REFERENCES

     Allison, Samuel; and Perdue, Avis:  The Story in Primary
       Instruction.  Flanagan.

     Blow, Susan; Hill, Patty; and Harrison, Elizabeth:  The
       Kindergarten.  Houghton.

     Blow, Susan:  Symbolic Education.  Appleton.

     Chamberlain, Alexander:  “Folk-Lore in the Schools,” Pedagogical
       Seminary, vol. vii, pp. 347-56.

     Chubb, Percival:  “Value and Place of Fairy Stories,” National
       Education Association Report, 1905.

     Dewey, John:  The School and the Child.  Blackie & Sons.

     Ibid:  The School and Society.  University of Chicago Press.

     “Fairy Tales,” Public Libraries, 1906, vol. 11, pp. 175-78.

     Palmer, Luella:  “Standard for Kindergarten Training,”
       Kindergarten Review, June, 1914.

     Welsh, Charles:  Right Reading for Children.  Heath.

CHAPTER II

PRINCIPLES OF SELECTION FOR FAIRY TALES

     All our troubles come from doing that in which we have no
     interest.—­EPICTETUS.

     That is useful for every man which is conformable to his own
     constitution and nature.—­MARCUS AURELIUS.

Genuine interest means that a person has identified himself with, or found himself in, a certain course of activity.  It is obtained not by thinking about it and consciously aiming at it, but by considering and aiming at the conditions that lie back of it, and compel it.—­JOHN DEWEY.

I. THE INTERESTS OF CHILDREN

Now that the value of fairy tales in education has been made clear, let us consider some of those principles of selection which should guide the teacher, the mother, the father, and the librarian, in choosing the tale for the little child.

Fairy tales must contain what interests children.  It is a well-known principle that selective interest precedes voluntary attention; therefore interest is fundamental.  All that is accomplished of permanent good is a by-product of the enjoyment of the tale.  The tale will go home only as it brings joy, and it will bring joy when it secures the child’s interest.  Now interest is the condition which requires least mental effort.  And fairy tales for little children must follow that great law of composition pointed out by Herbert Spencer, which makes all language consider the audience and the economy of the hearer’s attention.  The first step, then, is to study the interests of the child.  We do not wish to give him just what he likes, but we want to give him a chance to choose from among those things which he ought to have and, as good and wise guardians, see that we offer what is in harmony with his interests.  Any observation of the child’s interest will show that he loves the things he finds in his fairy tales.  He enjoys—­