1747-1840. _Forgotten Books of the American Nursery, A
History of the Development of the American Story-Book_.
Halsey, Rosalie V. Boston, C.E. Goodspeed & Co., 1911. 244
pp.
1785-1788. _Isaiah Thomas, Printer, Writer, and Collector.
Nichols, Charles L_. A paper read April 12, 1911, before the
Club of Odd Volumes.... Boston. Printed for the Club of Odd
Volumes, 1912. 144 pp. List of juveniles 1787-88: pp.
132-33.
1785. _Mother Goose_. The original Mother Goose's melody, as
first issued by John Newbery, of London, about A.D. 1760.
Reproduced in facsimile from the edition as reprinted by
Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., A.D. 1785 (about) ...
Albany, J. Munsell's Sons, 1889. 28 pp.
1787. _Banbury Chap-Books and Nursery Toy-Book Literature_
(of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) ...
Pearson, Edwin. With very much that is interesting and
valuable appertaining to the early typography of children's
books relating to Great Britain and America.... London, A.
Reader, 1890: 116 pp. Impressions from wood-cut blocks by T.
and J. Bewick, Cruikshank, Craig, Lee, Austin, and others.
1789. _The Olden Time Series_. Gleanings chiefly from old
newspapers of Boston and Salem, Mass. Brooks, Henry M.,
_comp_. Boston, Ticknor & Co., 1886. 6 vols. _The Books that
Children Read in 1798_ ... by T.C. Cushing: vol. 6, pp.
62-63.
1800-1825. Goodrich, S.G. _Recollections of a Lifetime_.
New York, Miller, Orton, and Mulligan, 1856. 2 vols. Children's
books (1800-1825): vol. 1, pp. 164-74.
1686. _The History of Tom Thumb_. John Dunton, Boston.
1728. _Chap-Books_. Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia.
1730. _Small Histories_. Andrew Bradford, Philadelphia.
These included _Tom Thumb_, _Tom Hickathrift_, and _Dick
Whittington_.
1744. _The Child's New Plaything_. Draper & Edwards, Boston.
Reprint. Contained alphabet in rhyme, proverbs, fables, and
stories: _St. George and the Dragon_; _Fortunatus_; _Guy of
Warwick_; _Brother and Sister_; _Reynard the Fox_; and _The
Wolf and the Kids_.
1750. John Newbery's books. Advertised in Philadelphia
_Gazette_. The _Pretty Book for Children_ probably included
_Cinderella_, _Tom Thumb_, etc.
1760. All juvenile publications for sale in England.
Imported and sold by Hugh Gaine, New York.
1766. _Children's books_. Imported and sold by John Mein, a
London bookseller who had a shop in Boston. Included _The
Famous Tommy Thumb's Story Book_; _Leo the Great Giant_;
_Urax, or the Fair Wanderer_; and _The Cruel Giant,
Barbarico_.
1787. All Newbery's publications. Reprinted by Isaiah
Thomas, Worcester, Mass.
1794. _Arabian Nights. The Arabian Nights Entertainments_
.... The first American edition.... Philadelphia, H. & P.
Rice; Baltimore, J. Rice & Co., 1794. 2 vols.
1804. _Blue Beard. A New History of Blue Beard, written by
Gaffer Black Beard, for the Amusement of Little Jack Black
and his Pretty Sisters_. Philadelphia, J. Adams, 1804. 31
pp.
1819. _Rip Van Winkle_. A legend included in the works of
Washington Irving, published in London, 1819.
1823. _A Visit from St. Nicholas_. Clement Clark Moore, in
Troy _Sentinel_, Dec. 23, 1823. Written the year before for
his own family. The first really good American juvenile
story, though in verse.
1825. _Babes in the Wood_. The history of the children of
the wood.... To which is added an interesting account of the
Captive Boy. New York, N.B. Holmes. 36 pp. Plates.
1833. _Mother Goose_. The only true Mother Goose Melodies;
an exact reproduction of the text and illustrations of the
original edition, published and copyrighted in Boston in
1833 by Munroe & Francis.... Boston, Lee & Shepard, 1905.
103 pp.
1836. _The Fairy Book_. With eighty-one engravings on wood,
by Joseph A. Adams. New York, Harper & Bros. 1836. 301 pp.
Introduction by "John Smith." Edited by C.G. Verplanck,
probably.
1844. _Fairy Land, and Other Sketches for Youths_, by the
author of _Peter Parley's Tales_ (Samuel G. Goodrich).
Boston, J. Munroe & Co. 167 pp. Plates, Cromo. Lith. of
Bouvé & Sharp, Boston.
1848. _Rainbows for Children_, by L. Maria Child, _ed_. New
York, C.S. Francis & Co. 170 pp. 28 original sketches ... by
S. Wallin.... B.F. Childs, wood engraver: p. 8. Advertising
pages: New books published by C.S. Francis & Co., N.Y....
_The Fairy Gift and the Fairy Gem_. Four volumes of choice
fairy tales. Each illustrated with 200 fine engravings by
French artists: p. 2.
1851. _Wonder Book_, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Illustrated by
W. Crane, 60 designs, published by Houghton, 1910.
1852. _Legends of the Flowers_, by Susan Pindar. New York,
D. Appleton & Co., 178 pp.
1853. _Fairy Tales and Legends of Many Nations_, by Charles
B. Burkhardt. New York, Chas. Scribner. 277 pp. Illustrated
by W. Walcutt and J.H. Cafferty.
1854. _The Little Glass Shoe, and Other Stories for
Children_. Philadelphia, Charles H. Davis. 128 pp.
Advertising pages: A description of illustrated juvenile
books, published by Charles H. Davis: 16 pp. _A Book of
Fairy Stories_: p. 9.
1854. _The History of Whittington and His Cat_. Miss Corner
and Alfred Crowquill. _Dick Whittington_ is said to have
been the best seller among juvenile publications for five
hundred years.
1855. _Flower Fables_, by Louisa May Alcott. Boston, G.W.
Briggs & Co. 182 pp.
1855. _The Song of Hiawatha_, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Published now by Houghton, illustrated by Frederick
Remington.
1864. _Seaside and Fireside Fairies_, by George Blum.
Translated from the German of Georg Blum and Louis Wahl. By
A.L. Wister. Philadelphia, Ashmead & Evans, 292 pp.
1867. _Grimm's Goblins_, selected from the _Household
Stories_ of the Brothers Grimm. Jacob L.K. Grimm. Boston,
Ticknor & Fields. 111 pp.
1867. _Fairy Book. Fairy Tales of All Nations_, by Edouard
Laboulaye. Translated by Mary Booth. New York, Harper &
Bros., 363 pp. Engravings.
1867. _The Wonderful Stories of Fuz-buz the Fly and Mother
Grabem the Spider_. By S. Weir Mitchell. Philadelphia, J.B.
Lippincott & Co. 79 pp.
1868. _Folks and Fairies_. Stories for little children. Lucy
Comfort. New York, Harpers, 259 pp. Engravings. Advertising
pages: Six fairy tales published by Harper & Bros.
1870. _Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper_. Boston,
Fields, Osgood & Co. 1871. 8 pp. Colored plates by Alfred
Fredericks.
1873. _Mother Goose_. Illustrations of Mother Goose's
Melodies. By Alexander Anderson. New York. Privately printed
by C.L. Moreau (Analectic Press), 1873, 36 1. 10 numb. 1.
(Designed and engraved on wood.)
1870. _Beauty and the Beast_, by Albert Smith. New York,
Manhattan Pub. Co., 1870. 64 pp. With illustrations by
Alfred Crowquill.
This brings the American child's fairy tale up to recent publications
of the present day which are given in the chapter, "Sources of
Material." An attempt has been made here to give a glimpse of folk and
fairy tales up to the time of the Grimms, and a view of modern
publications in France, Germany, England, and America. The Grimms
started a revolution in folk-lore and in their lifetime took part in
the collection of many tales of tradition and influenced many others
in the same line of work. An enumeration of what was accomplished in
their lifetime appears in the notes of _Grimm's Household Tales_,
edited by Margaret Hunt, published by Bonn's Libraries, vol. II, pp.
531. etc.
In modern times the Folk-Lore Society of England and America has been
established. Now almost every nation has its folk-lore society and
folk-tales are being collected all over the world. Altogether probably
Russia has collected fifteen hundred such tales, Germany twelve
hundred, Italy and France each one thousand, and India seven hundred.
The work of the Grimms, ended in 1859, was continued by Emanuel
Cosquin, who, in his _Popular Tales of Lorraine_, has made the most
important recent contribution to folklore,--important for the European
tale and important as showing the relation of the European tale to
that of India.
The principal recent collections of folk-lore are:--
_Legends and Fairy Tales of Ireland_. Croker. 1825.
_Welsh and Manx Tales_. Sir John Rhys. 1840-.
_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_. Chambers. 1847.
_Tales of the West Highlands_. Campbell. 1860.
_Popular Tales from the Norse_. Dasent. 1862.
_Zulu Nursery Tales_. Callaway. 1866.
_Old Deccan Days_. Frere. 1868.
_Fireside Tales of Ireland_. Kennedy. 1870.
_Indian Fairy Tales_. Miss Stokes. 1880.
_Buddhist Birth Stories_. Rhys Davids. 1880.
_Kaffir Folk-Lore_. Theal. 1882.
_Folk-Tales of Bengal_. Day. 1883.
_Wide Awake Stories_. Steel and Temple. 1884.
_Italian Popular Tales_. Crane. 1885.
_Popular Tales of Lorraine_. Cosquin. 1886.
_Popular Tales and Fictions_. Clouston. 1887.
_Folk-Tales of Kashmir_. Knowles. 1887.
_Tales of Ancient Egypt_. Maspero. 1889.
_Tales of the Sun_. Mrs. Kingscote. 1890.
_Tales of the Punjab_. Steel. 1894.
_Jataka Tales_. Cowell. 1895.
_Russian Folk-Tales_. Bain. 1895.
_Cossack Fairy Tales_. Bain. 1899.
_New World Fairy Book_. Kennedy. 1906.
_Fairy Tales, English, Celtic, and Indian_. Joseph Jacobs.
1910-11.
This brings the subject down to the present time. The present-day
contributions to folk-lore are found best in the records of the
Folk-lore Society, published since its founding in London, in 1878;
and daily additions, in the folk-lore journals of the various
countries.
REFERENCES
Adams, Oscar Fay: _The Dear Old Story-Tellers_. Lothrop.
Ashton, John: _Chap-Books of the 18th Century_. Chatto &
Windus. London, 1882.
Bunce, John T.: _Fairy Tales, Origin and Meaning_. Macmillan,
1878.
Chamberlain, A.F.: _The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought_.
Macmillan.
Clouston, W.A.: _Popular Tales and Fictions_. Edinburgh,
Blackwoods, 1887.
Cyclopædia: "Mythology." _Encyclopædia Britannica_.
Cox, Miss Roalfe: _Cinderella_. Introduction by Lang. Nutt, 1892.
Dasent, George W.: _Popular Tales from the Norse_. Introduction.
Routledge.
Fiske, John: _Myth and Myth-Makers_. Houghton.
Field, Mrs. E.M.: _The Child and His Book_. Gardner, Darton & Co.
Frazer, J.G.: _The Golden Bough_. (Spring ceremonies and
primitive view of the soul.) Macmillan.
Frere, Miss: _Old Deccan Days_. Introduction. McDonough.
Godfrey, Elizabeth: _English Children in the Olden Time_. Dutton,
1907.
Grimm, William and Jacob: _Household Tales_. Edited with
valuable notes, by Margaret Hunt. Introduction by Lang. Bell &
Sons, Bohn's Libraries.
Guerber, Hélène A.: _Legends of the Middle Ages_. (Reynard the
Fox) American Book Co.
Halliwell, J.O.: _Nursery Rhymes of England_.
_Ibid.: Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales_. Smith, 1849.
Halsey, Rosalie: _Forgotten Books of the American Nursery_.
Goodspeed, Boston, 1911.
Hartland, E.S.: _Science of Fairy Tales_. Preface. Scribner,
1891.
_Ibid.: English Folk and Fairy Tales_. Camelot series, Scott,
London.
Hartland, Sidney: _Legend of Perseus_ (origin of a tale).
Hewins, Caroline M.: _The History of Children's Books_.
_Atlantic_, 61: 112 (Jan., 1888).
Jacobs, Joseph: _Reynard the Fox_. Cranford Series. Macmillan.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Introduction, Notes and Appendix. Putnam.
Keightley, Thomas: _Fairy Mythology_. Macmillan.
_Ibid.: Tales and Popular Fictions_. Whittaker & Co., London,
1834.
Lang, Andrew: _Custom and Myth_. Longmans, London, 1893.
Mabie, Hamilton: _Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know_.
Introduction. Doubleday.
MacDonald, George: _The Light Princess_. Introduction. Putnam.
Magazine: "Myths and Fairy Tales." _Fortnightly Review_, May,
1872.
Mitchell, Donald G.: _About Old Story-Tellers_. Scribners. 1877.
Moses, Montrose: _Children's Books and Reading_. Kennerley.
Mulock, Miss: _Fairy Book_. Preface. Crowell.
Pearson, Edwin. _Banbury Chap-Books and Nursery Toy-Book
Literature_ (18th and early 19th centuries). London. A.
Reader, 1890.
Perrault, Charles: _Popular Tales_. Edited by A. Lang.
Introduction. Oxford, 1888.
Ritson, J.: _Fairy Tales_. Pearson, London, 1831.
Scott, Sir Walter: _Minstrelsy of Scottish Border_. Preface to
Tamlane, "Dissertation on Fairies," p. 108.
Skinner, H.M.: _Readings in Folk-Lore_. American Book Co.
Steel, Flora A.: _Tales of the Punjab_. Introduction and
Appendix. Macmillan.
Tabart, Benj.: _Fairy Tales, or the Lilliputian Cabinet_. London,
1818. Review: _The Quarterly Review_, 1819, No. 41, pp. 91-112.
Tappan, Eva M.: _The Children's Hour_. Introduction to
"Folk-Stories and Fables." Houghton.
