One must not forget Peter Rabbit—that captivating, realistic fairy tale by Beatrix Potter—and his companions, Benjamin Bunny, Pigling Bland, Tom Kitten, and the rest, of which children never tire. Peter Rabbit undoubtedly holds a place as a kindergarten classic. In somewhat the same class of merry animal tales is Tommy and the Wishing Stone, a series of tales by Thornton Burgess, in St. Nicholas, 1915. Here the child enjoys the novel transformation of becoming a Musk-rat, a Ruffed Grouse, a Toad, Honker the Goose, and other interesting personages. A modern fairy tale which is received gladly by children is Ludwig and Marleen, by Jane Hoxie. Here we have the friendly Fox who grants to Ludwig the wishes he asks for Marleen. The theme parallels for the little people the charm of The Fisherman and His Wife, a Grimm tale suited to the second grade. Among modern animal tales The Elephant's Child[12], one of the Just-So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, ranks high as a fairy tale produced for little children by one of the great literary masters of the short-story.
A modern tale that is a bit of pure imagination and seems an attempt to follow Grimm and Andersen, is A Quick-Running Squash, in Aspinwall's Short Stories for Short People. It uses the little boy's interest in a garden—his garden.—Interest centers about the fairy, the magic seed, the wonderful ride, and the happy ending. It uses the simple, everyday life and puts into it the unusual and the wonderful where nothing is impossible. It blends the realistic and the romantic in a way that is most pleasing. The Rich Goose, by Leora Robinson, in the Outlook, is an accumulative tale with an interesting ending and surprise. Why the Morning Glory Climbs, by Elizabeth McCracken, in Miss Bryant's How to Tell Stories, is a simple fanciful tale. The Discontented Pendulum, by Jane Taylor, in Poulssen's In the Child's World, is a good illustration of the modern purely fanciful tale. What Bunch and Joker saw in the Moon, in Wide-Awake Chatterbox, about 1887, is a most delightful modern fanciful tale, although it is best suited to the child of nine or ten. Greencap, by Ruth Hays, in St. Nicholas, June, 1915, appeals to the child through the experience of Sarah Jane, whose Mother and Father traveled to India. Sarah went to live with Aunt Jane and there met Greencap who granted the proverbial "three wishes." Alice in Wonderland ranks in a class by itself among modern fanciful tales but it is better suited to the child of the third and fourth grades.
A modern fairy tale which is suited to the child's simplicity and which will stimulate his own desire to make a tale, is The Doll Who Was Sister to a Princess, one of the Toy Stories by Carolyn Bailey which have been published by the Kindergarten Review during 1914-15. Among modern tales selected from Fairy Stories Re-told from St. Nicholas, appear some interesting ones which might be read to the little child, or told in the primary grades. Among these might be mentioned:—
The Ballad of the Blacksmith's Sons, a modern tale in verse by Mary E. Wilkins.
Casperl, by H.C. Bunner, a modern Sleeping Beauty tale. This tale has the virtue of not being complex and elaborate. It has the underlying idea that "People who are helping others have a strength beyond their own."
Ten Little Dwarfs, by Sophie Dorsey, from the French of Emile Souvestre. It tells of the ten little Dwarfs who lived in the Good-wife's fingers.
Wondering Tom, by Mary Mapes Dodge. This is a bright story of a boy who Hamlet-like, hesitated to act. Tom was always wondering. The story contains a fairy, Kumtoo-thepoynt, who sat on a toadstool and looked profound. It is realistic and romantic and has fine touches of humor. It tells how Wondering Tom became transformed into a Royal Ship-Builder.
How An Elf Set Up Housekeeping, by Anne Cleve. This is a good tale of fancy. An Elf set up housekeeping in a lily and obtained a curtain from a spider, down from a thistle, a stool from a toad who lived in a green house in the wood, etc.
The Wish-Ring, translated from the German by Anne Eichberg. This is a tale with the implied message that "The best way to secure one's best wish is to work for it."
The Hop-About Man, by Agnes Herbertson, in Little Folks Magazine, is a very pleasing modern romantic fairy tale for little children. Wee Wun was a gnome who lived in the Bye-Bye meadow in a fine new house which he loved. As he flew across the Meadow he had his pockets full of blue blow-away seeds. In the Meadow he found a pair of shoes, of blue and silver, and of course he took them home to his new house. But first he scattered the blue blow-away seeds over the garden wall in the Stir-About-Wife's garden where golden dandelions grew. And the seeds grew and crowded out the dandelions. Next day Wee Wun found a large blue seed which he planted outside his house; and on the following morning a great blue blow-away which had grown in a night, made his house dark. So he went to the Green Ogre to get him to take it away. When he came home he found, sitting in his chair, the Hop-About-Man, who had come to live with him. He had been forewarned of this coming by the little blue shoes when they hopped round the room singing:—