The single most influential Christian textbook in history, most scholars agree that most, if not all, of the Founding Fathers were taught to read and write using this The New England Primer, which is unsurpassed to this day for its excellence of practical training and Christian worldview. First published in 1690, the goal of the Primer was to combine the study of the Bible with the alphabet, vocabulary, and the reading of prose and poetry. This is the book that introduced the children's prayer, Now I lay me down to sleep, and which made the Shorter Catechism a staple of education for all American children. More than five million copies were sold in the nineteenth century alone.