of late years among the inferior classes of people," and usually included one engraved plate. The content consisted of 'religious tales for Sunday evenings' and 'moral tales for weekdays'; advice on the management of infants and on childrearing was given together with a comparative view of other nations to demonstrate that 'the poor in England possess privileges, and enjoy many comforts, which persons of their rank ... in other countries cannot enjoy.' Descriptions of animals were also included, 'in order to check the practice of cruelty to brute creation.' The final section of the magazine contained 'a selection of Ballads, Songs &c., both ancient and modern, of a Moral Tendency.' Thus, in both its objects and content, this publication introduced many of the ideas which would later bear fruit in Hannah More's more ambitious and well-known scheme for Cheap Repository Tracts of 1795. Books for charity schools Because, in Trimmer's opinion, there was a dearth of good educational material to use in charity schools, she decided to write her own. The series of books she produced between 1786 and 1798 were used in Britain and its colonies well into the 19th century. Trimmer was an able promoter of her materials; she knew that her books would not reach large numbers of poor children in charity schools unless they were funded and publicized by the SPCK. She wrote in her journal "my scheme without its aid, will fall to the ground". Thus, she joined the society in 1787. In 1793, she sent 12 copies of her treatise Reflections upon the Education in Charity Schools with the Outlines of a Plan Appropriate Instruction for the Children of the Poor to the subcommittee that chose the books funded by the organization. In the treatise, she argued that the current charity school curriculum was outdated (it was over 100 years old) and needed to be replaced. She suggested a list of seven books that she herself would write: A Spelling Book in two Parts Scripture Lessons from the Old Testament Scripture Lessons from the New Testament Moral Instructions from the Scriptures Lessons on the Liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer Exemplary Tales The Teacher's Assistant The committee largely accepted her proposal. The Charity School Spelling Book was printed first and was the most widely used. It was one of the first children's books for the poor that was small but still had large