The last story in the story group will be selected for mental relaxation after the tense attention demanded for the second story. It may be a humorous story, a very short story, or one so contrasted in treatment to the other stories in the group that it gives rest because of its difference.
To illustrate with one typical story group will be helpful.
We wish to make the thought of industry the central thought for a story hour. The first story in the story group might be “The Sailor Man” by Laura E. Richards. This story catches and holds the children’s attention at once because its characters are familiar to them; its setting is one that they can quickly see in their imagination. They have much in common with the two children who go to visit the sailor man; they know sailors; they have been to the seashore; they have enjoyed boat rides. And the climax of the story is a lesson in industry. The child who most industriously ties knots in the sailor’s fish nets wins the reward.
The second story in the group, “The Stone in the Road,” makes the children think more forcefully than did the first one. It takes them farther afield and makes them see in imagination, wealth, a castle, gold, poverty. They are obliged to reason in interpreting the rich man’s motive in hiding his gold. The story makes the children use their dawning power of judging.
The last story selected for this special story group is, “Drakesbill,” a humorous folk tale. The hero, an industrious duck who has worked hard all his life to accumulate a competence upon which he may live in his old age, loans a large sum of money to the king. The king being slow in paying back the money, Drakesbill goes to the palace to collect his debt. His adventures on the way and the successful end of his journey form the interest of the story. This story makes a fine climax to the story group. While it still emphasizes the central thought of the story program, industry, it treats it in a different way from that in which the previous stories illuminate the theme. Its fantasy, its humor make it a relaxation for the children.
If story groups are arranged having in mind these two considerations: a central theme and contrast in the treatment of this theme the story hour will be a vital force for good in the development of the children’s mental and moral life.
For the benefit of the story teller who has slight time for the consulting of many books of stories which such a planning of story groups entails, some illustrative story programs follow, each of which has been arranged with reference to one child-interest theme carried through three different types of stories.
STORY PROGRAMS SELECTED BECAUSE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEAL OF EACH GROUP
| HOME PROGRAMS | |
| The Home: | |
| How the Home Was Built | Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories |
| The Little Gray Grandmother | Elizabeth Harrison, in For the Children’s Hour |
| The Sheep and the Pig | Scandinavian Folk Tale |
| The Kitchen: | |
| The Little Red Hen | Folk Tale |
| The Two Little Cooks | Laura E. Richards, in Five Minute Stories |
| The Wonderful Tea Kettle | In Tales of Laughter |
| Toys: | |
| The China Rabbit Family | In In the Child’s World |
| The Top and the Ball | Hans Christian Andersen |
| The Doll in the Grass | In The Fairy Ring |
| Being Neat: | |
| The Child Who Forgot to Wash His Face | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time |
| Dust Under the Rug | Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories |
| The Pig Brother | Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| Cake: | |
| The Christmas Cake | Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories |
| King Alfred and the Cakes | In Baldwin’s Fifty Famous Stories Retold |
| The Pancake | In Tales of Laughter |
| Mother: | |
| The Cap That Mother Made, see page [8] | |
| About Angels | Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| The Story of Epaminondas and His Auntie | Southern Folk Tale, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| The Children: | |
| Wishing Wishes | Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories |
| Little Jack Rollaround | Adapted in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Food: | |
| The Gingerbread Boy | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Proud Little Grain of Wheat | Frances Hodgson Burnett, in St. Nicholas Files |
| The Pancake | In Tales of Laughter |
| Traveling: | |
| The Crane Express | In In the Child’s World |
| The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express | William Dean Howells, in Christmas Every Day |
| The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World | Edward Lear, in Tales of Laughter |
| ANIMAL PROGRAMS | |
| The Cat: | |
| Mrs. Tabby Gray | Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories |
| Dick Whittington and His Cat | Old Folk Tale |
| The Greedy Cat | Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| The Dog: | |
| The Story of Wylie | Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in How to Tell Stories to Children |
| A Dog of Flanders | Ouida |
| The Dog in the Manger | In Æsop’s Fables |
| The Horse: | |
| The Little Gray Pony | Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories |
| The Horse That Believed He’d Get There | Annie Trumbull Slosson, in Story Tell Lib |
| A Wise Old Horse | In In the Child’s World |
| The Cow: | |
| The Friendly Cow | Robert Louis Stevenson, in A Child’s Garden of Verse |
| Irmgard’s Cow | Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories |
