[ The Stone-Cutter]Japanese1
[ Prince Kindhearted]Polish8
[ The Timid Hare and the Flight of the Beasts]Hindu17
[ The Bee, the Harp, the Mouse, and the Bum-Clock]Irish24
[ The Tale of the Pointer Tray]German40
[ The Enchanted Princess]Russian 44
[ "It Is Quite True!"]Danish57
[ The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag]Irish63
[ The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats]German82
[ The Tale of the Snow and the Steeple]German89
[ King Longbeard]Russian93
[ The Toy Goose]Danish118
[ Yellow Lily]Irish123
[ The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage]German159
[ The Tale of the Wolf in Harness]German164

ILLUSTRATIONS

[ A wonderful horse appeared]Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
[ At the sound of the voice, the Stone-cutter looked around]2
[ The Bodhisatta saw this headlong flight of the animals]18
[ The Mouse and the Bum-clock stood up]38
[ When, behold, they found no less than six brace of live partridges]42
[ Hardly had she spoken these words, when raging winds came blowing and whistling]48
[ "Pass it on," piped the bats]60
[ "Going up to a little house, she found an old hag"]74
[ "The mother sewed him up so quickly"]86
[ "I took one of my pistols"]90
[ All the princesses were there]104
[ He jumped so high that nobody could see where he went to]120
[ Up went the lid of the tank]144
[ The bird tells the others]160
[ "We both arrived in full career"]165

INTRODUCING THE STORIES

"Stories to Read or Tell" has been compiled for the boys and girls who like to listen to stories as well as to read them, and for the mothers and teachers who are looking for stories "not quite so well known" as those contained in many excellent compilations now in use.

"'Tell me a story' comes before the ability to read," and unfortunate is the child who has not gone to the "Land of Nod" with good Mother Goose and those of her kin.

"The story period of a child's life merges imperceptibly into the reading period.... Listening to stories from books is the natural approach to reading from books and is the first step toward the acquisition of culture," says one believer in story-telling. Another adds "What is more pleasing than an increasing acquaintance with stories of the imagination, for of fact we shall learn more, anon."

The child who is brought up entirely on fact, loses the joys and fine feeling offered to him through the imagery of great minds. To deprive him of fairy tales, myths and legends as given through the medium of story-telling, is to keep from him a knowledge of the fairies, gods and heroes so frequently alluded to by authors and poets of the world's literature.