In The Truant by Abbott, it tells a story about a boy named Henry who skipped school when he found a boat as he traveled there. Not only did he discover the boat, but he decided that he should sit in it a little while before he continued his journey on to school. However, after paddling deeper into the stream he struggled to get back ashore and by the time he did reach dry land he was too tired to even go to school. The next day when he arrived for school, he had to make up a lie to avoid getting detention and he got away without any repercussions.  So, once he realized that he could get away with skipping school, he began to do it more often; but each time he lied to his teacher, he would develop a guilty conscience.

In my opinion, I feel that this story follows the guideline of most children’s literature. Almost every piece of literature where children are audience, there is some type of lesson that the author tries to project through their writing. The moral of this short story tells young readers that it is never good to lie under any circumstances. In the story, not only did Henry lie but he also developed a guilty conscience because he knew that skipping school was wrong, but he also knew that telling a story to avoid getting in trouble was even worse. I’m not completely sure if Abbott intended to also show that one bad thing can lead to a world of other negative things, however that’s what I got out of the reading and I think that is also a good hidden message for children to know. A lot of literature written for children prepares them for certain essential aspects of the real world such as never to lie, cheat or steal.