For the Story Teller

Chapter XIII · PLANNING STORY GROUPS

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THE children who hear one story well told eagerly demand,

“Tell us another!”

It is the natural, to-be-desired longing of the child mind to be satiated with good stories. We endeavor to meet the children’s wish for a number of stories in each story hour but we often hurt the mental and moral effect of one story by telling in close connection another story that has no interest connection with the last one told. We lead the child from one story interest to another with slight attention to the influence which the story group will have upon the minds of the children. We tell, perhaps, a home story, then a nature story, and last of all a holiday story in one story hour, and in doing this we so quickly transfer the child’s attention from one theme to a distinctly different one that there is no cohesion in our story building. We break down instead of building up the powers of concentration of our children.

Planning a group of stories for one story hour is quite as much a matter to be studied as is the selection of each individual story in the group and preparing this story for telling. The story combination selected by the story teller must have the qualities of cohesion, unity of theme, and related interests to make the story hour valuable in the child’s life. On the other hand, the unity of theme in the separate stories chosen must be emphasized by contrasting story treatment of this central theme. A group of stories in which each story is just like its predecessor and similar to the story that follows will tire the child listeners. We must bring about cohesion in the story hour by means of contrast in the treatment of each story.

Our first thought in planning story groups will be:

Select the story theme for the story hour.

This story theme will be some idea which we want to bring forcefully to the minds of our children. The story hour motif may be: animals, the home, trades, birds, flowers, heroes, a holiday or some ethical theme as: honesty, truth or charity, but each of the stories selected for the story group will have an animal, home, trade, bird, flower, hero, holiday, honesty, truth or charity theme.

Our second thought in planning story groups will be:

Select stories which present the selected theme in contrasting treatment.

Three stories form an excellent number for one story hour. Each of these stories will illustrate one central idea that a continuing thread of interest may be carried through the story group and knotted at the end of the story hour. But each story will make a different mental appeal in presenting the theme that the children may have the benefit of contrast in helping them to concentrate upon listening to all the stories that make up the group.

The first of these three stories should be selected having in mind the securing of the involuntary attention of the children. It should be an apperceptive story that finds quick interpretation in the minds of the children because its ideas are their ideas, its scenes are familiar to theirs and its characters are people like the people whom they meet and know in their every-day environment. Having caught the children’s attention involuntarily by a story that finds a place by its familiarity of treatment in their own lives, the second story in the group may make a different mental appeal. It may make the children reason; it may take them far afield in their thinking, it may be the longest story in the group and so call for greater concentration on the part of the story teller.

The last story in the story group will be selected for mental relaxation after the tense attention demanded for the second story. It may be a humorous story, a very short story, or one so contrasted in treatment to the other stories in the group that it gives rest because of its difference.

To illustrate with one typical story group will be helpful.

We wish to make the thought of industry the central thought for a story hour. The first story in the story group might be “The Sailor Man” by Laura E. Richards. This story catches and holds the children’s attention at once because its characters are familiar to them; its setting is one that they can quickly see in their imagination. They have much in common with the two children who go to visit the sailor man; they know sailors; they have been to the seashore; they have enjoyed boat rides. And the climax of the story is a lesson in industry. The child who most industriously ties knots in the sailor’s fish nets wins the reward.

The second story in the group, “The Stone in the Road,” makes the children think more forcefully than did the first one. It takes them farther afield and makes them see in imagination, wealth, a castle, gold, poverty. They are obliged to reason in interpreting the rich man’s motive in hiding his gold. The story makes the children use their dawning power of judging.

The last story selected for this special story group is, “Drakesbill,” a humorous folk tale. The hero, an industrious duck who has worked hard all his life to accumulate a competence upon which he may live in his old age, loans a large sum of money to the king. The king being slow in paying back the money, Drakesbill goes to the palace to collect his debt. His adventures on the way and the successful end of his journey form the interest of the story. This story makes a fine climax to the story group. While it still emphasizes the central thought of the story program, industry, it treats it in a different way from that in which the previous stories illuminate the theme. Its fantasy, its humor make it a relaxation for the children.

If story groups are arranged having in mind these two considerations: a central theme and contrast in the treatment of this theme the story hour will be a vital force for good in the development of the children’s mental and moral life.

For the benefit of the story teller who has slight time for the consulting of many books of stories which such a planning of story groups entails, some illustrative story programs follow, each of which has been arranged with reference to one child-interest theme carried through three different types of stories.