Taylor, Edgar: _German Popular Stories_. Introduction by Ruskin.
Chatto & Windus.
Tylor, E.B.: _Primitive Culture_. Holt, 1889.
Warner: _Fairy Tales. Library of the World's Best Literature_,
vol. 30.
Welsh, Charles: _Fairy Tales Children Love_. Introduction. Dodge.
_Ibid.:_ "The Early History of Children's Books in New
England." _New England Magazine_, n.s. 20: 147-60 (April,
1899).
_Ibid.: A Chap-Book_. Facsimile Edition. 1915. World Book Co.
_Ibid.: Mother Goose_. Facsimile Edition. 1915. World Book Co.
White, Gleeson: "Children's Books and Their Illustrators."
_International Studio_, Special Winter Number, 1897-98.
CHAPTER V
CLASSES OF FAIRY TALES
But the fact that after having been repeated for two
thousand years, a story still possesses a perfectly fresh
attraction for a child of to-day, does indeed prove that
there is in it something of imperishable worth.--Felix
Adler.
Whatever has, at any time, appealed to the best emotions and
moved the heart of a people, must have for their children's
children, political, historical, and cultural value. This is
especially true of folk-tales and folk-songs.--P.P. Claxton,
_United States Commissioner of Education_.
I. AVAILABLE TYPES OF TALES
From all this wealth of accumulated folk-material which has come down
to us through the ages, we must select, for we cannot crowd the child
with all the folk-stuff that folk-lore scientists are striving to
preserve for scientific purposes. Moreover, naturally much of it
contains the crudities, the coarseness, and the cruelties of primitive
civilization; and it is not necessary that the child be burdened with
this natural history of a past society. We must select from the past.
In this selection of what shall be presented to the child we must be
guided by two standards: First, we owe it to the child to hand on to
him his literary heritage; and secondly, we must help him to make of
himself the ideal man of the future. Therefore the tales we offer must
contribute to these two standards. The tales selected will be those
which the ages have found interesting; for the fact that they have
lived proves their fitness, they have lived because there was
something in them that appealed to the universal heart. And because of
this fact they will be those which in the frequent re-tellings of ages
have acquired a classic form and therefore have within themselves the
possibility of taking upon them a perfect literary form. The tales
selected will be those tales which, as we have pointed out, contain
the interests of children; for only through his interests does the
child rise to higher interests and finally develop to the ideal man.
They will be those tales which stand also the test of a classic, the
test of literature, the test of the short-story, and the test of
narration and of description. The child would be handicapped in life
to be ignorant of these tales.
Tales suitable for the little child may be viewed under these seven
classes of available types: (1) the accumulative, or clock story; (2)
the animal tale; (3) the humorous tale; (4) the realistic tale; (5)
the romantic tale; (6) the old tale; and (7) the modern tale.
I. The Accumulative Tale.
The accumulative tale is the simplest form of the tale. It may be:--
(1) A tale of simple repetition.
(2) A tale of repetition with an addition, incremental iteration.
(3) A tale of repetition, with variation.
Repetition and rhythm have grown out of communal conditions. The old
stories are measured utterances. At first there was the spontaneous
expression of a little community, with its gesture, action, sound, and
dance, and the word, the shout, to help out. There was the group which
repeated, which acted as a chorus, and the leader who added his
individual variation. From these developed the folk-tale with the
dialogue in place of the chorus.
Of the accumulative tales, _The House that Jack Built_ illustrates the
first class of tales of simple repetition. This tale takes on a new
interest as a remarkable study of phonics. If any one were so happy as
to discover the phonic law which governs the euphony produced by the
succession of vowels in the lines of Milton's poetry, he would enjoy
the same law worked out in _The House that Jack Built_. The original,
as given by Halliwell in his _Nursery Rhymes of England_, is said to
be a Hebrew hymn, at first written in Chaldaic. To the Hebrews of the
Middle Ages it was called the _Haggadah_, and was sung to a rude chant
as part of the Passover service. It first appeared in print in 1590,
at Prague. Later, in Leipzig, it was published by the German scholar,
Liebrecht. It begins:--
A kid, a kid, my father bought
For two pieces of money:
A kid, a kid,
Then came the cat and ate the kid, etc.
Then follow the various repetitive stanzas, the last one turning back
and reacting on all the others:--
Then came the Holy One, blessed be He,
And killed the angel of death,
That killed the butcher,
That slew the ox,
That drank the water,
That quenched the fire,
That burned the staff,
That beat the dog,
That bit the cat,
That ate the kid,
That my father bought
For two pieces of money:
A kid, a kid.
The remarkable similarity to _The Old Woman, and Her Pig_[8] at once
proclaims the origin of that tale also. The interpretation of this
tale is as follows: The kid is the Hebrews; the father by whom it was
purchased, is Jehovah; the two pieces of money are Aaron and Moses;
the cat is the Assyrians; the dog is the Babylonians; the staff is the
Persians; the fire is the Greek Empire and Alexander; the water is the
Romans; the ox is the Saracens; the butcher is the Crusaders; and the
angel of death is the Turkish Power. The message of this tale is that
God will take vengeance over the Turks and the Hebrews will be
restored to their own land.
Another tale of simple repetition, whose fairy element is the magic
key, is _The Key of the Kingdom_, also found in Halliwell's _Nursery
Rhymes of England_:--
This is the key of the kingdom.
In that kingdom there is a city,
In that city there is a town,
In that town there is a street,
In that street there is a lane,
In that lane there is a yard,
In that yard there is a house,
In that house there is a room,
In that room there is a bed,
On that bed there is a basket,
In that basket there are some flowers.
Flowers in the basket, basket on the bed,
bed in the room, etc.
_The Old Woman and Her Pig_ illustrates the second class of
accumulative tale, where there is an addition, and like _Titty Mouse
and Tatty Mouse_, where the end turns back on the beginning and
changes all that precedes. Here there is a more marked plot. This same
tale occurs in Shropshire Folk-Lore, in the _Scotch Wife and Her Bush
of Berries_, in _Club-Fist_, an American folk-game described by
Newell, in Cossack fairy tales, and in the Danish, Spanish, and
Italian. In the Scandinavian, it is _Nanny, Who Wouldn't Go Home to
Supper_, and in the Punjab, _The Grain of Corn_, also given in _Tales
of Laughter_. I have never seen a child who did not like it or who was
not pleased with himself for accomplishing its telling. It lends
itself most happily to illustration. _Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse_
pleases because of the liveliness of its images, and because of the
catastrophe at the end, which affects the child just as the tumble of
his huge pile of blocks--the crash and general upheaval delight him.
This tale has so many variants that it illustrates well the diffusion
of fairy tales. It is Grimm's _The Spider and the Flea_, which as we
have seen, is appealing in its simplicity; the Norse _The Cock Who
Fell into the Brewing Vat_; and the Indian _The Death and Burial of
Poor Hen_. The curious succession of incidents may have been invented
once for all at some definite time, and from thence spread to all the
world.
_Johnny Cake_ and _The Gingerbread Man_ also represent the second
class of accumulative tale, but show a more definite plot; there is
more story-stuff and a more decided introduction and conclusion. _How
Jack Went to Seek His Fortune_ also shows more plot. It contains a
theme similar to that of _The Bremen Town Musicians_, which is
distinctly a beast tale where the element of repetition remains to
sustain the interest and to preserve unity, but where a full-fledged
short-story which is structurally complete, has developed. A fine
accumulative tale belonging to this second class is the Cossack _Straw
Ox_, which has been described under "The Short-Story." Here we have a
single line of sequence which gets wound up to a climax and then
unwinds itself to the conclusion, giving the child, in the plot,
something of that pleasure which he feels in winding up his toy
animals to watch them perform in the unwinding.
_The Three Bears_ illustrates the third class of repetitive story,
where there is repetition and variation. Here the iteration and
parallelism have interest like the refrain of a song, and the
technique of the story is like that of _The Merchant of Venice_. This
is the ideal fairy story for the little child. It is unique in that it
is the only instance in which a tale written by an author has become a
folk-tale. It was written by Southey, and appeared in _The Doctor_, in
London, in 1837. Southey may have used as his source, _Scrapefoot_,
which Joseph Jacobs has discovered for us, or he may have used _Snow
White_, which contains the episode of the chairs. Southey has given to
the world a nursery classic which should be retained in its purity of
form. The manner of the Folk, in substituting for the little old woman
of Southey's tale, Goldilocks, and the difference that it effects in
the tale, proves the greater interest children naturally feel in the
tale with a child. Similarly, in telling _The Story of Midas_ to an
audience of eager little people, one naturally takes the fine old myth
from Ovid as Bulfinch gives it, and puts into it the Marigold of
Hawthorne's creation. And after knowing Marigold, no child likes the
story without her. Silver hair is another substitute for the little
Old Woman in _The Three Bears_. The very little child's reception to
_Three Bears_ will depend largely on the previous experience with
bears and on the attitude of the person telling the story. A little
girl who was listening to _The Three Bears_ for the first time, as she
heard how the Three Bears stood looking out of their upstairs window
after Goldilocks running across the wood, said, "Why didn't Goldilocks
lie down beside the Baby Bear?" To her the Bear was associated with
the friendly Teddy Bear she took with her to bed at night, and the
story had absolutely no thrill of fear because it had been told with
an emphasis on the comical rather than on the fearful. Similar in
structure to _The Three Bears_ is the Norse _Three Billy-Goats_, which
belongs to the same class of delightful repetitive tales and in which
the sequence of the tale is in the same three distinct steps.
II. The Animal Tale
The animal tale includes many of the most pleasing children's tales.
Indeed some authorities would go so far as to trace all fairy tales
back to some ancestor of an animal tale; and in many cases this
certainly can be done just as we trace _Three Bears_ back to
_Scrapefoot_. The animal tale is either an old beast tale, such as
_Scrapefoot_ or _Old Sultan_; or a fairy tale which is an elaborated
development of a fable, such as _The Country Mouse and the City Mouse_
or the tales of _Reynard the Fox_ or Grimm's _The King of the Birds_,
and _The Sparrow and His Four Children_; or it is a purely imaginary
creation, such as Kipling's _The Elephant's Child_ or Andersen's _The
Bronze Pig_.
The beast tale is a very old form which was a story of some successful
primitive hunt or of some primitive man's experience with animals in
which he looked up to the beast as a brother superior to himself in
strength, courage, endurance, swiftness, keen scent, vision, or
cunning. Later, in more civilized society, when men became interested
in problems of conduct, animals were introduced to point the moral of
the tale, and we have the fable. The fable resulted when a truth was
stated in concrete story form. When this truth was in gnomic form,
stated in general terms, it became compressed into the proverb. The
fable was brief, intense, and concerned with the distinguishing
characteristics of the animal characters, who were endowed with human
traits. Such were the _Fables of Æsop_. Then followed the beast epic,
such as _Reynard the Fox_, in which the personality of the animals
became less prominent and the animal characters became types of
humanity. Later, the beast tale took the form of narratives of
hunters, where the interest centered in the excitement of the hunt and
in the victory of the hunter. With the thirst for universal knowledge
in the days following Bacon there gradually grew a desire to learn
also about animals. Then followed animal anecdotes, the result of
observation and imagination, often regarding the mental processes of
animals. With the growth of the scientific spirit the interest in
natural history developed. The modern animal story since 1850 has a
basis of natural science, but it also seeks to search the motive back
of the action, it is a psychological romance. The early modern animal
tales such as _Black Beauty_ show sympathy with animals, but their
psychology is human. In Seton Thompson's _Krag_, which is a
masterpiece, the interest centers about the personality and the
mentality of the animal and his purely physical characteristics.
Perhaps it is true that these physical characteristics are somewhat
imaginary and over-drawn and that overmuch freedom has been used in
interpreting these physical signs. In Kipling's tales we have a later
evolution of the animal tale. His animals possess personality in
emotion and thought. In the forest-friends of Mowgli we have humanized
animals possessing human power of thinking and of expressing. In real
life animal motives seem simple, one dominant motive crowds out all
others. But Kipling's animals show very complex motives, they reason
and judge more than our knowledge of animal life justifies. In the
_Just-So Stories_ Kipling has given us the animal _pourquois_ tale
with a basis of scientific truth. Of these delightful fairy tales,
_The Elephant's Child_ and _How the Camel Got His Hump_ may be used in
the kindergarten. Perhaps the latest evolution of the animal tale is
by Charles G.D. Roberts. The animal characters in his _Kindred of the
Wild_ are given animal characteristics. They have become interesting
as exhibiting these traits and not as typifying human motives; they
show an animal psychology. The tales have a scientific basis, and the
interest is centered in this and not in an exaggeration of it.
Having viewed the animal tale as a growth let us look now at a few
individual tales:--
One of the most pleasing animal tales is _Henny_ _Penny_, or _Chicken
Lichen_, as it is sometimes called, told by Jacobs in _English Fairy
Tales_. Here the enterprising little hen, new to the ways of the
world, ventures to take a walk. Because a grain of corn falls on her
top-knot, she believes the sky is falling, her walk takes direction,
and thereafter she proceeds to tell the king. She takes with her all
she meets, who, like her, are credulous,--Cocky Locky, Ducky Daddies,
Goosey Poosey, and Turky Lurky,--until they meet Foxy Woxy, who leads
them into his cave, never to come out again. This is similar to the
delightful Jataka tale of _The Foolish Timid Rabbit_, which before has
been outlined for telling, which has been re-told by Ellen C. Babbit.
