trust—­is the teacher’s as he undertakes to satisfy that soul hunger!  The subject, the story, has been so fully gone into by Brother Driggs in his book, The Art of Teaching, that we need not attempt to discuss it fully here.  Then, too, so many other excellent books have been written on the art of the story that the teacher need only be referred to them.  Suffice it here to make two observations in passing.  The best stories for purposes of religious instruction should possess four essential characteristics: 

Point—­Brevity—­Message—­Adaptation to the experience of pupils.

And, of course, this message should be a truth appropriate to the occasion—­a message heightened by the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The second observation has to do with the telling of the story.  Naturally it should be well told.  But the story hour should not be one of mere telling.  The child, in addition to listening to the story, should be given opportunity to express its reaction to the story told—­should be directed in discovering the avenue through which it will carry into action the emotion aroused by the story.

2. The “Reading ’Round” Method. The old idea of a class coming together and sitting through a process of reading in turn from the one book in the class as it was passed about is largely a thing of the past.  Let us hope that the day when neither teacher nor pupil prepared his lesson is gone forever.  Surely “reading ’round” is a poor substitute for preparation.  And it clearly is a dull, routine method of procedure.  But there was one merit attached to it that is worthy our consideration.  It did bring the scriptures into the hands of our pupils.  Whatever method we may follow, this contact with the actual word of the Lord is a valuable asset.  We cannot advocate resorting to the old notion of “reading ’round” as an apology for a recitation, but we can well point out the merit of seeing to it that pupils see and read the scriptures.  If the lesson can be so conducted that reading is indulged in as a supplementary laboratory exercise—­a turning through of gems that entice the reader to make further study of the book—­then reading can be made a very valuable factor in the teaching process.  Then, too, it is educational just to have members of a class turn through the scriptures to know what they are—­what books are involved and where they may be found.  Ignorance with respect to the scriptures is alarmingly prevalent.  The following report taken from the New York Tribune relative to a simple test in Bible literature, given by an Eastern university to 139 students, is significant: 

“Out of 139 only 12 reached 75%; 90 received less than 50%; 10 could not name a single book of the Old Testament.  Some who did spelled them Salms, Joob, etc.  Some named Paul, Babylonians, and Gentiles as Old Testament books.”

Surely much might be said in favor of the use of books in our classes.