How to Tell Stories to Children, and Some Stories to Tell

olds of forgetfulness. It is the picture of a little girl, standing by an old-fashioned marble-topped dressing-table in a pink, sunny room. I can never see the lit

d she opened the door and went in. It was the house where three Bears lived; there was a great Bear, a little Bear, and a middle-sized Bear; and they had gone out for a walk. Goldilocks went in, and she saw"-the little girl is very still; she would not disturb that story by so much as a loud breath; but presently the comb comes to a tangle, pulls,-and the little girl beg

ugged her stomach. So the story progressed, and the little girl got through her toilet without crying, owing to the wonder-working voice and its marvellous adaptation of climaxes t

ual children which story of all they had heard they liked best, by taking votes on the best story of a series, after telling it, and by getting some obliging teachers to put similar questions to their

s affection over those which had been given seriously. It was of no use, however, to suggest substitutes. The children knew definitely what they liked, and thou

njoy the stories, it may be worth our while to consider seriously these three which they surely do enjoy, to see what common qua

e prime favourites

THE THREE L

s English Fairy Tales (David Nu

t from home to seek their fortune. The first that went

e that straw to b

uilt his house with it. Presently came along

little pig, l

pig an

e hair of my c

wolf

I'll puff, and I'll

, and he blew his house in,

met a man with a bundl

e that furze to b

e pig built his house. Then on

little pig, l

e hair of my c

I'll huff, and I'll

fed and he huffed, and at last he blew

met a man with a load

those bricks to bui

e built his house with them. A

little pig, l

e hair of my c

I'll puff, and I'll

d and huffed; but he could not get the house down. Finding that he coul

where there is a nic

said the

ill be ready to-morrow morning we will

little pig. "What ti

six o'

five, and got the turnips

ig, are y

ave been and come back again, an

ought that he would be a match for the l

w where there is a

" said

if you will not deceive me I will come for you,

ing to get back before the wolf came; but it took long to climb the tree, and just a

e you here before me?

e little pig. "I wil

ick it up, the little pig jumped down and ran home. The n

a fair in town this af

the pig, "I wil

g. So he got into the churn to hide, and in so doing turned it round, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so much that he ran home without

frightened

g saw what he was about, he put a pot full of water on the blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, he took off

OF THE THR

s English Fairy Tales (David Nu

ge,-a little pot for the Little Small Wee Bear, and a middle-sized pot for the Middle-sized Bear, and a great pot for the Great Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in,-a little chair for the Little Small Wee Bear, and a middle-sized ch

use that she forgot all the things her mother had told her about being polite: first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So Goldilocks opened the door, and went in; and wel

he Middle-sized Bear, and that was too cold. And then she went to the porridge of the Little Small Wee Bear, and tas

ed Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sat down in the chair of the Little Small Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard nor too so

he head for her. And next she lay down upon the bed of the Middle-sized Bear, and that was too high at the foot for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little

ool enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now Goldilocks had

in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when the Middle-sized Be

DGE!" said the Middle-sized Be

his, and there was the spoon in the por

S EATEN IT ALL UP!" said the Little Small

the Little Small Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look about them. Now Goldilocks had

CHAIR!" said the Great Huge Bear,

ed down the soft cushion

Y CHAIR!" said the Middle-sized

oldilocks had done

SAT THE BOTTOM OUT OF IT!" said the Little Sm

ther search; so they went upstairs into their bed-chamber. Now Gold

ED!" said the Great Huge Bear, i

the bolster of the Middle-

BED!" said the Middle-sized B

the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster

HERE SHE IS!" said the Little Small We

sized Bear, but it was only as if she had heard someone speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little, small, wee voice of the Little Small Wee Bear, it was so sharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started, and when she saw

and ran away home to her mot

OMAN AND

s English Fairy Tales (David Nu

found a little crooked sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do wit

o a stile; but the piggy w

g. She said to him, "Dog, dog, bite pig; piggy won't go over the stil

beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and

stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile

re won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over

h fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't ge

er; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; pigg

't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig;

ill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't

ater; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I sha'n't get home to-

n first gave her a handful of hay. So away went the old

ve the old woman the milk; and away sh

cher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick bega

re is no time spent in explanation, description, or telling how people felt; the stories tell what people did, and what they said. And the events are the links of a sequence of the clos

n mystery. For example, the details of the pictures in the Goldilocks story are parts of everyday life,-house, chairs, beds, and so on; but they are the house, chairs, and beds of three bears; that is the touch of marvel which transforms the scene. The old woman who owned the obstinate pig is the centre of a circle in which stand only familiar images,-stick, fire, water, cow, and the rest; but the wonder

of repetition. It is more definite, and of what has been called the "cumulativ

ories almost invariably loved by children,-action, in close sequenc

e fact that his instinctive taste is often better than the taste he later develops under artificial culture. The second is a matter of common-sense. How could the imagination create new worlds,

new train of thought, comes suddenly on a familiar epithet or expression, I fancy it is with much the same sense of satisfaction that we older people feel when in the midst of a long programme of new music the orchestra strikes into something we have heard before,-Handel, maybe, or one of the more familiar Beethoven sonatas. "I know that! I h

the healthy adult mind takes in working out a neat problem in geometry, the pleasure a musician finds in following the involutions of a fugue, are of the same type of satisfaction as the liking of children for cumulative stories. Complexity and mass, arrived at by stages perfectly intelligible in themselves, mounting steadily from a starting-point of simplicity; then the same compl

touchstone to their quality of fitness: Are they full of action, in close natural sequence? Are their images simple without being humdr

ry. Any approach to an exact classification of juvenile books according to their suitability for different ages will be found impossible. The same book in the hands of a skilful narrator may be made to afford delight to children both of five and ten. The follow

s demand, one draws on historical and scientific anecdote, and on reminiscence. But the demand is never so exclusive that fictitious narrative need be cast

ll Bible stories it is well to keep as near as possible to the original unimprovable text.[1] Some amplification can be made, but no excessive modernising or simplifying is excusable in face of the austere grace and majestic simplicity of the original. Such adaptation as helps to cut the long narrative into separate units, making each an intelligible story, I have

retells the Old Testament story as nearly as poss

eable; and many stories can be told successfully to all classes. A vitally good story is little limited in its appeal. It is, nevertheless, a help to h

ES OF STORY

GARTEN AND

best of the nursery rhymes and the

ith Rhyme

ch the element of per

ense

er T

SES II.

ense

er T

and Fo

bl

ge

(especially sto

SSES IV

k T

bl

and Al

d Animal

Historic

ical S

Adventu

e St

ersen and the Brothers Grimm. So constant is the demand for these that the following list may be found useful, as

need such adapting as has been suggested, cutting them d

Brother

tar D

and th

e

and the

ite and

er H

mbl

e Br

tle Por

e Sno

d the Seven

Sea

And

tle

k and t

gly D

tories of t

e

tle Mat

Fir-

Red

Lu

nd

tu

nd

f of t

eas in

rtugue

Mermaid (mu

ingale (s

who trod

ror's Ne

ld in Kupfer's Legends of Greece and Rome.[1] Of these, again, certain tales are

ac

nd

i

o and

and Hya

cis

and the

ser

erber's Myths of Greece and Rome, which contains in b