“STORY TELLING IN SCHOOL AND HOME.” A Study in Educational Æsthetics.
By Emelyn Newcomb Partridge and George Everett Partridge, Ph.D.
Publishers, Sturgis & Walton Co., New York. Price, $1.25 net.
This is the fifth book that has appeared on story telling in the past
half a dozen years. The authors have presented the psychological
foundation and the æsthetic value of story telling in a most elaborate
and convincing way. It is the first book that has been written by a
psychologist, on the subject of story telling, and Dr. Partridge’s
handling of the delicate, subtle, psychic forces that enter into
literature and story telling is masterful; while Mrs. Partridge, with
her practical experience as a story teller, contributes as much to the
art as applied and exemplified in actual work of facing an audience of
young people.
The study of the child on one hand and its fundamental needs, and the
survey and analysis of sources from which we can draw material,—myth,
fable, folklore, epic, and history on the other, is of immense value
to all story tellers and all who teach young people even up to college
entrance.
Part II of the book contains a dozen retold stories that have been
put into shape by the oral telling, and are valuable both because
of the form and their intrinsic worth. The book contains a number
of illustrations, which add to its attractiveness, along with a
bibliography and suggestions for reading. We cannot praise the book too
highly. It is an inspiring book to read and a permanent contribution to
the literature of story telling.
SOME GREAT STORIES AND HOW TO TELL THEM. By Richard Thomas Wyche.
Price $1.00. Newson & Company, New York.
“Story tellers were the first teachers,” says Mr. Wyche in his chapter
on “The Origin of Story Telling.”
In an interesting way he throws light on what stories shall be told,
the use of the story in the classroom and in formal work, the story in
the Sunday-school, the library, the playground, and the social circle.
The author also discusses the fundamental needs of the child, the
psychological principles involved, and the spiritual equipment needed
in story telling.
For purposes of illustration the author uses “The Story of Beowulf,”
“The Coming of Arthur,” and other “Great Stories.”
GAMES FOR THE PLAYGROUND, HOME, SCHOOL, AND GYMNASIUM. By Jessie H.
Bancroft. Price, $1.50 net. The Macmillan Company, New York.
Miss Bancroft’s book of games is a volume of over four hundred and
sixty pages, with twenty-three illustrations. It contains, we should
say, over two thousand games classified for Elementary schools from
the first to the eighth year, for High schools, for playgrounds, for
gymnasiums, for boys’ and girls’ summer camps, for house parties
and country clubs, for children’s parties, and for the seashore. An
excellent system of classification makes it possible to classify the
games in many different ways, and thus easily find those suited to
one’s needs.
As story telling and playing games are blood relations on the
playground, this book is to be cordially commended as an interesting
and valuable contribution to the Cause.
THE NORMAL CHILD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION. By Arnold L. Gesell, Ph.D.,
and Beatrice Chandler Gesell, Ed.B. Price, $1.25. Ginn & Company, New
York.
This work, the authors tell us, is chiefly the result of contact with
eager minds of young women who were preparing to teach young children.
It will interest story tellers mainly because of its extensive analysis
and discussion of the child in the educational relation.
“To achieve results in literature,” it is stated, “the children
must have something more than a good story: they must have a good
story teller—one with quick sympathies and an intuitive knowledge
of her group; one who loves the old stories, who feels the pulse of
humanity throbbing through them all; whose voice is clear, flexible,
interpretative; whose language is simple, direct, pictorial; who enters
into a dramatic situation; who has a keen sense of humor, who is
willing to sow the seed and let it develop in its own good time.” “The
Normal Child” is a most helpful, illuminating, and instructive book.
THE CHILDREN’S READING. By Frances Jenkins Olcott. Price, $1.25 net.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Miss Olcott has given us a valuable book on children’s readings. She
speaks as an authority from her many years’ experience as a librarian;
therein is the chief value of her book. She knows the names and
authors of many of the best books for young people, and gives many
valuable lists of books. The very fact that she has had to deal with
so many books from without as a librarian, has probably prevented her
knowing so well the inside of the book,—seeing and living with its
imagery, communing with its spirit and breathing its atmosphere until
it gives up its deepest meaning. Any treatment of a story that helps
one to visualize, to re-create, to breathe its atmosphere and live its
spirit, ought to be valuable; the letter killeth, the spirit giveth
life. However, her quotations from authors who have done that are many
and valuable. The one on Homer’s Iliad, page 103, is especially good;
but she barely mentions the Odyssey, the more interesting story to
the young people. The book is conservative rather than original and
creative.
ALDINE FIRST LANGUAGE BOOK. For Grades Three and Four. By Catherine T.
Bryce and Frank E. Spaulding. Price 48 cents.
A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS. To accompany Aldine First Language Book. Price
60 cents. Newson & Company, New York.
These two books, the Manual and the Pupil’s book accompanying it, the
authors tell us have grown out of many years’ experiment in teaching
“language” so called.
The work which the child is called upon to accomplish is, throughout
the entire book, based on fables, myths, legends, stories of all kind,
rhymes and poems, the delight of childhood, all of which are fully
within the range of the child’s understanding and appreciation. The
varieties of ways in which these materials are presented arouses the
keen interest of the children, stimulates their thought, and quickens
their whole mental life. They discuss freely, they dramatize, they
reproduce orally and in writing, the work over into new forms, they
live and love the contents of stories and poems. No one can read this
pupil’s book without becoming impressed with the tremendous value of
story telling as a direct instrument of education. The introduction
of a comprehensive “Teacher’s Manual” into the class-room, explaining
the work to the teacher step by step, seems to be a new and most
serviceable idea.
STORIES OF LONG AGO IN THE PHILIPPINES. By Dudley Odell McGovney, A.M.
Price forty cents. World Book Company, Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York.
THE STORY READERS’ PRIMER. By May Langdon White. Price thirty-six
cents. World Book Company, Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York.
These little stories of ancient days in the Philippines contain such
interesting selections as “The Sea and the Sky,” “The Bird and the
Bamboo,” “The Good and the Evil Spirits,” “Naming the Islands,” and
“Manila Long Ago.” These stories have a certain historic value and will
be read with interest by children in the United States.
The Story Readers’ Primer tells of the every day experiences of two
happy, healthy children, and makes effective use of the classic stories
and poems.