In this tale a Rabbit, asleep under a palm tree, heard a noise, and
thought "the earth was all breaking up." So he ran until he met
another Rabbit, and then a hundred other Rabbits, a Deer, a Fox, an
Elephant, and at last a Lion. All the animals except the Lion accepted
the Rabbit's news and followed. But the Lion made a stand and asked
for facts. He ran to the hill in front of the animals and roared three
times. He traced the tale back to the first Rabbit, and taking him on
his back, ran with him to the foot of the hill where the palm tree
grew. There, under the tree, lay a cocoanut. The Lion explained the
sound the Rabbit had heard, then ran back and told the other animals,
and they all stopped running. _Brother Rabbit Takes Some Exercise_, a
tale from _Nights with Uncle Remus_ is very similar to _Henny_ _Penny_
and could be used at the same time. It is also similar to Grimm's
_Wolf and Seven Kids_, the English _Story of Three Pigs_, the Irish
_The End of the World_, and an Italian popular tale.
_The Sheep and the Pig_, adapted from the Scandinavian by Miss Bailey
in _For the Children's Hour_, given also in Dasent's _Tales from the
Field_, is a delightfully vivacious and humorous tale which reminds
one of _Henny Penny_. A Sheep and Pig started out to find a home, to
live together. They traveled until they met a Rabbit and then followed
this dialogue:
_R_. "Where are you going?"
_S. and P_. "We are going to build us a house."
_R_. "May I live with you?"
_S. and P_. "What can you do to help?"
The Rabbit scratched his leg with his left hind foot for a minute and
said, "I can gnaw pegs with my sharp teeth and I can put them in with
my paws." "Good," said the Sheep and the Pig, "you may come with us!"
Then they met a gray Goose who could pull moss and stuff it in cracks,
and a Cock who could crow early and waken all. So they all found a
house and lived in it happily.
The Spanish _Media Pollito_, or _Little Half-Chick_, is another
accumulative animal tale similar to _Henny Penny_, and one which is
worthy of university study. The disobedient but energetic hero who
went off to Madrid is very appealing and constantly amusing, and the
tale possesses unusual beauty. The interest centers in the character.
The beauty lies in the setting of the adventures, as Medio Pollito
came to a stream, to a large chestnut tree, to the wind, to the
soldiers outside the city gates, to the King's Palace at Madrid, and
to the King's cook, until in the end he reached the high point of
immortalization as the weather-vane of a church steeple.
_The Story of Three Pigs_ could contend with _The Three Bears_ for the
position of ideal story for little people. It suits them even better
than _The Three Bears_, perhaps because they can identify themselves
more easily with the hero, who is a most winning, clever individual,
though a Pig. The children know nothing of the standards of the Greek
drama, but they recognize a good thing; and when the actors in their
story are great in interest and in liveliness, they respond with a
corresponding appreciation. The dramatic element in _The Three Pigs_
is strong and all children love to dramatize it. The story is the
Italian _Three Goslings_, the Negro _Tiny Pig_, the Indian _Lambikin_,
and the German _The Wolf and Seven Kids_. This tale is given by Andrew
Lang in his _Green Fairy Book_. The most satisfactory presentation of
the story is given by Leslie Brooke in his _Golden Goose Book_. The
German version occurred in an old poem, _Reinhart Fuchs_, in which the
Kid sees the Wolf through a chink. Originally the characters must have
been Kids, for little pigs do not have hair on their "chinny chin
chins."
One of the earliest modern animal tales is _The Good-Natured Bear_,[9]
by Richard Hengist Horne, the English critic. This tale was written in
1846, just when men were beginning to gain a greater knowledge of
animal life. It is both psychological and imaginative. It was brought
to the attention of the English public in a criticism, _On Some
Illustrated Christmas Books_,[10] by Thackeray, who considered it one
of the "wittiest, pleasantest, and kindest of books, and an admirable
story." It is now out of print, but it seems to be worthy of being
preserved and reprinted. The story is the autobiography of a Bear, who
first tells about his interesting experiences as a Baby Bear. He first
gives to Gretchen and the children gathered about him an account of
his experience when his Mother first taught him to walk alone.
III. The Humorous Tale
The humorous tale is one of the most pleasing to the little child. It
pleases everybody, but it suits him especially because the essence of
humor is a mixture of love and surprise, and both appeal to the child
completely. Humor brings joy into the world, so does the little child,
their very existence is a harmony. Humor sees contrasts, shows good
sense, and feels compassion. It stimulates curiosity. Its laughter is
impersonal and has a social and spiritual effect. It acts like fresh
air, it clarifies the atmosphere of the mind and it enables one to see
things in a sharply defined light. It reveals character; it breaks up
a situation, reconstructs it, and so views life, interprets it. It
plays with life, it frees the spirit, and it invigorates the soul.
Speaking of humor, Thackeray, in "A Grumble About Christmas Books,"
1847, considered that the motto for humor should be the same as the
talisman worn by the Prioress in Chaucer:--
About hire arm a broche of gold ful shene,
On which was first ywritten a crowned _A_,
And after, _Amor vincit omnia_.
He continued: "The works of the real humorist always have this sacred
press-mark, I think. Try Shakespeare, first of all, Cervantes,
Addison, poor Dick Steele, and dear Harry Fielding, the tender and
delightful Jean Paul, Sterne, and Scott,--and Love is the humorist's
best characteristic and gives that charming ring to their laughter in
which all the good-natured world joins in chorus."
The humorous element for children appears in the repetition of phrases
such as we find in _Three Bears_, _Three Pigs_, and _Three
Billy-Goats_; in the contrast in the change of voice so noticeable
also in these three tales; in the contrast of ideas so conspicuous in
Kipling's _Elephant's Child_; and in the element of surprise so
evident when Johnny Cake is eaten by the Fox, or when Little Hen eats
the bread, or when Little Pig outwits the Wolf. The humorous element
for children also lies in the incongruous, the exaggerated, or in the
grotesque, so well displayed in Lear's _Nonsense Rhymes_, and much of
the charm of _Alice in Wonderland_. The humorous element must change
accordingly for older children, who become surprised less easily, and
whose tales therefore, in order to surprise, must have more clever
ideas and more subtle fancy.
_The Musicians of Bremen_ is a good type of humorous tale. It shows
all the elements of true humor. Its philosophy is healthy; it views
life as a whole and escapes tragedy by seeing the comic situation in
the midst of trouble. It is full of the social good-comradeship which
is a condition of humor. It possesses a suspense that is unusual, and
is a series of surprises with one grand surprise to the robbers at
their feast as its climax. The Donkey is a noble hero who breathes a
spirit of courage like that of the fine Homeric heroes. His
achievement of a home is a mastery that pleases children. And the
message of the tale, which after all, is its chief worth--that there
ought to be room in the world for the aged and the worn out, and that
"The guilty flee when no man pursueth"--appeals to their compassion
and their good sense. The variety of noises furnished by the different
characters is a pleasing repetition with variation that is a special
element of humor; and the grand chorus of music leaves no doubt as to
the climax. We must view life with these four who are up against the
facts of life, and whose lot presents a variety of contrast. The
Donkey, incapacitated because of old age, had the courage to set out
on a quest. He met the Dog who could hunt no longer, stopping in the
middle of the road, panting for breath; the Cat who had only stumps
for teeth, sitting in the middle of the road, wearing an unhappy heart
behind a face dismal as three rainy Sundays; and the Rooster who just
overheard the cook say he was to be made into soup next Sunday,
sitting on the top of the gate crowing his last as loud as he could
crow. The Donkey, to these musicians he collected, spoke as a leader
and as a true humorist.
In a simple tale like _The Bremen Town Musicians_ it is surprising how
much of interest can develop: the adventure in the wood; the motif of
some one going to a tree-top and seeing from there a light afar off,
which appears in _Hop-o'-my-Thumb_ and in many other tales; the
example of coöperation, where all had a unity of purpose; an example
of a good complete short-story form which illustrates introduction,
setting, characters and dialogue--all these proclaim this one of the
fine old stories. In its most dramatic form, and to Jacobs its most
impressive one, it appears in the Celtic tales as _Jack and His
Comrades_. It may have been derived from _Old Sultan_, a Grimm tale
which is somewhat similar to _The Wolf and the Hungry Dog_, in
Steinhowel, 1487. _How Jack Sought His Fortune_ is an English tale of
coöperation which is similar but not nearly so pleasing. A Danish tale
of cooperation, _Pleiades_, is found in Lansing's _Fairy Tales_. _How
Six Traveled Through the World_ is a Grimm tale which, though suited
to older children, contains the same general theme.
Very many of the tales suited to kindergarten children which have been
mentioned in various chapters, contain a large element of humor. The
nonsense drolls are a type distinct from the humorous tale proper, yet
distinctly humorous. Such are the realistic _Lazy Jack_, _Henny
Penny_, and _Billy Bobtail_. Then since repetition is an element of
humor, many accumulative tales rank as humorous: such as _Lambikin_,
_The Old Woman and Her Pig_, _Medio Pollito_, _The Straw Ox_, _Johnny
Cake_, and _Three Billy-Goats_. Among the humorous tales proper are
Andersen's _Snow Man_; _The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership_; _The
Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings_; _The Elephant's Child_; and very many of
the Uncle Remus Tales, such as _Why the Hawk Catches Chickens_,
_Brother Rabbit and Brother Tiger_, and _Heyo, House_! all in _Uncle
Remus and the Little Boy_. _The Story of Little Black Mingo_ in _Tales
of Laughter_, is a very attractive humorous tale, but it is more
suited to the child of the second grade.
_Drakesbill_ is a French humorous accumulative tale with a plot
constructed similarly to that of the Cossack _Straw Ox_. Drakesbill,
who was so tiny they called him Bill Drake, was a great worker and
soon saved a hundred dollars in gold which he lent to the King. But as
the King never offered to pay, one morning Drakesbill set out, singing
as he went, "Quack, quack, quack, when shall I get my money back?" To
all the objects he met and to their questions he replied, "I am going
to the King to ask him to pay me what he owes me." When they begged,
"Take me with you!" he was willing, but he said, "You must make
yourself small, get into my mouth, and creep under my tongue!" He
arrived at the palace with his companions concealed in his mouth: a
Fox, a Ladder, Laughing River, and Wasp-Nest. On asking to see the
King, he was not escorted with dignity but sent to the poultry-yard,
to the turkeys and chickens who fought him. Then he surprised them by
calling forth the Fox who killed the fowls. When he was thrown into a
well, he called out the Ladder to help him. When about to be thrown
into the fire, he called out the River who overwhelmed the rest and
left him serenely swimming. When surrounded by the King's men and
their swords he called out the Wasp-Nest who drove away all but
Drakesbill, leaving him free to look for his money. But he found none
as the King had spent all. So he seated himself upon the throne and
became King. The element of humor here, as has been mentioned
previously, is that Drakesbill, after every rebuff of fortune
maintained his happy, fresh vivacity, and triumphantly repeated his
one cry, "Quack, quack, quack, when shall I get my money back?" There
is humor, too, in the repetition of dialogue, as on his way to the
King he met the various characters and talked to them. Humor lies also
in the real lively surprises which Drakesbill so effectively gave
during his visit to the King. One can see how this tale might have
been a satire reflecting upon a spendthrift King.
IV. The Realistic Tale
The realistic fairy tale has a great sympathy with humble life and
desires to reproduce faithfully all life worth while. The spirit of it
has been expressed by Kipling--
each in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It, for the God of Things as They
are.
Sometimes the realistic story has a scientific spirit and interest. A
realistic tale that is good will present not only what is true but
what is possible, probable, or inevitable, making its truth
impressive. Very often it does not reach this ideal. A transcript of
actual life may be selected, but that is a photograph and not a
picture with a strong purpose to make one point, and with artistic
design. The characters, though true to life, may be lifeless and
colorless, and their doings and what happens to them uninteresting.
For this reason, many modern writers of tales for children, respecting
the worth of the realistic, neglect to comply with what the realistic
demands, and produce insipid, unconvincing tales. The realistic tale
should deal with the simple and the ordinary rather than with the
exceptional; and the test is not how much, but how little, credulity
it arouses.
Grimm's _Hans in Luck_ is a perfect realistic tale, as are Grimm's
_Clever Elsa_ and the Norse _Three Sillies_, although these tales are
suited to slightly older children. The drolls often appear among the
realistic tales, as if genuine humor were more fresh when related to
the things of actual life. The English _Lazy Jack_ is a delightful
realistic droll which contains motifs that appear frequently among the
tales. The Touchstone motif of a humble individual causing nobility to
laugh appears in Grimm's _Dummling and His Golden Goose_. It appears
also in _Zerbino the Savage_, a most elaborated Neapolitan tale retold
by Laboulaye in his _Last Fairy Tales_; a tale full of humor, wit, and
satire that would delight the cultured man of the world.
In _Lazy Jack_ the setting is in humble life. A poor mother lived on
the common with her indolent son and managed to earn a livelihood by
spinning. One day the mother lost patience and threatened to send from
home this idle son if he did not get work. So he set out. Each day he
returned to his mother with his day's earnings. The humor lies in what
he brought, in how he brought it, and in what happened to it; in the
admonition of his mother, "You should have done so and so," and Jack's
one reply, "I'll do so another time"; in Jack's literal use of his
mother's admonition, and the catastrophe it brought him on the
following day, and on each successive day, as he brought home a piece
of money, a jar of milk, a cream cheese, a tom-cat, a shoulder of
mutton, and at last a donkey. The humor lies in the contrast between
what Jack did and what anybody "with sense" knows he ought to have
done, until when royalty beheld him carrying the donkey on his
shoulders, with legs sticking up in the air, it could bear no more,
and burst into laughter. This is a good realistic droll to use because
it impresses the truth, that even a little child must reason and judge
and use his own common sense.
