Stories to Tell Children Fifty-Four Stories With Some Suggestions For Telling   By: Sara Cone Bryant (1873-)

George Cruikshank]

STORIES TO TELL TO CHILDREN

FIFTY FOUR STORIES WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR TELLING

BY

SARA CONE BRYANT AUTHOR OF "HOW TO TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN"

[Illustration]

LONDON GEORGE G. HARRAP & CO. LTD. 2 & 3 PORTSMOUTH STREET KINGSWAY W.C. 1918

THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH GREAT BRITAIN

PREFACE

This little book came into being at the instance of my teaching friends. Their requests for more stories of the kind which were given in How to Tell Stories to Children , and especially their urging that the stories they liked, in my telling, should be set down in print, seemed to justify the hope that the collection would be genuinely useful to them. That it may be, is the earnest desire with which it is offered. I hope it will be found to contain some stories which are new to the teachers and friends of little children, and some which are familiar, but in an easier form for telling than is usual. And I shall indeed be content if its value to those who read it is proportionate to the pleasure and mental stimulus which has come to me in the work among pupils and teachers which accompanied its preparation.

Among the publishers and authors whose kindness enabled me to quote material are Mr John Murray and Miss Mary Frere, to whom I am indebted for the four stories of the Little Jackal; Messrs Little, Brown & Company and the Alcott heirs, who allowed me the use of Louisa Alcott's poem, My Kingdom ; and Dr Douglas Hyde, whose letter of permission to use his Irish material was in itself a literary treasure. To the charming friend who gave me the outline of Epaminondas , as told her by her own "Mammy," I owe a deeper debt, for Epaminondas has carried joy since then into more schools and homes than I dare to enumerate.

And to all the others, friends in whom the child heart lingers, my thanks for the laughs we have had, the discussions we have warmed to, the helps you have given. May you never lack the right story at the right time, or a child to love you for telling it!

SARA CONE BRYANT

CONTENTS

PAGE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STORY TELLER Additional Suggestions for Method Two Valuable Types of Story A Graded List of Stories to dramatise and retell 11

STORY TELLING IN TEACHING ENGLISH Importance of Oral Methods Opportunity of the Primary Grades Points to be observed in dramatising and retelling, in connection with English 27

STORIES TO TELL TO CHILDREN

TWO LITTLE RIDDLES IN RHYME 43

THE LITTLE YELLOW TULIP 43

THE COCK A DOO DLE DOO 45

THE CLOUD 46

THE LITTLE RED HEN 48

THE GINGERBREAD MAN 49

THE LITTLE JACKALS AND THE LION 55

THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE 58

LITTLE JACK ROLLAROUND 62

HOW BROTHER RABBIT FOOLED THE WHALE AND THE ELEPHANT 66

THE LITTLE HALF CHICK 70

THE BLACKBERRY BUSH 74

THE FAIRIES 78

THE ADVENTURES OF THE LITTLE FIELD MOUSE 80

ANOTHER LITTLE RED HEN 83

THE STORY OF THE LITTLE RID HIN 87

THE STORY OF EPAMINONDAS AND HIS AUNTIE 92

THE BOY WHO CRIED "WOLF!" 96