| The Story the Milk Told Me | Gertrude H. Noyes, in In the Child’s World |
| The Rabbit: | |
| Raggylug | Ernest Thompson Seton, adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Peter Rabbit | Beatrix Potter |
| Bre’r Rabbit and the Little Tar Baby | Joel Chandler Harris, in Nights With Uncle Remus |
| The Squirrel: | |
| The Thrifty Squirrels | Mary Dendy, in In the Child’s World |
| Squirrel Nutkin | Beatrix Potter |
| Bobby Squirrel’s Busy Day | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time |
| Sheep: | |
| Grandfather’s Little Lamb | In Stories and Rhymes for a Child |
| The Good Shepherd | The Bible |
| The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf | In Æsop’s Fables |
| The Pig: | |
| The Story of the Three Little Pigs | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Little Pig | Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories |
| How the Pigs Can See the Wind | In Firelight Stories |
| The Bear: | |
| The Three Bears | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Bear and the Fowls | Æsop’s Fables |
| Why the Bear Has a Stumpy Tail | In Firelight Stories |
| The Lion: | |
| The Man and the Lion | Æsop’s Fables |
| Daniel and the Lions | The Bible |
| The Lion and the Mouse | In For the Children’s Hour |
| Children and Animals: | |
| Moufflou | Ouida |
| Benjy in Beastland | Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour |
| The Boy and the Wolves | Æsop’s Fables |
| NATURE PROGRAMS | |
| Spring Flowers: | |
| The Snowdrop | Hans Christian Andersen |
| The Shet-up Posy | Annie Trumbull Slosson, in Story Tell Lib |
| The Story of the Morning Glory Seed | Margaret Eytinge, in In the Child’s World |
| Summer Flowers: | |
| The Pink Rose | Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Rose Bloom and Thorn Bloom | Alice Brown, in The One-Footed Fairy |
| A Legend of the Goldenrod | Frances Deland, in Story Telling Time |
| Birds: | |
| The Legend of the Woodpecker | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Blue Robin | Mary Wilkins Freeman, see page [219] |
| King Wren | In Tales of Laughter |
| The Sky: | |
| The Star Dollars | Grimm’s Fairy Tales |
| The Stars | Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind Went Out to Dinner | In Tales of Laughter |
| Apples: | |
| The Sleeping Apple | In In the Child’s World |
| The Big Red Apple | Kate Whiting Patch, in For the Children’s Hour |
| Apple Seed John | In Saint Nicholas Files |
| The Barnyard: | |
| The Goose that Laid Golden Eggs | Old Folk Tale |
| The Ugly Duckling | Hans Christian Andersen |
| A Barnyard Talk | Emilie Poulsson, in In the Child’s World |
| Light: | |
| The Old Street Lamp | Hans Christian Andersen |
| The Golden Windows | Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| The Moon Cake | In Tales of Laughter |
| Snow: | |
| The Snow Man | Hans Christian Andersen |
| Grandfather’s Penny | In For the Children’s Hour |
| How Peter Rabbit Got His White Patch | Thornton Burgess, in Mother West Wind’s Children |
| Water: | |
| The Little Hero of Harlem | Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Tom, The Water Baby | Charles Kingsley, adapted in For the Children’s Hour |
| Why the Sea is Salt | In Tales of Laughter |
| Leaves: | |
| The Anxious Leaf | Henry Ward Beecher, in For the Children’s Hour |
| The Maple Leaf and the Violet | Eugene Field, in A Little Book of Profitable Tales |
| The Snowflake and the Leaf | Helen Preble, in For the Children’s Hour |
| The Bee: | |
| Little Bee Trunkhosie | In Firelight Stories |
| The Bee Man of Orne | Frank R. Stockton, in Fanciful Tales |
| Battle of the Monkey and the Crab | Japanese Fairy Tale, in Tales of Laughter |
| Trees: | |
| The Little Pine Tree That Wished For New Leaves | In For the Children’s Hour |
| Old Pipes and the Dryad | Frank R. Stockton, in Fanciful Tales |
| The Three Little Christmas Trees That Grew on the Hill | Mary McDowell, in The Story Teller’s Book |
| TRADE PROGRAMS | |
| The Farmer: | |
| The Larks in the Corn Field | In Æsop’s Fables |
| Do What You Can | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Farmer and the Troll | In Tales of Laughter |
| The Baker: | |
| Nero at the Bakery | Emilie Poulsson, in In the Child’s World |
| The Queer Little Baker Man | Phila Butler Bowman, in Mother’s Magazine, November, 1912 |
| The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings | In Tales of Laughter |
| The Shoemaker: | |
| Goody Two Shoes | Emilie Poulsson, see page [16] |
| The Elves and the Shoemaker | Grimm |
| The Hop-About Man | In The Story Teller’s Book |
| The Blacksmith: | |
| The Little Gray Pony | Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories |
| Vulcan | In In the Child’s World |
| The Village Blacksmith | Longfellow |
| HOLIDAY PROGRAMS | |
| Thanksgiving: | |
| How Patty Gave Thanks | In In the Child’s World |
| The Story of the First Thanksgiving | Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour |
| The Pumpkin Glory | William Dean Howells, in Christmas Every Day |
| Christmas: | |
| The Night Before Christmas | Clement Moore |
| The Legend of Claus | Eugene Field, in A Little Book of Profitable Tales |
| The Golden Cobwebs | In Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Easter: | |
| An Easter Surprise. | Louise M. Oglevee, in Story Telling Time |
| A Lesson in Faith | Margaret Gatty, in In the Child’s World |
| Herr Oster Haase | In For the Children’s Hour |
| Stories of Patriotism: | |