_The Story of the Little Red Hen_ is a realistic tale which presents a
simple picture of humble thrift. Andersen's _Tin Soldier_ is a
realistic tale which gives an adventure that might happen to a real
tin soldier. _The Old Woman and her Pig_, whose history has been given
under _The Accumulative Tale_, is realistic. Its theme is the simple
experience of an aged peasant who swept her house, who had the unusual
much-coveted pleasure of finding a dime, who went to market and bought
a Pig for so small a sum. But on the way home, as the Pig became
contrary when reaching a stile, and refused to go, the Old Woman had
to seek aid. So she asked the Dog, the Stick, the Fire, etc. She asked
aid first from the nearest at hand; and each object asked, in its turn
sought help from the next higher power. One great source of pleasure
in this tale is that each object whose aid is sought is asked to do
the thing its nature would compel it to do--the Dog to bite, the Stick
to beat, etc.; and each successive object chosen is the one which, by
the law of its nature, is a master to the preceding one. The Dog, by
virtue of ability to bite, has power over the Pig; the Stick has
ability to master the Dog; and Water in its power to quench is master
over Fire. Because of this intimate connection of cause and effect,
this tale contributes in an unusual degree to the development of the
child's reason and memory. He may remember the sequence of the plot or
remake the tale if he forgets, by reasoning out the association
between the successive objects from whom aid was asked. It is through
this association that the memory is exercised.
_How Two Beetles Took Lodgings_, in _Tales of Laughter_, is a
realistic story which has a scientific spirit and interest. Its basis
of truth belongs to the realm of nature study. Its narration of how
two Beetles set up housekeeping by visiting an ant-hill and helping
themselves to the home and furnishings of the Ants, would be very well
suited either to precede or to follow the actual study of an ant-hill
by the children. The story gives a good glimpse of the home of the
Ants, of their manner of living, and of the characteristics of the
Ants and Beetles. It is not science mollified, but a good story full
of life and humor, with a basis of scientific truth.
Many tales not realistic contain a large realistic element. The fine
old romantic tales, such as _Cinderella_, _Sleeping Beauty_, and
_Bremen Town Musicians_, have a large realistic element. In _The
Little Elves_ we have the realistic picture of a simple German home.
In _Beauty and the Beast_ we have a realistic glimpse of the three
various ways the wealthy merchant's daughters accommodated themselves
to their father's loss of fortune, which reminds us of a parallel
theme in Shakespeare's _King Lear_. In _Red Riding Hood_ we have the
realistic starting out of a little girl to visit her grandmother. This
realistic element appeals to the child because, as we have noted, it
accords with his experience, and it therefore seems less strange.
In _Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse_ the setting is realistic but becomes
transformed into the romantic when natural doings of everyday life
take on meaning from the unusual happening in the tale. It is
realistic for Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse to live in a little house,
to get some corn, to make a pudding, and to put it on to boil. But
when the pot tumbled over and scalded Titty, the romantic began. The
stool which was real and common and stood by the door became
transformed with animation, it talked: "Titty's dead, and so I weep";
and it hopped! Then a broom caught the same animation from the same
theme, and swept; a door jarred; a window creaked; an old form ran
round the house; a walnut tree shed its leaves; a little bird moulted
his pretty feathers; a little girl spilled her milk; a man tumbled off
his ladder; and the walnut tree fell with a crash, upsetting
everything and burying Titty in the ruins. They all learned to convey
the same message. The common and customary became uncommon and unusual
with extraordinary life, feeling, and lively movement.
Other romantic tales with a large realistic element are _The Three
Bears_, _The Three Pigs_, and _The Three Billy-Goats_, animal tales
which of necessity must be largely realistic, for their foundation is
in the facts of the nature, habits, and traits of the animal
characters they portray.
V. The Romantic Tale
The romantic tale reflects emotion and it contains adventure and the
picturesque; it deals with dreams, distant places, the sea, the sky,
and objects of wonder touched with beauty and strangeness. The purpose
of the romantic is to arouse emotion, pity, or the sense of the
heroic; and it often exaggerates character and incidents beyond the
normal. The test of the romantic tale as well as of the realistic tale
is in the reality it possesses. This reality it will possess, not only
because it is true, but because it is also true to life. And it is to
be remembered that because of the unusual setting in a romantic tale
the truth it presents stands out very clearly with much
impressiveness. _Red Riding Hood_ is a more impressive tale than _The
Three Bears_.
_Cinderella_ is a good type of the old romantic tale. It has a
never-ending attraction for children just as it has had for all
peoples of the world; for this tale has as many as three hundred and
forty-five variants, which have been examined by Miss Cox. In these
variants there are many common incidents, such as the hearth abode,
the helpful animal, the heroine disguise, the ill-treated heroine, the
lost shoe, the love-sick prince, magic dresses, the magic tree, the
threefold flight, the false bride, and many others. But the one
incident which claims the tale as a Cinderella tale proper, is the
recognition of the heroine by means of her shoe. In the Greek
_Rhodope_, the slipper is carried off by an eagle and dropped into the
lap of the King of Egypt, who seeks and marries the owner. In the
Hindu tale the Rajah's daughter loses her slipper in the forest where
it is found by the Prince. The interpretation of _Cinderella_ is that
the Maiden, the Dawn, is dull and gray away from the brightness of the
sun. The Sisters are the Clouds that shadow the Dawn, and the
Stepmother is Night. The Dawn hurries away from the pursuing Prince,
the Sun, who, after a long search, overtakes her in her glorious robes
of sunset.
This tale is the Hindu _Sodewa Bai_, the Zuni _Poor Turkey Girl_, and
the English _Rushen Coatie, Cap-o'-Rushes_, and _Catskin_. _Catskin_,
which Mr. Burchell told to the children of the Vicar of Wakefield, is
considered by Newell as the oldest of the Cinderella types, appearing
in Straparola in 1550, while _Cinderella_ appeared first in Basile in
1637. _Catskin_, in ballad form as given by Halliwell, was printed in
Aldermary Churchyard, England, in 1720; and the form as given by
Jacobs well illustrates how the prose tale developed from the old
ballad. The two most common forms of _Cinderella_ are Perrault's and
Grimm's, either of which is suited to the very little child.
Perrault's _Cinderella_ shows about twenty distinct differences from
the Grimm tale:--
(1) It omits the Mother's death-bed injunction to Cinderella.
(2) It omits the wooden shoes and the cloak.
(3) The Stepmother assigns more modern tasks. It omits the
pease-and-beans task.
(4) It shows Cinderella sleeping in a garret instead of on
the hearth.
(5) It omits the Father.
(6) It omits the hazel bough.
(7) It omits the three wishes.
(8) It substitutes the fairy Godmother for the hazel tree
and the friendly doves.
(9) It substitutes transformation for tree-shaking.
(10) It omits the episode of the pear tree and of the
pigeon-house.
(11) It omits the use of pitch and axe-cutting.
(12) It omits the false bride and the two doves.
(13) It substitutes two nights at the ball for three nights.
(14) It makes C. forgiving and generous at the end. The Sisters
are not punished.
(15) It contains slippers of glass instead of slippers of gold.
(16) It simplifies the narrative, improves the structure, and puts
in the condition, which is a keystone to the structure.
(17) It has no poetical refrain.
(18) It is more direct and dramatic.
(19) It draws the characters more clearly.
(20) Is it not more artificial and conventional?
This contrast shows the Grimm tale to be the more poetical, while it
is the more complex, and contains more barbarous and gruesome elements
unsuited to the child of to-day. Of the two forms, the Grimm tale
seems the superior tale, however, and if rewritten in a literary form
suited to the child, might become even preferable.
_Sleeping Beauty_, which is another romantic tale that might claim to
be the most popular fairy tale, has for its theme the long sleep of
winter and the awakening of spring. The Earth goddess, pricked by
winter's dart, falls into a deep sleep from which she is awakened by
the Sun who searches far for her. This tale is similar to the Norse
_Balder_ and the Greek _Persephone_. Some of its incidents appear also
in _The Two Brothers_, an Egyptian tale of the Nineteenth Dynasty of
Seti II, in which the Hathors who pronounce the fate of the Prince
correspond to the wicked old Fairy. The spindle whose prick caused
slumber is the arrow that wounded Achilles, the thorn which pricked
Siegfried, the mistle-toe which wounded Balder, and the poisoned nail
of the demon in _Surya Bai_. In the northern form of the story we find
the ivy, which is the one plant that can endure winter's touch. The
theme of the long sleep occurs in the mediæval legend of _The Seven
Sleepers of Ephesus_, in the English _The King of England and His
Three Sons_, poetically as Tennyson has given it in his _Day-Dream_,
and in the _Story of Brunhilde_, in _Siegfried_. Here a hedge of
flames encircles Brunhilde who is awakened at the touch of Siegfried's
magic sword, just as Sleeping Beauty is awakened by the Prince's kiss.
The kiss may be a survival of an ancient form of worship of some local
goddess. In the Hindu _Panch-Rhul Ranee_, seven ditches surmounted by
seven hedges of spears, surround the heroine. Of the Perrault and
Grimm versions of _Sleeping Beauty_, the Perrault version is long and
complex because it contains the minor tale of the cruel stepmother
added to the main tale, while the Grimm _Briar Rose_ is a model of
structure easily separated into ten leading episodes. _Sleeping
Beauty_ appeared in Basile's _Pentamerone_ where there is given the
beautiful incident of the baby sucking the spike of flax out of its
sleeping mother's fingers. The Perrault version agrees with that of
Basile in naming the twins, who are Sun and Moon in the _Pentamerone_,
Day and Dawn.
_Red Riding Hood_ is another romantic tale[11] that could claim to be
the one most popular fairy tale of all fairy tales. Similar tales
occur in the story of the Greek Kronos swallowing his children, in the
Algonquin legend repeated in _Hiawatha_, and in an Aryan story of a
Dragon swallowing the sun and being killed by the sun-god, Indra. _Red
Riding Hood_ appeals to a child's sense of fear, it gives a thrill
which if not too intense, is distinctly pleasing. But it pleases less
noticeably perhaps because of its atmosphere of love and service, and
because it presents a picture of a dear little maid. The Grandmother's
gift of love to the child, the bright red hood, the mother's parting
injunction, the Wolf's change of aspect and voice to suit the
child--all these directly and indirectly emphasize love, tenderness,
and appreciation of simple childhood. The child's errand of gratitude
and love, the play in the wood, the faith in the woodcutter's
presence--all are characteristic of a typical little maid and one to
be loved. There is in the tale too, the beauty of the wood--flowers,
birds, and the freshness of the open air. The ending of the tale is
varied. In Perrault the Wolf ate Grandmother and then ate Red Riding
Hood. In Grimm one version gives it that the Hunter, hearing snoring,
went to see what the old lady needed. He cut open the Wolf, and
Grandmother and Red Riding Hood became alive. He filled the Wolf with
stones. When the Wolf awoke, he tried to run, and died. All three were
happy; the Hunter took the skin, Grandmother had her cake and wine,
and Red Riding Hood was safe and had her little girl's lesson of
obedience. Another Grimm ending is that Little Red-Cap reached the
Grandmother before the Wolf, and after telling her that she had met
him, they both locked the door. Then they filled a trough with water
in which the sausages had been boiled. When the Wolf tried to get in
and got up on the roof, he was enticed by the odor, and fell into the
trough. A great deal of freedom has been used in re-telling the ending
of this tale, usually with the purpose of preventing the Wolf from
eating Red Riding Hood. In regard to the conclusion of _Red Riding
Hood_, Thackeray said: "I am reconciled to the Wolf eating Red Riding
Hood because I have given up believing this is a moral tale altogether
and am content to receive it as a wild, odd, surprising, and not
unkindly fairy story."
The interpretation of _Red Riding Hood_--which the children need not
know--is that the evening Sun goes to see her Grandmother, the Earth,
who is the first to be swallowed up by the Wolf of Night and Darkness.
The red cloak is the twilight glow. The Hunter may be the rising Sun
that rescues all from Night. _Red Riding Hood_ has been charmingly
elaborated in Tieck's _Romantic Poems_, and a similar story appears in
a Swedish popular song, _Jungfrun i'Blaskagen_, in _Folkviser_ 3; 68,
69.
VI, VII. The Old Tale and the Modern Tale.
The old fairy tale is to be distinguished from the modern fairy tale.
Most of the tales selected have been old tales because they possess
the characteristics suited to the little child. The modern fairy tale
may be said to begin with Andersen's _Fairy Tales_.--Since Andersen
has been referred to frequently and as a study of _The Tin Soldier_
has already been given, Andersen's work can receive no more detailed
treatment here.--The modern fairy tale, since the time of Andersen,
has yet to learn simplicity and sincerity. It often is long and
involved and presents a multiplicity of images that is confusing. It
lacks the great art qualities of the old tale, the central unity and
harmony of character and plot. The _idea_ must be the soul of the
narrative, and the problem is to make happen to the characters things
that are expressive of the idea. The story must hold by its interest,
and must be sincere and inevitable to be convincing. It must
understand that the method of expression must be the method of
suggestion and not that of detail. The old tale set no boundaries to
its suggestion. It used concrete artistry; but because the symbol
expressed less it implied more. The modern tale is more definitely
intentional and it often sets boundaries to its suggestion because the
symbol expresses so much. Frequently it emphasizes the satiric and
critical element, and its humor often is heavy and clumsy. To be
literature, as has been pointed out, besides characters, plot,
setting, and dialogue, a classic must present truth; it must have
emotion and imagination molded with beauty into the form of language;
and it must have the power of a classic to bestow upon the mind a
permanent enrichment. Any examination of the modern fairy tale very
frequently shows a failure to meet these requirements.
The modern tale is not so poor, however, when we mention such tales as
Lewis Carroll's _Alice in Wonderland_, Oscar Wilde's _Happy Prince_,
Alice Brown's _Gradual Fairy_, Frances Browne's _Prince Fairyfoot_,
Miss Mulock's _Little Lame Prince_, Barrie's _Peter Pan_, Jean
Ingelow's _Mopsa, the Fairy_ and _The Ouphe in the Wood_, Field's _The
Story of Claus_, Stockton's _Old Pipes and the Dryad_, Kingsley's
_Water Babies_, Ruskin's _King of the Golden River_, Collodi's
_Pinocchio_, Maeterlinck's _Blue-Bird_, Kipling's _Just-So Stories_
and the tales of the _Jungle Books_, Selma Lagerlöf's _Wonderful
Adventures of Nils_, the _Uncle Remus Tales_ of Harris, etc. But these
classics are, with a few exceptions, the richness of the primary and
elementary literature. The modern fairy tale suited to the
kindergarten child, is at a disadvantage, for most likely it is hidden
away in some magazine, waiting for appreciation to bring some
attention to it. And in these complex modern days it is difficult to
secure a tale whose simplicity suits the little child.
