and actually read. (It’s so cool!). He won’t start kindergarten for a few more months. Last week his grandparents bought him a hardcover edition of “Fun with Dick and Jane.” As far as I can tell, the same one I used in first grade back in the 70’s. He’s been devouring it. The trouble is, the words get harder as you go along, and after reading the first 70 pages or so he started to get discouraged. We’ve been encouraging him to go back and read the earlier chapters again but he’s not interested – but, he is picking up other books (like Dr. Suess) to practice, and he still sleeps with Dick & Jane. So the book is still around, although not used in schools anymore as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/15 "2010-05-27T19:07:06Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What? This is impossible! The 1950s were the Golden Age of education! Everything about schools was perfect then! The 1950s were a time of major change in the educational system. In addition to the baby boom creating an explosion of school age children, which put a strain on the institutions in place and desegregation/integration of schools, which also put strains on the schools, educational reformers were challenging the principles of progressive education and the status quo, saying that teaching as it existed didn’t focus on teaching children how to learn, and instead focused on things like self esteem, sports and extracurricular activities and socialization. Add to that the space race and the launch of Sputnik in 1959, which led to a reevaluation of math and science education. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/16 "2010-05-27T19:15:36Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > One T-shirt that was popular when I was in college consisted of stick figures illustrating the following: > > See Dick with an erection. (Stick figure man in bed with a big grin and a telltale bulge in the sheets) > > See Dick with no protection. (Stick figure man in bed next to stick figure woman) > > See Dick with an infection. (Stick figure man in hospital bed with an IV in his arm.) > > Don’t be a Dick. When I was in college, it was: See Dick Drink. See Dick Drive. See Dick Die. Don’t be a Dick. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/17 "2010-05-27T19:39:34Z")
Huh. I had no idea some schools were using “Dick and Jane” so recently. I started school in the '70s, and our primers featured Mark and Janet and a big red dog named, if I recall correctly, Red. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/18 "2010-05-27T19:57:22Z")
The “Dick and Jane” series of ooks were also printed, with few changes, as the “John, Judy and Jean” series, for use in Catholic parochial schools. The dog was still called Spot, and the stories were exactly the same. But the house had crosses and statues of Mary in it, and Dick and Jane were re-christened Jhn and Jean (they had a baby sister named Judy). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/19 "2010-05-27T19:58:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The 1950s were a time of major change in the educational system. In addition to the baby boom creating an explosion of school age children, which put a strain on the institutions in place and desegregation/integration of schools, which also put strains on the schools, educational reformers were challenging the principles of progressive education and the status quo, saying that teaching as it existed didn’t focus on teaching children how to learn, and instead focused on things like self esteem, sports and extracurricular activities and socialization. > > Add to that the space race and the launch of Sputnik in 1959, which led to a reevaluation of math and science education. Sorry, you were whooshed like a Sputnik going by overhead. [I was parodying a certain well-known poster.] ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930/20 "2010-05-27T21:06:01Z")
Rejected story: \*See Dick run. Run, Dick, run. Uh, you can get penicillin for that, because nobody likes a runny Dick.\* . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-dick-and-jane-readers-still-in-use/540930.md?page=2)