| How Cedric Became a Knight | Elizabeth Harrison, in For the Children’s Hour |
| Little George Washington | Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour |
| The Last Lesson | Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in How to Tell Stories to Children |
| For a Birthday: | |
| The Birthday Present | Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories |
| Dicky Smiley’s Birthday | Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour |
| The Birthday Party | Gertrude Smith, in The Story Teller’s Book |
| ETHICAL PROGRAMS | |
| Being Brave: | |
| The Eyes of the King | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time |
| The Little Hero of Harlem | Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| The Brave Tin Soldier | Hans Christian Andersen |
| Being Industrious: | |
| The Sailor Man | Laura Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| The Stone in the Road | In For the Children’s Hour |
| Drakesbill | In The Story Teller’s Book |
| Being Kind: | |
| The Little Brown Lady | Phila Butler Bowman, in Story Telling Time |
| The Wheat Field | Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows |
| Little Half Chick | In For the Children’s Hour |
| Being Generous: | |
| The Little Boy Who Had a Picnic | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Stories and Rhymes for a Child |
| The Happy Prince | Oscar Wilde |
| The Little Old Man and His Gold | Phila Butler Bowman, in Story Telling Time |
| Being Hospitable: | |
| The Selfish Giant | Oscar Wilde, in The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales |
| Baucis and Philemon | Adapted in For the Children’s Hour |
| The Woodpecker Who Was Selfish, see page [181] | |
| Being Honest: | |
| The Little Cowherd Brother | In Story Telling in School and Home |
| The Honest Woodman | In In the Child’s World |
| The Street Musicians | In The Story Teller’s Book |
| MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS | |
| Good Little Folk: | |
| The Adventures of a Brownie (to be adapted) | Miss Mulock |
| The One-Footed Fairy | Alice Brown |
| The Gradual Fairy | Alice Brown, in The One-Footed Fairy |
| Funny Stories: | |
| The Story of Lambikin | In Firelight Stories |
| The Happy Family | Hans Christian Andersen |
| The Story of Little Black Mingo | Helen Bannerman, in Tales of Laughter |
| Myths: | |
| The Paradise of Children | In Myths Every Child Should Know |
| The Story of Persephone | In For the Children’s Hour |
| The Golden Touch | Adapted, in Myths Every Child Should Know |
| Fairy Animals: | |
| The Winding Up Place (to be adapted) | In Mopsa The Fairy |
| The Chimæra (to be adapted) | In Myths Every Child Should Know |
| The Little Jackal and the Alligator | In Best Stories to Tell to Children |
| Princesses: | |
| The Crown | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time |
| The Princess and the Pea | Hans Christian Andersen |
| The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence | In Tales of Laughter |
| VALUABLE REFERENCE BOOKS FOR THE STORY TELLER | |
| How to Tell Stories to Children | Sara Cone Bryant |
| Stories to Tell to Children | Sara Cone Bryant |
| The Children’s Reading | Frances Jenkins Olcott |
| Story Telling: What to Tell and How to Tell It | Edna Lyman |
| A LIST OF GOOD STORIES TO TELL TO CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE YEARS OF AGE | |
| Index to Short Stories | Salisbury and Beckwith |
| The Story in Early Education | Sara Wiltse |
| Story Telling in School and Home | Partridge |
| The Story Teller’s Book | Alice O’Grady and Frances Throop |
| Story Telling Time | Frances Weld Danielson |
| In the Child’s World | Emilie Poulsson |
| For the Children’s Hour | Bailey and Lewis |
| Mother Stories | Maud Lindsay |
| More Mother Stories | Maud Lindsay |
| Tales of Laughter | Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith |
| The Talking Beasts | Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith |
| Story-Tell Lib | Annie Trumbull Slosson |
| The Golden Windows | Laura E. Richards |
| The Story Hour | Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith |
| Stories and Rhymes for a Child | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey |
| Firelight Stories | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey |
| The Wonder Book | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Tanglewood Tales | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Fairy Tales | The Brothers Grimm |
| “ “ | Hans Christian Andersen |
| “ “ | Joseph Jacobs |
| The One-Footed Fairy | Alice Brown |
| The Boston Collection of Kindergarten Stories | |
| The Children’s Hour | Eva March Tappan |
| The Jungle Books | Rudyard Kipling |
| The Just So Stories | Rudyard Kipling |
| Nature Myths | Florence Holbrook |
| The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales | Oscar Wilde |
| Why the Chimes Rang | R. M. Alden |
| Nights With Uncle Remus | Joel Chandler Harris |
| Johnny Crow’s Garden | Leslie Brooke |
| Granny’s Wonderful Chair | Francis Browne |
| Parables from Nature | Margaret Gatty |
| Forgotten Tales of Long Ago | E. V. Lucas |
| The Book of Christmas Hamilton | W. Mabie |
| Myths Every Child Should Know Hamilton | W. Mabie |
| Heroes Every Child Should Know Hamilton | W. Mabie |
| Mopsa the Fairy | Jean Ingelow |
| The Dog of Flanders and Other Stories | Ouida (Raméé) |
| The Children’s Book | Horace E. Scudder |
| The Bee-Man of Orne | Frank R. Stockton |
| Half a Hundred Hero Tales | Francis Storr |
| Stories and Poems for Children | Celia Thaxter |