Among the best tales for little people are Miss Harrison's _Hans and
the Four Giants_ and _Little Beta and the Lame Giant_. In _Little Beta
and the Lame Giant_ a natural child is placed in unusual surroundings,
where the gentleness of the giant and the strength of love in the
little girl present strong contrasts that please and satisfy. _The Sea
Fairy and the Land Fairy_ in _Some Fairies I have Met_, by Mrs.
Stawell, though possessing much charm and beauty, is too complicated
for the little people. It is a quarrel of a Sea Fairy and a Land
Fairy. It is marked by good structure, it presents a problem in the
introduction, has light fancy suited to its characters, piquant
dialogue, good description, visualized expressions, and it presents
distinct pictures. Its method is direct and it gets immediately into
the story. Its method of personification, which in this, perhaps the
best story of the collection, is rather delightful, in some of the
others is less happy and is open to question. _How Double Darling's
Old Shoes Became Lady Slippers_, by Candace Wheeler, in _St.
Nicholas_, is a really delightful modern fairy story suited to be read
to the little child. It is the experience of a little girl with new
shoes and her dream about her old shoes. But the story lacks in
structure, there is not the steady rise to one great action, the
episode of the Santa Claus tree is somewhat foreign and unnecessary,
and the conclusion falls flat because the end seems to continue after
the problem has been worked out.
In _The Dwarf's Tailor_, by Underhill, there is much conversation
about things and an indirect use of language, such as "arouse them to
reply" and "continued to question," which is tedious. The humor is at
times heavy, quoting proverbs, such as "The pitcher that goes too
often to the well is broken at last." The climax is without interest.
The scene of the Dwarfs around the fire--in which the chief element of
humor seems to be that the Tailor gives the Dwarf a slap--is rather
foolish than funny. The details are trite and the transformation
misses being pleasing. Again there is not much plot and the story does
not hold by its interest. In _The Golden Egg and the Cock of Gold_, by
Scudder, the conversation is not always to the point, is somewhat on
the gossipy order, is trite, and the suspense is not held because the
climax is told beforehand. Mrs. Burton Harrison's _Old Fashioned Fairy
Book_ is very pleasing, but it was written for her two sons, who were
older children. It has the fault of presenting too great a variety of
images and it lacks simplicity of structure. Its _Juliet_, or _The
Little White Mouse_, which seems to be a re-telling of D'Aulnoy's
_Good Little Mouse_, contains a good description of the old-time fairy
dress. _Deep Sea Violets_, perhaps the best-written story in the book,
gives a good picture of a maiden taken to a Merman's realm. _Rosy's
Stay-at-Home Parties_ has delightful imagination similar to that of
Andersen.
_Five Little Pigs_, by Katherine Pyle, is a delightful little modern
story, which could be used with interest by the child who knows _The
Story of Three Little Pigs_. _The Little Rooster_, by Southey, is a
very pleasing realistic tale of utmost simplicity which, because of
its talking animals, might be included here. A criticism of this tale,
together with a list of realistic stories containing some realistic
fairy tales suited to the kindergarten, may be read in _Educational
Foundations_, October, 1914. _The Hen That Hatched Ducks_, by Harriet
Beecher Stowe, is a pleasing and sprightly humorous tale of Madam
Feathertop and her surprising family of eight ducks, and of Master
Gray Cock, Dame Scratchard and Dr. Peppercorn. A modern tale that is
very acceptable to the children is _The Cock, the Mouse, and the
Little Red Hen_, by Félicité Lefèvre, which is a re-telling of the
_Story of the Little Red Hen_ combined with the story of _The Little
Rid Hin_. In this tale the two old classic stories are preserved but
re-experienced, with such details improvised as a clever child would
himself naturally make. These additional details appeal to his
imagination and give life-likeness and freshness to the tale, but they
do not detract from the impression of the original or confuse the
identity of the characters in the old tales.
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:--
Ring-a-ding-dill, ring-a-ding-dill,
The Hop-About-Man comes over the hill.
Why is he coming, and what will he see?
Rickety, rackety,--one, two, three.
The story then describes Wee Wun's troubles with the Hop-About-Man,
who remained an unwelcome inhabitant of the house where Wee Wun liked
to sit all alone. The Hop-About-Man made everything keep hopping about
until Wee Wun would put all careless things straight, and until he
would give back to him his blue-and-silver shoes. One day, Wee Wun
became a careful housekeeper and weeded out of the dandelion garden
all the blue blow-away plants that grew from the seeds he had
scattered there in the Stir-About-Wife's garden, and when he came home
his troubles were over, and the Hop-About-Man was gone.
Perhaps one reason for the frequent failure of the modern fairy tale
is that it fails to keep in harmony with the times. Just as the modern
novel has progressed from the romanticism of Hawthorne, the realism of
Thackeray, through the psychology of George Eliot, and the philosophy
of George Meredith, so the little child's story--which like the adult
story is an expression of the spirit of the times--must recognize
these modern tendencies. It must learn, from _Alice in Wonderland_ and
from _A Child's Garden of Verses_, that the modern fairy tale is not a
_Cinderella_ or _Sleeping Beauty_, but the modern fairy tale is the
child's mind. The real fairy world is the strangeness and beauty of
the child mind's point of view. It is the duty and privilege of the
modern fairy tale to interpret the child's psychology and to present
the child's philosophy of life.
REFERENCES
Century Co.: _St. Nicholas Magazine_, 1915; _St. Nicholas Fairy
Stories Re-told_.
Gates, Josephine: "And Piped Those Children Back Again," (Pied
Piper) _St. Nicholas_, Nov., 1914.
Hays, Ruth: "Greencap," _St. Nicholas_, June, 1915.
Hazlitt, William; _Essays_. ("Wit and Humor.") Camelot Series.
Scott.
Hooker, B.: "Narrative and the Fairy Tale," _Bookman_, 33: June
and July, 1911, pp. 389-93, pp. 501-05.
_Ibid_: "Types of Fairy Tales," _Forum_, 40: Oct., 1908, pp.
375-84.
Martin, John: _John Martin's Book_ (Magazine), 1915
Meredith, George: _The Comic Spirit_. Scribners.
Moulton, Alice O'Grady, and Literature Committee: "Humorous
Tales" _Kindergarten Review_, Dec, 1914.
Perry, Bliss: _A Study of Prose Fiction_. ("The Romantic" and
"The Realistic") Houghton.
CHAPTER VI
SOURCES OF MATERIAL FOR FAIRY TALES: A LIST OF FAIRY TALES, PICTURES,
PICTURE-BOOKS, POEMS, AND BOOKS
Shall we permit our children, without scruple, to hear any
fables composed by any authors indifferently, and so to
receive into their minds opinions generally the reverse of
those which, when they are grown to manhood, we shall think
they ought to entertain?--PLATO, in _The Republic_.
Any list of fairy tales for little children must be selected from
those books which, as we have noted, contain the best collections of
folk-lore, and from books which contain tales that rank as classics.
An examination of the tales of Perrault, of Grimm, of Dasent, of
Andersen, of Jacobs, of Harris, and of miscellaneous tales, to see
what are suited to the little child, would result in the following
lists of tales. Those most worthy of study for the kindergarten are
marked with an asterisk and those suited to the first grade are marked
"1." No attempt has been made to mention all the varied sources of a
tale or its best version. The Boston Public Library issues a _Finding
List of Fairy Tales and Folk Stories_, which may be procured easily,
and the Carnegie Library at Pittsburg issues in its monthly bulletin
for December, 1913, vol. 18, no. 10, a _List of Folk-Tales_, and other
stories which may be dramatized. The Baker, Taylor Company, in 1914,
issued a _Graded Guide to Supplementary Reading_, which contains a
list of many of the best editions of folk and fairy tales suited to
primary grades. A list of school editions is included in this book.
But one cannot fail to be impressed with the general low literary
standard of many school editions of fairy tales when judged by the
standards here applied to the tales themselves.--
I. A List of Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
Tales of Perrault:
* CINDERELLA.
1 LITTLE THUMB.
1 PUSS-IN BOOTS.
* RED RIDING HOOD.
1 SLEEPING BEAUTY.
1 THE THREE WISHES.
Tales of the Grimms:
1 BIRDIE AND LENA.
1 BRIAR ROSE.
* THE CAT AND THE MOUSE IN PARTNERSHIP.
1 CHANTICLEER AND PARTLET.
1. HOW THEY WENT TO THE HILLS TO EAT NUTS.
2. THE VISIT TO M KORBES.
3. THE DEATH OF PARTLETT.
* CINDERELLA.
* THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER.
THE FOX AND THE GEESE.
1 THE HARE AND THE HEDGEHOG.
1 THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD.
* THE KING OF THE BIRDS.
1 LITTLE BROTHER AND SISTER
1 THE LITTLE LAMB AND THE LITTLE FISH.
* LITTLE RED-CAP.
1 LITTLE SNOW WHITE.
1 LITTLE TWO-EYES.
MOTHER HOLLE.
1 THE NOSE.
1 SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED.
* THE SPARROW AND HIS FOUR CHILDREN.
STAR DOLLARS.
* THE SPIDER AND THE FLEA.
* THE STRAW, THE COAL, AND THE BEAN.
* THE TOWN MUSICIANS OF BREMEN.
THE WILLOW WREN AND THE BEAR.
* THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN KIDS.
* THE WONDERFUL PORRIDGE POT.
Norse Tales:
COCK AND HEN.
THE COCK AND HEN A-NUTTING.
THE COCK AND HEN THAT WENT TO THE DOVREFELL.
COCK, CUCKOO, AND BLACK COCK.
* DOLL I' THE GRASS.
1 GERTRUDE'S BIRD.
1 KATIE WOODENCLOAK (read).
1 THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND.
1 LORD PETER (read).
ONE'S OWN CHILDREN ABE ALWAYS PRETTIEST.
* THREE BILLY GOATS.
1 THUMBIKIN (read).
* WHY THE BEAR IS STUMPY-TAILED (pourquois).
English Tales, by Jacobs:
* THE CAT AND THE MOUSE.
* HENNY PENNY.
1 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.
* HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE.
1 JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK.
* JOHNNY CAKE.
* LAZY JACK.
* THE MAGPIE'S NEST.
1 MASTER OF ALL MASTERS.
* M MIACCA.
1 M VINEGAR.
* THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG.
* PUDDOCK, MOUSIE, AND RATTON.
1 SCRAPEFOOT.
* THE STORY OF THREE BEARS.
* THE STORY OF THREE LITTLE PIGS.
* TEENY TINY.
* TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE.
Modern Fairy Tales, by Andersen:
* THE FIR TREE.
* FIVE PEAS IN A POD.
1 THE HAPPY FAMILY (retold in _Tales of Laughter_).
LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS (read).
* OLE-LUK-OLE (read to end of Thursday).
THURSDAY, WEDDING OF A MOUSE.
* THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA.
* THE SNOW MAN.
1 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER.
THE TOP AND THE BALL.
* THUMBELINA.
WHAT THE MOON SAW:
* LITTLE GIRL AND CHICKENS.
* THE NEW FROCK (realistic).
* LITTLE CHIMNEY SWEEP.
* BEAR WHO PLAYED "SOLDIERS."
* BREAD AND BUTTER.
Uncle Remus Tales, by Harris, in _Nights with Uncle Remus_:
* BRER RABBIT AND THE LITTLE TAR BABY.
* BROTHER RABBIT AND THE LITTLE GIRL.
* BROTHER RABBIT TAKES A WALK.
* BROTHER RABBIT TAKES SOME EXERCISE.
* CUTTA CORD-LA (similar to Wolf and Seven Kids).
* How BROTHER RABBIT BROKE UP A PARTY.
* How BROTHER RABBIT FRIGHTENS HIS NEIGHBORS.
* How M ROOSTER LOST HIS DINNER (read).
* IN SOME LADY'S GARDEN.
* M BENJAMIN RAM (Brother Rabbit's Riddle).
* THE MOON IN THE MILL-POND (pourquois).
* WHY BROTHER BEAK HAS NO TAIL (pourquois).
* WHY M DOG RUNS AFTER BROTHER RABBIT.
* WHY GUINEA FOWLS ARE SPECKLED (pourquois).
Uncle Remus Tales, by Harris, in _Uncle Remus and the Little
Boy_:
* BROTHER BILLY GOAT'S DINNER.
BROTHER FOX SMELLS SMOKE.
* BROTHER RABBIT AND BROTHER TIGER.
* BROTHER RABBIT AND BROTHER LION (similar to _The Dog and His
Shadow_).
* BROTHER MUD-TURTLE'S TRICKERY.
* BROTHER RABBIT'S MONEY MINT.
1 BROTHER WOLF SAYS GRACE.
1 THE FIRE TEST (Use with _Three Pigs_).
FUN AT THE FERRY.
* HEYO, HOUSE.
THE LITTLE RABBITS.
MRS. PARTRIDGE HAS A FIT.
WHY BROTHER FOX'S LEGS ARE BLACK.
* WHY THE HAWK CATCHES CHICKENS.
Tale, by Harris, in _Little Mr. Thimblefinger_:
* WHY BILLY-GOAT'S TAIL IS SHORT.
Miscellaneous Tales:
* THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE FIELD MOUSE, _Stories to Tell_,
Bryant.
* BETA AND THE LAME GIANT, Miss Harrison, _In Storyland_.
* BILLY BOBTAIL, Jane Hoxie, _Kindergarten Stories; Child-Lore
Dramatic Reader_, Scribners.
* BLUNDER AND THE WISHING GATE, Louise Chollet, in _Child Life
in Prose_, Whittier.
* THE BOY AND THE GOAT, OR THE GOAT IN THE TURNIP FIELD
(Norwegian), _Primer_, Free and Treadwell; _Child-Lore
Dramatic Reader_, Scribners.
