Success.  The child likes the fairy tale to tell him of some one who succeeds.  He admires the little pig Speckle who outwitted the Wolf in getting to the field of turnips first, or in going to the apple tree at Merry-Garden, or to the fair at Shanklin; who built his house of brick which would defy assault; and whose cleverness ended the Wolf’s life.  This observation of success teaches the child to admire masterliness, to get the motto, Age quod agis, stamped into his child life from the beginning.  It influences character to follow such conduct as that of the Little Red Hen, who took a grain of wheat,—­her little mite,—­who planted it, reaped it, made it into bread, and then ate it; who, in spite of the Goose and the Duck, secured to herself the reward of her labors.

Action.  Akin to his love of running, skipping, and jumping, to his enjoyment in making things go and in seeing others make things go, is the child’s desire for action in his fairy tales; and this is just another way of saying he wants his fairy tales to parallel life.  Action is the special charm of the Gingerbread Boy, who opened the oven door and so marvelously ran along, outrunning an old Man, an old Woman, a little Boy, two Well-Diggers, two Ditch-Diggers, a Bear, and a Wolf, until he met the Fox waiting by the corner of the fence. Dame Wiggins of Lee and Her Seven Wonderful Cats—­a humorous tale written by Mrs. Sharp, a lady of ninety, edited by John Ruskin, who added the third, fourth, eighth, and ninth stanzas, and illustrated by Kate Greenaway—­has this pleasing trait of action to a unique degree.  So also has The Cock, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen, a modern tale by Felicite Lefevre.  This very popular tale among children is a retelling of two old tales combined, The Little Red Hen and the Irish Little Rid Hin.

Humor.  The child loves a joke, and the tale that is humorous is his special delight.  Humor is the source of pleasure in Billy Bobtail, where the number of animals and the noises they make fill the tale with hilarious fun.  There is most pleasing humor in Lambikin.  Here the reckless hero frolicked about on his little tottery legs.  On his way to Granny’s house, as he met the Jackal, the Vulture, the Tiger, and the Wolf, giving a little frisk, he said,—­

          To Granny’s house I go,
          Where I shall fatter grow,
          Then you can eat me so!

     Later, on returning, when the animals asked, “Have you seen
     Lambikin?” cozily settled within his Drumikin, laughing and
     singing to himself, he called out slyly—­

          Lost in the forest, and so are you,
          On, little Drumikin!  Tum-pa, turn-too!