ance.

on the Continent are not so polite as those in America, and there is no mistaking their feeling about a performWhen sounds of disapproval sweep over the house, the performer must rise to heights that will compel admiration or face a ruined career. Likewise, when a small boy becomes troublesome, the storyteller should not pause to correct him, but should make the tale so thrillingly fascinating that the lad forgets to be naughty. Mothers seldom meet with this problem, but settlement workers are having to solve it constantly, and they do it successfully only by knowing what lies close to the child interests and telling stories that touch those interests.

There are those who denounce story-telling in the schoolroom because they happen to have known of poor story-telling and the disorderly conduct that often ensues when the children's interest is not held. Not long ago I came across this statement in the report of a lecture delivered at a teachers' institute:

"It is to be hoped that story-telling will soon be eliminated from the primary grades, and that the spectacle of a teacher pausing in the midst of a tale to grasp a child by the arm and exclaim, ‘Here, Johnny, straighten up and listen,' will become past history."

It certainly is to be hoped that such story-telling will be eliminated, but it is no more fair to condemn story-telling as an art or to deprecate its value as an educational or ethical factor because there is poor story-telling, than it is to decry painting and sculpture because there are bunglers with brushes and chisels. The remedy does not lie in abolishing it, but in elevating the standard of the workers to a higher plane and

in demonstrating that story-telling syncopated by scoldings and admonitions is not story-telling at all.

When shall we tell stories? Whenever, in the opinion of the teacher, a story will do more effective work than something else. Do not depend wholly on regular periods. These have a place on every school, library, or settlement program, but the story period should not be the only time for telling stories, because often a tale told at the psychological moment will make a deeper and more lasting impression than those given during a dozen regular periods. When the children are tired, tell a story for rest and relaxation. If there has been a fight or swearing, follow up the incident as soon as possible with an apt narrative. It will do more good than moralizing. If the geography class is struggling over the map of Turkey and can see nothing but a series of dots and marks on a piece of paper, put aside the formal recitation for that day and tell them of the building of the Mosque of Ahmed the First on the Golden Horn, of the merry craftsmen who raised the dome of St. Sophia, and give them some idea of how this glorious waif of the Orient came to stand on European soil. Make storytelling fit occasions and conditions instead of trying to make conditions fit story-telling.

And above all, never moralize! As one authority says, "It is bad pedagogy and worse art." Remember what Dr. van Dyke says: "If a story is worth telling, moralizing is not necessary." It is not only unnecessary, but harmful. The child sees for himself that virtue is rewarded and evil-doing is punished. He resents not being given credit for having sufficient

intelligence to understand it, and a personal application antagonizes him.

Tell the tale in a direct, unassuming manner - not as if you are talking down to a group of children, but as if you are one of the number, talking with them. Boys and girls dislike the patronizing story-teller as much as adults dislike the patronizing person, and are quick to detect affectation and insincerity. They will not receive the message a posing raconteur has to give, because his manner of delivering it irritates and estranges them. The successful story-teller must be like the poet, a joy bringer, and he can be that only when his work is marked by sincerity and genuineness as clear as brook water.

BOOKS ON STORY-TELLING

ALLISON, S. B., and PERDUE, H. A.: The Story in Primary Education. BAILEY, CAROLYN SHERWIN: For the Story-Teller.

Bryant, Sara CONE: How to Tell Stories to Children.

COE, FANNY E.: First Book of Stories for the Story-Teller; Second Book

of Stories for the Story-Teller.

COWLES, JULIA D.: The Art of Story-Telling.

DYE, CHARITY: The Story-Teller's Art.

FORBUSH, WILLIAM B.: Story-Telling in the Home.

KEYES, ANGELA M.: Stories and Story-Telling.

LINDSAY, MAUD: The Story-Teller for Little Children.

LYMAN, EDNA: Story-Telling: What to Tell and How to Tell It.

MCMURRY, CHARLES A.: Special Method in Primary Reading and Oral Work, with Stories.

PARTRIDGE, EMELYN N. and GEORGE E.: Story-Telling in the Home and School.

ST. JOHN, PORTER: The Story in Moral and Religious Education.

SHEDLOCK, MARIE L.: The Art of the Story-Teller.

WILTSE, SARA E.: The Place of the Story in Early Education.

WYCHE, RICHARD THOMAS: Some Great Stories and How to Tell Them.

STORY-TELLING TO LEAD TO AN APPRECIATION OF

LITERATURE

ONE of appreciation of literature, and

NE of the specific aims of education is to endow

to this end much of a teacher's energy is directed. From the elementary school through the university the curriculum includes a course in English, and even in kindergarten and primary grades a point is made of introducing children to those authors whose work is conceded to have a strong appeal for them. The first, second, or third grade boy is required to read and memorize selections from Stevenson, Riley, and Eugene Field; not infrequently he is detained after school because of failure to have his lesson prepared at recitation time, and responds to the requirement in a mood that brings discouragement to his teacher.

On the other hand, there are schools in which the literature or reading hour is a period of joy, where the learning of songs of the singers of childhood is accomplished without coercion. These schools are the ones in which the teachers have learned that the acquisition of knowledge, to be of real value, must be attended with enjoyment.

It is a mistake to believe that although the function of the school is to equip the man, the aim of education is only to give enjoyment in the future. It is also the aim of education to give enjoyment now, because in this way capacity for enjoyment in the future is made possible. The boy or girl whose early association with poetry or beautiful prose is attended with displeasure

and discomfort is no more likely to be drawn to the finer types of literature later than the man or woman is apt to be fond of a person, the first meeting with whom was a disagreeable experience. If we would have the man love good literature, we must first lead the child to love good literature, and we can do this only through having him enjoy good literature.

Because story-telling brings pleasure to the child, it is a most effective means of leading him to an appreciation of literature. Through the medium of the story we not only can heighten his capacity for enjoyment and elevate the standard of his taste, but we can equip him with knowledge he will never acquire if the literature period is associated with force and punishment. If a tale brings pleasing pictures before his eyes and is beautiful in theme and language, he unconsciously forms a taste for beautiful language, for he is not only getting the succession of events that make the plot, but is also absorbing words and expressions. Certain sentences stick in his memory, and teachers who have children reproduce stories know that frequently they use the exact phrases and sentences that have been used by the teller. They do not remember these for a day or an hour and then forget them; they remember them as years go by, and associate certain words with certain narratives.

William McKinley once said that the mention of willows by a river made him think of the story of Moses in the bulrushes, and brought to mind this sentence: "And she hid the basket among the rushes in a spot where willows hung over the river." The story had been told him in childhood and brought him