* THE CAP THAT MOTHER MADE OR ANDER'S NEW CAP (Swedish),
_Swedish Fairy Tales_, McClurg; _For the Story-Teller_,
Bailey.
1 THE CAT AND THE PARROT OR THE GREEDY CAT, _HOW to Tell
Stories_, Bryant; _Tales of Laughter_, Wiggin and Smith.
1 THE CAT THAT WAITED, _Classics in Dramatic Form_, vol. I,
Stevenson.
* THE CAT, THE COCK, AND THE FOX, _Tales of Laughter_, Wiggin
and Smith.
1 CLYTIE, _Nature Myths_, Flora Cooke.
1 THE COCK, THE MOUSE, AND THE LITTLE RED HEN, Félicité
Lefèvre, Jacobs.
* THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE, _Æsop's Fables_, Joseph
Jacobs.
* DAME WIGGINS AND HER CATS, Mrs. Sharp, in _Six Nursery
Classics_, Heath.
* THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM, Jane Taylor, in _In the Child's
World_, Poulsson.
* THE DOLL WHO WAS SISTER TO A PRINCESS, THE TOY STORIES,
Carolyn Bailey, _Kindergarten Review_, Dec., 1914.
* DRAKESBILL, _The Story-Teller's Book_, O'Grady and Throop;
_The Fairy Ring_, Wiggin and Smith; _Firelight Stories_,
Bailey.
* THE ELEPHANT'S CHILD, _Just-So Stories_, Kipling.
1 THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE, _A Little Book of Profitable
Tales_, Eugene Field.
1 THE FIVE LITTLE PIGS, Katherine Pyle, in _Wide Awake Second
Reader_, Little.
* THE FOOLISH TIMID RABBIT, _Jataka Tales Retold_, Babbit.
THE GOLDEN COCK, _That's Why Stories_, Bryce.
1 GOLDEN ROD AND ASTER, _Nature Myths_, Cooke.
THE GRAIN OF CORN _(Old Woman and Her Pig), Tales of the
Punjab_, Steel.
1 GREENCAP, Ruth Hays, in _St. Nicholas_, June, 1915.
1 HANS AND THE FOUR BIG GIANTS, Miss Harrison, _In Storyland_.
1 THE HEN THAT HATCHED DUCKS, Harriet Beecher Stowe, in _Child
Life in Prose_, Whittier.
* THE HOP-ABOUT-MAN, Agnes Herbertson, in _The Story-Teller's
Book_, O'Grady and Throop; in _Little Folks' Magazine_.
* THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, _Six Nursery Classics_, D.C.
Heath.
1 HOW BROTHER RABBIT FOOLED THE WHALE, _Stories to Tell_,
Bryant.
* HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP, _Just-So Stories_, Kipling.
1 HOW THE CHIPMUNK GOT THE STRIPES ON ITS BACK, _Nature Myths_,
Cooke.
* HOW DOUBLE DARLING'S OLD SHOES BECAME LADY SLIPPERS, Candace
Wheeler, in _St. Nicholas_, March, 1887; vol. 14, pp.
342-47.
* HOW FIRE WAS BROUGHT TO THE INDIANS, _The Book of Nature
Myths_, Holbrook.
* HOW SUN, MOON, AND WEST WIND WENT OUT TO DINNER, _Old Deccan
Days_, Frère.
1 THE JACKAL AND THE ALLIGATOR, _Stories to Tell_, Bryant.
1 THE JACKALS AND THE LION, _Stories to Tell_, Bryant.
1 KING SOLOMON AND THE ANTS, _Nature Myths_, Cooke.
* THE LAMBIKIN, _Tales of the Punjab_, Steel; _Indian Tales_,
Jacobs.
* LITTLE JACK ROLLAROUND, _Stories to Tell_, Bryant.
* THE LITTLE RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS, _For the
Story-Teller_, Bailey.
* THE LITTLE RED HEN, _Stories to Tell_, Bryant.
* THE LITTLE RED HIN (Irish dialect verse), _Stories to Tell_,
Bryant.
* THE LITTLE ROOSTER, Robert Southey, in _Boston Collection of
Kindergarten Stories_, Hammett & Co.
* LITTLE SPIDER'S FIRST WEB, _Primer_, Free and Treadwell.
* LITTLE TOP-KNOT (Swedish), _First Reader_, Free and
Treadwell.
* LITTLE TUPPEN, _Fairy Stories and Fables_, Baldwin; _Primer_,
Free and Treadwell.
* LUDWIG AND MARLEEN, Jane Hoxie, in _Kindergarten Review_,
vol. xi, no. 5.
* MEDIO POLLITO, THE LITTLE HALF-CHICK (Spanish), _The Green
Fairy Book_, Lang.
* MEZUMI, THE BEAUTIFUL, OR THE RAT PRINCESS (Japanese),
_Birch-Tree Fairy Book_, Johnson; _Tales of Laughter_,
Wiggin and Smith.
1 M ELEPHANT AND M FROG, _Firelight Stories_, Bailey.
1 THE MOON'S SILVER CLOAK, _Classics in Dramatic Form_,
Stevenson, vol. i.
1 THE MOUSE AND THE SAUSAGE, _Stories and Story-Telling_,
Angela Keyes.
* OEYVIND AND MARIT, from _The Happy Boy_, Björnstjerne
Björnson, in _The Story-Teller's Book_, O'Grady and
Throop; in _Child-Life in Prose_, Whittier.
* PETER RABBIT, _Peter Rabbit_, Beatrix Potter.
1 THE PIGS AND THE GIANT, Pyle, in _Child-Lore Dramatic
Reader_, Scribners.
* THE QUICK-RUNNING SQUASH, _Short Stories for Short People_,
Aspinwall.
1 THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, _Nature Myths_, Cooke.
* THE RICH GOOSE, Leora Robinson, in _The Outlook_.
* THE ROBIN'S CHRISTMAS SONG, _Birch-Tree Fairy Book_,
Johnson.
* (WEE) ROBIN'S YULE SONG. _Tales of Laughter_, Wiggin and
Smith.
* THE SHEEP AND THE PIG (Scandinavian), _For the Children's
Hour_, Bailey.
* THE SPARROW AND THE CROW, _Tales of the Punjab_, Steel;
_Birch-Tree Fairy Book_, Johnson.
* THE STRAW OX, _Cossack Fairy Tales_, Bain.
* STORY OF THE MORNING-GLORY SEED, M. Eytinge, _Boston
Kindergarten Stories_.
1 THE TALE OF A BLACK CAT, _Oak-Tree Fairy Book_, Johnson.
1 TOMMY AND THE WISHING-STONE, a series, by T. Burgess, in _St.
Nicholas_, 1915.
1 TRAVELS OF A FOX, _Oak-Tree Fairy Book_, Johnson.
1 THE TURTLE WHO COULDN'T STOP TALKING, _Jataka Tales Retold_,
Babbit.
* THE UNHAPPY PINE TREE, _Classic Stories_, McMurry.
1 What Bunch And Joker Saw In The Moon, _Wide Awake
Chatterbox_, about 1887.
1 The White Cat, _Fairy Tales_, D'Aulnoy; _Fairy Tales_, Vol.
II, Lansing.
* Why The Evergreen Trees Never Lose Their Leaves, _The Book
Of Nature Myths_, Holbrook.
* Why The Juniper Has Berries, _The Book Of Nature Myths_,
Holbrook.
* Why The Morning Glory Climbs, _How to Tell Stories_, Bryant.
1 The Wish Bird, _Classics In Dramatic Form_, Vol. II,
Stevenson.
II. Bibliography Of Fairy Tales
Baker, Franklin T.: _Bibliography Of Children's Reading_.
Introduction and lists. Teachers College, Columbia University.
Baker Taylor Company, The: _Graded Guide to Supplementary
Reading_. 1914.
Boston Public Library: _Finding List of Fairy Tales_.
Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh. _List of Folk Tales_. Bulletin,
Dec, 1913, Vol. 18, No. 10.
_Ibid_.: _Illustrated Editions of Children's Books_. 1915.
Harron, Julia; Bacon, Corinne; and Dana, John: _American Library
Economy_. Newark Free Library, Newark, New Jersey.
Haight, Rachel Webb: "Fairy Tales." _Bulletin of Bibliography_,
1912. Boston Book Co.
Hewins, Caroline: _A.L.A. List. Books for Boys and Girls_. Third
Edition, 1913. A.L.A. Pub. Board, Chicago.
Kready, Laura F.: "Picture-Books For Little Children."
_Kindergarten Review_, Sept., 1914.
Moulton, Alice O'Grady, and Literature Com. of I.K.U.: "Humorous
Stories for Children." _Kindergarten Review_, Dec, 1914.
Salisbury, G.E., and Beckwith, M.E.: _Index to Short Stories_.
St. Louis Public Library. _Lists of Stories and Programs for
Story Hours_. Give best versions.
Widdemer, Margaret: "A Bibliography of Books and Articles
Relating to Children's Reading. Part I, Children's Reading in
general. Part II, History of Children's Literature, etc. Part
III, Guidance of Children's Reading." _Bulletin of
Bibliography_, July, 1911, Oct., 1911, and Jan., 1912. Boston
Book Co.
III. A List of Picture-Books[13]
Beskow, Elsa: _Hanschen im Blaubeerenwald_. Stuttgart.
Brooke, Leslie: _The Golden Goose Book_. F. Warne.
_Ibid._: The _House in the Wood_. F. Warne.
_Ibid._: _The Truth About Old King Cole_. F. Warne.
Browning, Robert: _The Pied Piper_, Kate Greenaway, F. Warne;
Hope Dunlap, Rand; T. Butler Stoney, Dutton.
Caldecott, Randolph: _Picture-Books:_
2. _The House that Jack Built_. F. Warne.
3. _Hey Diddle Diddle Book_. F. Warne.
Coussens, P.W.: _A Child's Book of Stories_. Jessie W. Smith.
Duffield.
Crane, Walter: _Picture-Books:_
_Cinderella_. John Lane.
_Mother Hubbard_. John Lane.
_Red Riding Hood_. John Lane.
_This Little Pig_. John Lane.
Grimm, Jacob and William: _Cruikshank Fairy Book_. Cruikshank,
Putnam.
_Ibid._: _Das Deutsche Bilderbuch_. Jos. Scholz.
1. _Dörnroschen_.
2. _Aschenputtel_.
7. _Frau Holle_.
10. _Der Wolf und Sieben Geislein_.
_Ibid._: _Liebe Märchen_. 10, 11, 12. Jos. Scholz.
_Ibid._: _Cherry Blossom_. Helen Stratton. Blackie and Sons.
Jerrold, Walter: _The Big Book of Fairy Tales_. Robinson.
Blackie.
Olfers, Sibylle: _Windschen_. J.F. Schreiber.
_Ibid.: Wurzelkindern_. J.F. Schreiber.
Sharp, Mrs.: _Dame Wiggins of Lee_. Introduction by Ruskin.
Kate Greenaway. George Allen.
IV. A LIST OF PICTURES
Cinderella. 227, Meinhold. Dresden. 724, Meinhold. Dresden. 366,
Teubner. Leipzig.
_Canadian Magazine_, Dec., 1911, by Val Prinsep, A.
Elves. Arthur Rackham. _St. Nicholas_, Nov., 1914.
_Ibid.: Book of Pictures_. Century.
Hop-o'-my-Thumb. _A Child's Own Book of Fairy Tales_. Dore. H.
Pisan, engraver. Elizabeth S. Forbes. _Canadian Magazine_,
Dec., 1911.
Little Brother and Sister. Tempera Painting, Marianna Stokes.
_Illustrated London News_, Dec., 1907.
Perrault's Tales. Kay Nielsen. _Illustrated London News_, Dec.,
1913.
Red Riding Hood. Poster, Mary Stokes. _Ladies' Home Journal_.
230, Meinhold. Dresden. 77, Teubner. Leipzig and Berlin. G.
Ferrier. Engraved for _St. Nicholas_, Braun, Clement, & Co.
Supplement to _American Primary Teacher_, May, 1908. Picture, 2
ft. by 1 ft., New Specialty Shop, Phila., Pa.
Sleeping Beauty. Mouat, London. _Canadian Magazine_, Dec., 1911.
_Illustrated London News_, Dec., 1907.
Snow White. A series. Maxfield Parrish. Picture by Elizabeth
Shippen Green.
Two Series. Five pictures in each. Jessie Willcox Smith. P.F.
Collier & Sons.
V. A LIST OF FAIRY POEMS
Allingham, William: _The Fairy Folk_. The Posy Ring. Bangs, John
Kendrick: _The Little Elf_. The Posy Ring.
Bird, Robert: _The Fairy Folk_. A Child's Book of Old Verses.
Dodsley, R.: _Red Caps of Fairies. Fuimus Troes_, Old Plays.
Drayton, Michael: _Nymphal III_, Poets' Elysium.
Herford, Oliver: _The Elf and the Dormouse_. The Posy Ring.
Hood, Thomas: _A Plain Direction_. Heart of Oak Books, III.
_Ibid._: _Queen Mab_. A Child's Book of Old Verses.
Howitt, Mary: _The Fairies of the Caldon-Low_. The Posy Ring.
_Ibid._: _Mabel on Midsummer Day_. The Story-Teller's Book,
O'Grady and Throop.
Lyly, John: _The Urchin's Dance and Song. Song of the First
Fairy_. _Song of the Second Fairy_. Maydes Metamorphosis.
McDermot, Jessie: _A Fairy Tale_. Fairy Tales. Rolfe. Amer. Book
Co.
Noyes, Alfred: _The Magic Casement_. An anthology of fairy
poetry, with an introduction. Dutton.
Percy, Bishop: _The Fairy Queen_. Reliques of Ancient Poetry;
from The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence, London, 1658.
Shakespeare, William: _Ariel's Song_; _A Fairy Song_; "_I know a
bank_"; _The Song of the Fairies_. Shakespeare's Dramas.