STORY PROGRAMS SELECTED BECAUSE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEAL OF EACH GROUP

HOME PROGRAMS

The Home:

How the Home Was Built Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories

The Little Gray Grandmother Elizabeth Harrison, in For the Children’s Hour

The Sheep and the Pig Scandinavian Folk Tale

The Kitchen:

The Little Red Hen Folk Tale

The Two Little Cooks Laura E. Richards, in Five Minute Stories

The Wonderful Tea Kettle In Tales of Laughter

Toys:

The China Rabbit Family In In the Child’s World

The Top and the Ball Hans Christian Andersen

The Doll in the Grass In The Fairy Ring

Being Neat:

The Child Who Forgot to Wash His Face Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time

Dust Under the Rug Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories

The Pig Brother Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows

Cake:

The Christmas Cake Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories

King Alfred and the Cakes In Baldwin’s Fifty Famous Stories Retold

The Pancake In Tales of Laughter

Mother:

The Cap That Mother Made, see page 8

About Angels Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows

The Story of Epaminondas and His Auntie Southern Folk Tale, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

The Children:

Wishing Wishes Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories

Little Jack Rollaround Adapted in Best Stories to Tell to Children

Food:

The Gingerbread Boy In For the Children’s Hour

The Proud Little Grain of Wheat Frances Hodgson Burnett, in St. Nicholas Files

The Pancake In Tales of Laughter

Traveling:

The Crane Express In In the Child’s World

The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express William Dean Howells, in Christmas Every Day

The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World Edward Lear, in Tales of Laughter

ANIMAL PROGRAMS

The Cat:

Mrs. Tabby Gray Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories

Dick Whittington and His Cat Old Folk Tale

The Greedy Cat Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

The Dog:

The Story of Wylie Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in How to Tell Stories to Children

A Dog of Flanders Ouida

The Dog in the Manger In Æsop’s Fables

The Horse:

The Little Gray Pony Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories

The Horse That Believed He’d Get There Annie Trumbull Slosson, in Story Tell Lib

A Wise Old Horse In In the Child’s World

The Cow:

The Friendly Cow Robert Louis Stevenson, in A Child’s Garden of Verse

Irmgard’s Cow Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories

The Story the Milk Told Me Gertrude H. Noyes, in In the Child’s World

The Rabbit:

Raggylug Ernest Thompson Seton, adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter

Bre’r Rabbit and the Little Tar Baby Joel Chandler Harris, in Nights With Uncle Remus

The Squirrel:

The Thrifty Squirrels Mary Dendy, in In the Child’s World

Squirrel Nutkin Beatrix Potter

Bobby Squirrel’s Busy Day Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time

Sheep:

Grandfather’s Little Lamb In Stories and Rhymes for a Child

The Good Shepherd The Bible

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf In Æsop’s Fables

The Pig:

The Story of the Three Little Pigs In For the Children’s Hour

The Little Pig Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories

How the Pigs Can See the Wind In Firelight Stories

The Bear:

The Three Bears In For the Children’s Hour

The Bear and the Fowls Æsop’s Fables

Why the Bear Has a Stumpy Tail In Firelight Stories

The Lion:

The Man and the Lion Æsop’s Fables

Daniel and the Lions The Bible

The Lion and the Mouse In For the Children’s Hour

Children and Animals:

Moufflou Ouida

Benjy in Beastland Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour

The Boy and the Wolves Æsop’s Fables

NATURE PROGRAMS

Spring Flowers:

The Snowdrop Hans Christian Andersen

The Shet-up Posy Annie Trumbull Slosson, in Story Tell Lib

The Story of the Morning Glory Seed Margaret Eytinge, in In the Child’s World

Summer Flowers:

The Pink Rose Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

Rose Bloom and Thorn Bloom Alice Brown, in The One-Footed Fairy

A Legend of the Goldenrod Frances Deland, in Story Telling Time

Birds:

The Legend of the Woodpecker In For the Children’s Hour

The Blue Robin Mary Wilkins Freeman, see page 219

King Wren In Tales of Laughter

The Sky:

The Star Dollars Grimm’s Fairy Tales

The Stars Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows

How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind Went Out to Dinner In Tales of Laughter

Apples:

The Sleeping Apple In In the Child’s World

The Big Red Apple Kate Whiting Patch, in For the Children’s Hour

Apple Seed John In Saint Nicholas Files

The Barnyard:

The Goose that Laid Golden Eggs Old Folk Tale

The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Andersen

A Barnyard Talk Emilie Poulsson, in In the Child’s World

Light:

The Old Street Lamp Hans Christian Andersen

The Golden Windows Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows

The Moon Cake In Tales of Laughter

Snow:

The Snow Man Hans Christian Andersen

Grandfather’s Penny In For the Children’s Hour

How Peter Rabbit Got His White Patch Thornton Burgess, in Mother West Wind’s Children

Water:

The Little Hero of Harlem Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

Tom, The Water Baby Charles Kingsley, adapted in For the Children’s Hour

Why the Sea is Salt In Tales of Laughter

Leaves:

The Anxious Leaf Henry Ward Beecher, in For the Children’s Hour

The Maple Leaf and the Violet Eugene Field, in A Little Book of Profitable Tales

The Snowflake and the Leaf Helen Preble, in For the Children’s Hour

The Bee:

Little Bee Trunkhosie In Firelight Stories

The Bee Man of Orne Frank R. Stockton, in Fanciful Tales

Battle of the Monkey and the Crab Japanese Fairy Tale, in Tales of Laughter

Trees:

The Little Pine Tree That Wished For New Leaves In For the Children’s Hour

Old Pipes and the Dryad Frank R. Stockton, in Fanciful Tales

The Three Little Christmas Trees That Grew on the Hill Mary McDowell, in The Story Teller’s Book

TRADE PROGRAMS

The Farmer:

The Larks in the Corn Field In Æsop’s Fables

Do What You Can In For the Children’s Hour

The Farmer and the Troll In Tales of Laughter

The Baker:

Nero at the Bakery Emilie Poulsson, in In the Child’s World

The Queer Little Baker Man Phila Butler Bowman, in Mother’s Magazine, November, 1912

The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings In Tales of Laughter

The Shoemaker:

Goody Two Shoes Emilie Poulsson, see page 16

The Elves and the Shoemaker Grimm

The Hop-About Man In The Story Teller’s Book

The Blacksmith:

The Little Gray Pony Maud Lindsay, in Mother Stories

Vulcan In In the Child’s World

The Village Blacksmith Longfellow

HOLIDAY PROGRAMS

Thanksgiving:

How Patty Gave Thanks In In the Child’s World

The Story of the First Thanksgiving Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour

The Pumpkin Glory William Dean Howells, in Christmas Every Day

Christmas:

The Night Before Christmas Clement Moore

The Legend of Claus Eugene Field, in A Little Book of Profitable Tales

The Golden Cobwebs In Best Stories to Tell to Children

Easter:

An Easter Surprise. Louise M. Oglevee, in Story Telling Time

A Lesson in Faith Margaret Gatty, in In the Child’s World

Herr Oster Haase In For the Children’s Hour

Stories of Patriotism:

How Cedric Became a Knight Elizabeth Harrison, in For the Children’s Hour

Little George Washington Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour

The Last Lesson Adapted by Sara Cone Bryant, in How to Tell Stories to Children

For a Birthday:

The Birthday Present Maud Lindsay, in More Mother Stories

Dicky Smiley’s Birthday Nora Archibald Smith, in The Story Hour

The Birthday Party Gertrude Smith, in The Story Teller’s Book

ETHICAL PROGRAMS

Being Brave:

The Eyes of the King Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time

The Little Hero of Harlem Sara Cone Bryant, in Best Stories to Tell to Children

The Brave Tin Soldier Hans Christian Andersen

Being Industrious:

The Sailor Man Laura Richards, in The Golden Windows

The Stone in the Road In For the Children’s Hour

Drakesbill In The Story Teller’s Book

Being Kind:

The Little Brown Lady Phila Butler Bowman, in Story Telling Time

The Wheat Field Laura E. Richards, in The Golden Windows

Little Half Chick In For the Children’s Hour

Being Generous:

The Little Boy Who Had a Picnic Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Stories and Rhymes for a Child

The Happy Prince Oscar Wilde

The Little Old Man and His Gold Phila Butler Bowman, in Story Telling Time

Being Hospitable:

The Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde, in The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales

Baucis and Philemon Adapted in For the Children’s Hour

The Woodpecker Who Was Selfish, see page 181

Being Honest:

The Little Cowherd Brother In Story Telling in School and Home

The Honest Woodman In In the Child’s World

The Street Musicians In The Story Teller’s Book

MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS

Good Little Folk:

The Adventures of a Brownie (to be adapted) Miss Mulock

The One-Footed Fairy Alice Brown

The Gradual Fairy Alice Brown, in The One-Footed Fairy

Funny Stories:

The Story of Lambikin In Firelight Stories

The Happy Family Hans Christian Andersen

The Story of Little Black Mingo Helen Bannerman, in Tales of Laughter

Myths:

The Paradise of Children In Myths Every Child Should Know

The Story of Persephone In For the Children’s Hour

The Golden Touch Adapted, in Myths Every Child Should Know

Fairy Animals:

The Winding Up Place (to be adapted) In Mopsa The Fairy

The Chimæra (to be adapted) In Myths Every Child Should Know

The Little Jackal and the Alligator In Best Stories to Tell to Children

Princesses:

The Crown Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, in Story Telling Time

The Princess and the Pea Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence In Tales of Laughter

VALUABLE REFERENCE BOOKS FOR THE STORY TELLER

How to Tell Stories to Children Sara Cone Bryant

Stories to Tell to Children Sara Cone Bryant

The Children’s Reading Frances Jenkins Olcott

Story Telling: What to Tell and How to Tell It Edna Lyman

A LIST OF GOOD STORIES TO TELL TO CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE YEARS OF AGE

Index to Short Stories Salisbury and Beckwith

The Story in Early Education Sara Wiltse

Story Telling in School and Home Partridge

The Story Teller’s Book Alice O’Grady and Frances Throop

Story Telling Time Frances Weld Danielson

In the Child’s World Emilie Poulsson

For the Children’s Hour Bailey and Lewis

Mother Stories Maud Lindsay