Stevenson, Robert L. _Fairy Bread_; _The Little Land_. A Child's
Garden of Verses.
Unknown Author: _The Fairy_. "_Oh, who is so merry_." A Child's
Book of Old Verses. Duffield.
Wilkins, Mary E.: _The Ballad of the Blacksmith's Sons_. Fairy
Stories Retold from _St. Nicholas_. Century.
VI. MAIN STANDARD FAIRY TALE BOOKS
Andersen, Hans Christian: _Fairy Tales_. 2 vols. Pedersen &
Stone. Houghton.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Tales_. Edited by W.A. and J.K. Craigie. Oxford
University Press.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Stories for Youngest Children_. Lucas.
Stratton. Blackie. (English edition.)
_Ibid._: _Fairy Tales_. Mrs. Lucas. T.C. and W. Robinson.
Dutton.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Tales_. Mrs. Lucas. Helen Stratton. Dodge.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Tales_. Maria L. Kirk. Lippincott.
Andersen, Hans Christian: _Fairy Tales_. Edmund Dulac. Hodder &
Stoughton.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. W.H. Robinson. Holt.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Braekstad. Tegner. Introd. by Gosse.
Century.
Asbjörnsen, P.C.: _Fairy Tales from the Far North_. Burt.
_Ibid.: Round the Yule Log_. Introd. by Gosse. Braekstad.
Lippincott.
Dasent, Sir George W.: _Popular Tales from the North_. Routledge.
Dutton.
_Ibid.: Popular Tales from the North_. Putnam.
_Ibid.: Tales from the Field_. Putnam.
Grimm, Jacob and William: _Household Tales_. Margaret Hunt.
Bonn's Libraries, Bell & Co.
_Ibid.: Household Tales_. Lucy Crane. Walter Crane. Macmillan.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Helen Stratton. Dodge.
_Ibid.: German Popular Stories_. Tr. Edgar Taylor. Introd. by
Ruskin. 22 illustrations by Cruikshank. Chatto & Windus.
_Ibid_.: _Fairy Tales_. Johann & Leinweber. McLoughlin.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Arthur Rackham. Doubleday.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Hope Dunlap. Rand.
Harris, Joel Chandler: _Uncle Remus, His Songs and Sayings_.
Appleton.
_Ibid.: Nights With Uncle Remus_. Church. Houghton.
_Ibid_.: _Uncle Remus and His Friends_. Frost. Houghton.
_Ibid.: Uncle Remus and the Little Boy_. J.M. Comte. Small.
Jacobs, Joseph: _English Fairy Tales_. 2 vols. Batten. Putnam.
_Ibid.: Celtic Fairy Tales_. 2 vols. Batten. Putnam.
_Ibid.: Indian Fairy Tales_. Batten. Putnam.
_Ibid.: The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox_.
Frank Calderon. Macmillan.
_Ibid.: Europa's Fairy Tales_. Batten. Putnam.
O'Shea, M.V.: _Old World Wonder Stories_. Heath.
Perrault, Charles: _Tales of Mother Goose_. Welsh. Heath.
_Ibid_.: _Fairy Tales_. Appleton. Estes.
Perrault, Charles: _Tales of Passed Times_. Temple Classics. C.
Robinson. Dutton.
_Ibid.: Popular Tales_. Edited by Andrew Lang. French; and
English translation of original edition. Oxford, Clarendon
Press.
VII. FAIRY TALES OF ALL NATIONS
Celtic. Jacobs. 1911. Putnam.
Chinese. Pitnam. 1910. Crowell.
Cossack. Bain. 1899. Burt.
Danish. Bay. 1899. Harper.
Donegal. McManus. 1900. Doubleday.
English. Jacobs. 1904. Putnam.
_Ibid_.: Folk and Fairy Stories. Hartland, born 1848. Camelot
series.
French. DeSegur. 1799-1874. Winston.
German. Grimm. 1812, 1822. Bonn's Libraries.
Hungarian. Pogany. 1914. Stokes.
Indian. _Old Deccan Days_. Frère. 1868. McDonough.
_Ibid.: Tales of the Sun_. Mrs. Kingscote. 1890. W.H. Allen.
_Ibid.: Buddhist Birth Stories_. Rhys Davids. 1880. Trubner.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Stokes. 1880. Ellis & White.
_Ibid.: Folk Tales of Bengal_. Day. 1883. Macmillan.
_Ibid.: Wide Awake Stories_. Steel and Temple. 1884. Trubner.
_Ibid.: Folk-Tales of Kashmir_. Knowles. 1887. Trubner.
_Ibid.: Tales of the Punjab_. Steel. 1894. Macmillan.
Irish. Yeats. 1902. Burt.
Italian. Macdonell. 1911. Stokes.
_Ibid_.: Crane. 1885. Macmillan.
Japanese. Ozaki. 1909. Dutton.
Manx. Morrison. 1899. Nutt.
New World. Kennedy. 1904. Dutton.
Norse. Dasent. 1820-1896. Lippincott.
_Ibid_.: Mabie. 1846-. Dodd.
Papuan. Kerr. 1910. Macmillan.
Persian. Stephen. 1892. Dutton.
_Ibid_.: Clouston. 1907. Stokes.
Russian. Dole. 1907. Crowell.
_Ibid_.: Bain. Bilibin. 1914. Century.
Scottish. Grierson. 1910. Stokes.
South African. Honey. 1910. Baker & Taylor.
Welsh. Thomas. 1908. Stokes.
VIII. MISCELLANEOUS EDITIONS OF FAIRY TALES
D'Aulnoy, Madame: _Fairy Tales_. Trans, by Planché. Gordon
Browne. McKay.
_Ibid.: Fairy Tales_. Introd. by Anne T. Ritchie. Scribners.
Austin, M.H.: _Basket Woman_. Houghton.
Babbit, Ellen: _Jataka Tales Retold_. Century.
Bailey, Carolyn: _Firelight Stories_. Bradley.
Bailey and Lewis: _For the Children's Hour_. Bradley.
Baldwin, James: _Fairy Stories and Fables_. Amer. Book Co.
Barrie, J.M.: _Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens_. Rackham.
Scribners.
Baumbach, Rudolf: _Tales from Wonderland_. Simmons.
Bertelli, Luigi: _The Prince and His Ants_. Holt.
Bryant, Sara C.: _Best Stories to Tell to Children_. Houghton.
Burgess, Thornton: _Old Mother West Wind_. Little.
_Ibid.: The Adventures of Reddy Fox_. Little.
_Ibid.: The Adventures of Johnny Chuck_. Little.
_Ibid.: Tommy and the Wishing-stone_. Animal Tales. _St.
Nicholas_, 1915.
Chapin, Anna: _The Now-a-Days Fairy Book_. Jessie W. Smith. Dodd.
Chisholm, Louey: _In Fairyland_. Katherine Cameron. Putnam.
_Ibid.: Little Red Riding Hood; Cinderella_; (I Read Them
Myself series). Dodge.
Collection: _Half a Hundred Stories for Little People_. Bradley.
Cooke, Flora J.: _Nature Myths and Stories_. Flanagan.
Cowell, E.B.: _The Jatakas or Stories of the Buddha's Former
Births_. Tr. from the Pali. 6 vols. Cambridge University
Press. Putnam. 1895-1907.
Crothers, Samuel McChord: _Miss Muffet's Christmas Party_.
Houghton.
Emerson, Ellen: _Indian Myths_. Houghton.
Everyman Series: _157; 365; and 541_. Dutton.
France, Anatole: _The Honey Bee_. John Lane.
Grover, Eulalie O., editor: _Mother Goose_. F. Richardson.
Volland.
Harris, Joel C.: _Little Mr. Thimblefinger_. Houghton.
Harrison, Miss: In Storyland. Central Pub. Co., Chicago.
Holbrook, Florence: _The Book of Nature Myths_. Houghton.
James, Grace: _The Green Willow_: Japanese. Goble. Macmillan.
Jerrold, Walter: _The Reign of King Oberon_. Robinson. Dent.
Little.
Johnson, Clifton: _Fairy Books: Oak-Tree; Birch-Tree; and
Elm-Tree_. Little.
_Ibid._: _Book of Fairy Tale Bears_. Houghton.
_Ibid._: _Book of Fairy Tale Foxes_. Houghton.
Kingsley, Charles: _Water-Babies_. Warwick Goble. Macmillan.
_Ibid_.: _Water-Babies_. Introd, by Rose Kingsley. Margaret
Tarrant. Dutton.
Kipling, Rudyard: _Jungle Books_. 2 vols. Original edition.
Century.
_Ibid._: _Jungle Books_. M. and E. Detmold. Century.
_Ibid._: _Jungle Books_. A. Rackham. Doubleday.
_Ibid._: _Just-So Stories_. Doubleday.
_Ibid._: _Puck of Pook's Hill_. Doubleday.
_Ibid._: _Rewards and Fairies_. Doubleday.
Laboulaye, Edouard: _Fairy Book_. Harper.
_Ibid._: _Last Fairy Tales_. Harper.
Lang, Andrew: _Fairy Books: Red; Orange; Yellow; Green_; _Blue;
Violet; Gray; Crimson; Brown; Pink_. Longmans.
Lansing, Marion: _Rhymes and Stories_. Ginn.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Tales_. 2 vols. Ginn.
Leamy, Edward: Golden Spears. FitzGerald.
Lefèvré, Felicité: _The Cock, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen_.
Tony Sarg. Jacobs, Phila.
Lindsay, Maud: _Mother Stories; More Mother Stories_. Bradley.
Maeterlinck, Madam: _The Children's Bluebird_. Dodd.
Molesworth, Mary Louise: _The Cuckoo Clock_. Maria Kirk.
Lippincott.
Mulock, Miss: _The Fairy Book_. Boyd Smith. Crowell.
_Ibid._: _Fairy Book_. 32 illus. by W. Goble. Macmillan.
_Ibid._: _Little Lame Prince_. Hope Dunlap. Rand.
Musset, Paul de: _Mr. Wind and Madam Rain_. Bennett. Putnam.
Nyblom, Helena: _Jolly Cable and other Swedish Fairy Tales_.
Folknin. Dutton.
Olcott, Frances J.: _Arabian Nights_. Tr. by Lane. Cairo text.
Selections. Holt.
Perrault, Charles: _The Story of Bluebeard_. Stone & Kimball,
Chicago.
Poulsson, E.: _In the Child's World_. Bradley.
Pyle, Howard: _The Garden Behind the Moon_. Scribners.
_Ibid._: _Wonder-Clock_. Harper.
Pyle, Katherine: _Fairy Tales from Many Lands_. Dutton.
Rackham, Arthur: _Mother Goose_. Century.
Ramé, Louise de la (Ouida): _Nürnberg Stove: Bimbi Stories for
Children_. Page.
Rhys, Ernest: _Fairy Gold_. Herbert Cole. Dutton.
Rolfe, William: _Fairy Tales in Prose and Verse_. Amer. Book Co.
Shakespeare, William: _Midsummer Night's Dream_. With forty
illustrations in color by Arthur Rackham. Doubleday.
Shedlock, Marie: _A Collection of Eastern Stories and Legends_.
Foreword by T. Rhys Davids. Dutton.
Smith, Jessie Willcox: _Mother Goose_. Dodd.
Stephen, A.: _Fairy Tales of a Parrot_. Ellis. Nister. Dutton.
Stockton, F.: _The Queen's Museum_. F. Richardson. Scribners.
Tappan, Eva March: _The Children's Hour: Folk Stories and
Fables_. Houghton.
Thorne-Thomson: _East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon_. Row.
Underhill, Zoe D.: _The Dwarf's Tailor_. Harper.
Valentine, Mrs. Laura: _Old, Old Fairy Tales_. F. Warne.
Welsh, Charles: _Fairy Tales Children Love_. Dodge.
Wheeler, W.A.: _Mother Goose Melodies_. Houghton.
Wiggin, Kate; and Smith, Nora: _The Fairy Ring: Tales of
Laughter: Magic Casements_: and _Tales of Wonder_. Doubleday.
IX. SCHOOL EDITIONS OF FAIRY TALES
Alderman, E.A.: _Classics Old and New_. Amer. Book Co.
Alexander, G.: _Child Classics_. Bobbs.
Baker, F.T., and Carpenter, G.: _Language Readers_. Macmillan.
Baldwin, James: _The Fairy Reader_, I and II. Amer. Book Co.
Blaisdell, Etta (MacDonald): _Child Life in Tale and Fable_.
Macmillan.
Blumenthal, Verra: _Fairy Tales from the Russian_. Rand.
Brooks, Dorothy: _Stories of Red Children_. Educational.
Bryce, Catherine: _Child-Lore Dramatic Reader_. Scribners.
Burchill, Ettinger: _Progressive Road to Reading_, Readers.
Silver.
Chadwick, Mara P.: _Three Bears Story Primer_. Educational.
Chadwick, M.P. and Freeman, E.G.: _Chain Stories and Playlets:
The Cat That Was Lonesome: The Mouse That Lost Her Tail_; and
_The Woman and Her Pig_. World Book Co.
Coe and Christie: _Story Hour Readers_. Amer. Book Co.
Craik, Georgiana: _So Fat and Mew Mew_. Heath.
Davis, M.H. and Leung, Chow: _Chinese Fables and Folk Stories_.
Amer. Book. Co.
Dole, C.F.: _Crib and Fly_. Heath.
Free and Treadwell: _Reading Literature Series_. Row, Peterson.
Grover, Eulalie O.: _Folk Lore Primer_. Atkinson.
Hale, E.E.: _Arabian Nights_. Selections. Ginn.
Heath, D.C.: _Dramatic Reader_. Heath.
Henderson, Alice: _Andersen's Best Fairy Tales_. Rand.
Hix, Melvin: _Once Upon a Time Stories_. Longmans.
Holbrook, Florence: _Dramatic Reader for the Lower Grades_. Amer.
Book Co.
Howard, F.W.: _The Banbury Cross Stories: The Fairy Gift and Tom
Hickathrift_. Merrill.
Johnston, E.; and Barnum, M.: _Book of Plays for Little Actors_.
Amer. Book. Co.
Kennerley: _The Kipling Reader_. 2 vols. Appleton.
Ketchum and Rice: _Our First Story Reader_. Scribners.
Lang, Andrew: _Fairy Readers_. Longmans.
Lansing, M.: _Tales of Old England_. Ginn.
Mabie, H.: _Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know_. Doubleday.
McMahon, H., M., and A.: _Rhyme and Story Primer_. Heath.
McMurry, Mrs. Lida B.: _Classic Stories_. Public School Pub. Co.
Norton, Charles E.: _Heart of Oak Books_. Heath.
Norvell, F.T., and Haliburton, M.W.: _Graded Classics_. Johnson.
Perkins, F.O.: _The Bluebird Arranged for Schools_. Silver.
Pratt, Mara L.: _Legends of Red Children_. Amer. Book Co.
Roulet, Mary Nixon: _Japanese Folk-Stories and Fairy Tales_.
Amer. Book Co.
Scudder, H.: _Andersen's Fairy Tales: Grimm's Fairy Tales;
Fables and Folk Stories; The Children's Book_. Houghton.
Smythe, Louise: _Reynard the Fox_. Amer. Book Co.
Spaulding and Bryce: _Aldine Readers_. Newson.
Stevenson, Augusta: _Children's Classics in Dramatic Form_. 5
vols. Houghton.
Stickney, J.H.: _Andersen's Fairy Tales_. 2 series. Ginn.
Summers, Maud: _The Summers Readers_. Beattys.
Turpin, E.H.: _Andersen's Fairy Tales_. Merrill.
Underwood, Kate: _Fairy Tale Plays_ (For Infants and Juniors).
Macmillan.
University Pub. Co.: _Fairy Tales_. Standard Literature Series;
Hans Andersen's Best Stories; Grimm's Best Stories. Newson and
Co.
Van Sickle, J.H., etc.: _The Riverside Readers_. Houghton.
Varney, Alice: _Story Plays Old and New_. Amer. Book Co.
Villee: _Little Folk Dialog Reader_. Sower.
Wade, Mary H.: _Indian Fairy Tales_. Wilde.
Washburne, Mrs. M.: _Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales_ (Retold from
poetic versions of Thomas Hood). Rand.
White, Emma G.: _Pantomime Primer_. Amer. Book Co.
Williston, P.: _Japanese Fairy Tales_. 2 series. Rand.
Wiltse, Sara E.: _Folk Lore Stories and Proverbs_. Ginn.
Wohlfarth, J., and McMurry, Frank: _Little Folk-Tales_. 2 vols.
Zitkala-sa: _Old Indian Legends_. Ginn.
APPENDIX
ILLUSTRATIONS OF CREATIVE RETURN[14]
Tales suited for dramatization
_Little Two-Eyes_
_Little Two-Eyes_, which is suited to the first-grade child, is one of
the most attractive of folk-tales and contains blended within itself
the varied beauties of the tales. It is in _cante-fable_ form, which
gives it the poetic touch so appealing to children. It contains the
magic rhymes,--
Little kid, bleat,
I wish to eat!
Little kid, bleat,
Clear it off, neat!
the fairy wise woman, and the friendly goat. It contains the fairy
housekeeping in the forest which combines tea-party, picnic, and magic
food--all of which could not fail to delight children. The lullaby to
put Two-Eyes to sleep suits little children who know all there is to
know about "going to sleep." The magic tree, the silver leaves, the
golden fruit, the knight and his fine steed, and the climax of the
tale when the golden apple rolls from under the cask--all possess
unusual interest. There is exceptional beauty in the setting of this
tale; and its message of the worth of goodness places it in line with
_Cinderella_. It should be dramatized as two complete episodes, each
of three acts:--
_The Goat Episode_
_Place_ The home and the forest.
_Time_ Summer.
_Act I, Scene i_. A home scene showing how the Mother and
Sisters despised Two-Eyes.
_Scene ii_. Two-Eyes and the Fairy.
_Scene iii_. Two-Eyes and the Goat. Evening of the first day.
_Act II, Scene i_. One-Eye went with Two-Eyes. Third morning.
Song ... Feast ... Return home.
_Act III, Scene i_. Three-Eyes went with Two-Eyes. Fourth
morning. Song ... Feast ... Return home.
_The Story of Two-Eyes_
_Place_ The forest; and the magic tree before the house.
_Time_ Summer.
_Act I, Scene i_. Two-Eyes and the Fairy.
_Act II, Scene i_. The magic tree. Mother and Sisters attempt to
pluck the fruit.
_Act III, Scene i_. The Knight. Second attempt to pluck fruit.
Conclusion. The happy marriage.
_Snow White_
_The Story of Snow White_ is one of the romantic fairy tales which has
been re-written and staged as a play for children, and now may be
procured in book form. It was produced by Winthrop Ames at the Little
Theatre in New York City. The dramatization by Jessie Braham White
followed closely the original tale. The entire music was composed by
Edmond Rickett, who wrote melodies for a number of London Christmas
pantomimes. The scenery, by Maxfield Parrish, was composed of six
stage pictures, simple, harmonious, and beautiful, with tense blue
skies, a dim suggestion of the forest, and the quaint architecture of
the House of the Seven Dwarfs. Pictures in old nursery books were the
models for the scenes. Because of the simplicity of the plot and the
few characters, _Snow White_ could be played very simply in four
scenes, by the children of the second and third grades for the
kindergarten and first grade.
_Snow White_
_Scene i_. A Festival on the occasion of Snow White's sixteenth
birthday.
_Scene ii_. In the Forest.
_Scene iii_. A Room in the House of the Seven Dwarfs.
_Scene iv_. The Reception to Snow White as Queen, on the grounds
near the young King's Palace.
The beautiful character of Snow White; the glimpse of Dwarf life--the
kindly little men with their unique tasks and their novel way of
living; the beauty and cheer of Snow White which her housekeeping
brought into their home; their devotion to her; the adventure in the
wood; the faithful Huntsman; the magic mirror; the wicked Queen; and
the Prince seeking the Princess--all contribute to the charm of the
tale. The songs written for the play may be learned by the children,
who will love to work them into their simple play: _Snow White, as
fair as a lily, as sweet as a rose_; the song of the forest fairies,
_Welcome, Snow White_; and their second song which they sing as they
troop about Snow White lying asleep on the Dwarf's bed, _Here you'll
find a happy home, softly sleep!_ or the song of Snow White to the
Dwarfs, _I can brew, I can bake_.
_The Little Lamb and the Little Fish_
Once upon a time there lived a sister and a brother who loved each
other very much. They were named Gretchen and Peterkin. One day their
father who was King of the country, left them and brought home with
him a new Queen who was not kind to the children. She banished them
from the castle and told the King bad tales about them. So they made
friends with the Cook and ate in the kitchen. Peterkin would bring
water and Gretchen could carry plates and cups and saucers.
One beautiful spring day when all the children were out-of-doors
playing games, Gretchen and Peterkin went to play with them, by the
pond, on the meadow, beyond the castle wall. Around this pond the
children would run, joining hands and singing:--
"Eneke, Beneke, let me live,
And I to you my bird will give;
The bird shall fetch of straw a bunch,
And that the cow shall have to munch;
The cow shall give me milk so sweet,
And that I'll to the baker take,
Who with it shall a small cake bake;
The cake the cat shall have to eat,
And for it catch a mouse for me,
* * * * *
"And this is the end of the tale."
Round and round the pond the children ran singing; and as the word
"tale" fell on Peterkin he had to run away over the meadow and all the
rest ran after to catch him.
But just then the wicked Queen from her window in the castle spied the
happy children. She did not look pleased and she muttered words which
you may be sure were not very pleasant words.
The children had been racing across the meadow after Peterkin. Now one
called, "Where is Peterkin? I saw him near that tree, but now I cannot
see him. Gretchen, can you see Peterkin?--Why, where's Gretchen?"
Peterkin and Gretchen were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly a little boy
said, "Where did that lamb come from over there? It must have been
behind the linden tree!"
The children drew near the lamb, when what was their surprise to hear
it call out to them, "Run children, run quick or the Queen will harm
you! I am Gretchen! Run, and never come near the pond again!" And at
the little Lamb's words the children fled.
But the little Lamb ran all about the meadow, calling, "Peterkin,
Peterkin!" and would not touch a blade of grass. Sadly she walked to
the edge of the pond and slowly walked round and round it calling,
"Peterkin, where are you?"
Suddenly the water bubbled and a weak voice cried, "Here, Gretchen, in
the pond,--
"Here Gretchen, here swim I in the pond,
Nor may I ever come near castle ground."
And the Lamb replied:--
"Ah, my brother! In the wood,
A lamb, now I must search for food."
Then Peterkin comforted Gretchen and promised early every morning to
come up to the water to talk with her; and Gretchen promised to come
early from the wood, before the sun was up, to be with Peterkin. And
Peterkin said, "I will never forsake you, Gretchen, if you will never
forsake me!" And Gretchen said, "I will never forsake you, Peterkin,
if you will never forsake me!"
Then the little Lamb fled sadly to the wood to look for food and the
little Fish swam round the pond. But the children did not forget their
playmates. Every day they saved their goodies and secretly laid them
at the edge of the wood where the Lamb could get them. And the Lamb
always saved some to throw the crumbs to the little Fish in the
morning.
Many days passed by. One day visitors were coming to the castle. "Now
is my chance," thought the wicked Queen. So she said to the Cook, "Go,
fetch me the lamb out of the meadow, for there is nothing else for the
strangers!"
Now the Lamb had lingered by the pond longer than usual that morning
so that the Cook easily caught her; and taking her with him tied her
to the tree just outside the kitchen. But when the Cook was gone to
the kitchen, the little Fish swam up from the pond into the little
brook that ran by the tree and said--
"Ah, my sister, sad am I,
That so great harm to you is nigh!
And far from you I love must be,
A-swimming in the deep, deep sea!"
And the Lamb replied:--
"Ah, my brother in the pond,
Sad must I leave you, though I'm fond;
The cook has come to take my life,
Swim off to sea,--Beware!"
Just then the Cook came back and hearing the Lamb speak became
frightened. Thinking it could not be a real lamb, he said, "Be still,
I will not harm you. Run, hide in the wood, and when it is evening,
come to the edge of the wood and I will help you!"
Then the Cook caught another lamb and dressed it for the guests. And
before evening he went to a wise woman who happened to be the old
Nurse who had taken care of Peterkin and Gretchen. She loved the
children and she soon saw what the wicked Queen had done. She told the
Cook what the Lamb and Fish must do to regain their natural forms.
As soon as it was dark the little Lamb came to the edge of the wood
and the Cook said, "Little Lamb, I will tell you what you must do to
be a maid again!" So the Cook whispered what the wise Woman had said.
The little Lamb thanked the Cook and promised to do as he said.
Next morning very early before the break of day, the little Lamb
hurried from the wood across the meadow. Not taking time to go near
the pond she hastily pushed against the castle gate which the kind
Cook had left unfastened for her. She ran up the path, and there under
the Queen's window stood the beautiful rose-tree with only two red
roses on it--just as the Cook had said. Not even glancing at the
Queen's window, the little Lamb began nibbling the lowest one. And
behold, there in the path stood Gretchen again! Then hastening to
seize the other rose before the sun's first ray might touch it, she
ran lightly down the path, away from castle ground, across the meadow
to the pond. Calling little Fish to the water's edge--for he had
lingered in the pond--she sprinkled over him the drops of dew in the
heart of the rose. And there stood little Peterkin beside Gretchen!
Then hand in hand, Gretchen and Peterkin hurried from the pond and
fled into the wood just as the sun began to show beyond the trees.
There they built themselves a cottage and lived in it happily ever
afterwards. The kind Cook and the wise Nurse found them and visited
them. But Gretchen and Peterkin never went near castle ground until
the Cook told them the Queen was no more.--_Laura F. Kready_.
_How the Birds came to Have Different Nests Time..._.
_Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme,
And monkeys chewed tobacco.
And hens took snuff to make them tough,
And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!_
_Place_. ... Madge Magpie's Nest up in a Tree-top.
_Characters_: Madge Magpie, the Teacher; Thrush, Blackbird, Owl,
Sparrow, Starling, and Turtle-Dove.
_All the Birds_. "We have come to you, Madge Magpie, to ask you to
teach us how to build nests. All the Birds tell how clever you are at
building nests."
_Magpie_. "Make a circle round about the foot of this old pear-tree. I
will sit upon this limb near my nest and show you how to do it. First
I take some mud and make a fine round cake with it."
_Thrush_. "Oh, that's how it's done, is it? I'll hurry home! Goodbye,
Birds, I can't stay another minute!
"Mud in a cake, mud in a cake,
To-whit, to-whee, a nest I'll make!"
_Magpie_. "Next I take some twigs and arrange them about the mud."
_Blackbird_. "Now I know all about it. Here I go, I'm off to make my
nest in the cherry-tree in Mr. Smith's cornfield!
"Sticks upon mud, mud upon sticks,
Caw, caw! I'll make a nest for six!"
_Magpie_. "See, here I put another layer of mud over the twigs."
_Wise Owl_. "Oh! That's quite obvious. Strange I never thought of that
before. Farewell, come to see me at the old elm-tree beside the gray
church!
"Mud over twigs! To-whit, to-whoo!
No better nest than that ever grew!"
_Magpie_. "See these long twigs. I just twine them round the outside."
_Sparrow_. "The very thing. I'll do it this very day. I can pick some
up on my way home. I'll choose the spout that looks down over the
school-yard; then I can see the children at play. They must like me
for they never chase me away or hit me.
"A nest with twigs twined round and round,
Chip, chip! No fear that would fall to the ground!"
_Magpie_. "And see these little feathers and soft stuff. What a
comfortable, cosy lining for the nest they make!"
_Starling_. "That suits me! Off I go, I like a cosy warm nest. It
shall be in that old plum-tree in the orchard, on the side of the hill.