Chapter XIII: Planning Story Groups

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_
MORE MOTHER STORIES _Maud Lindsay_
TALES OF LAUGHTER _Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith_
THE TALKING BEASTS _Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith_
STORY-TELL LIB _Annie Trumbull Slosson_
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS _Laura E. Richards_
THE STORY HOUR _Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith_
STORIES AND RHYMES FOR A CHILD _Carolyn Sherwin Bailey_
FIRELIGHT STORIES _Carolyn Sherwin Bailey_
THE WONDER BOOK _Nathaniel Hawthorne_
TANGLEWOOD TALES _Nathaniel Hawthorne_
FAIRY TALES _The Brothers Grimm_
“ “ _Hans Christian Andersen_
“ “ _Joseph Jacobs_
THE ONE-FOOTED FAIRY _Alice Brown_
THE BOSTON COLLECTION OF KINDERGARTEN STORIES
THE CHILDREN’S HOUR _Eva March Tappan_
THE JUNGLE BOOKS _Rudyard Kipling_
THE JUST SO STORIES _Rudyard Kipling_
NATURE MYTHS _Florence Holbrook_
THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES _Oscar Wilde_
WHY THE CHIMES RANG _R. M. Alden_
NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS _Joel Chandler Harris_
JOHNNY CROW’S GARDEN _Leslie Brooke_
GRANNY’S WONDERFUL CHAIR _Francis Browne_
PARABLES FROM NATURE _Margaret Gatty_
FORGOTTEN TALES OF LONG AGO _E. V. Lucas_
THE BOOK OF CHRISTMAS HAMILTON _W. Mabie_
MYTHS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW HAMILTON _W. Mabie_
HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW HAMILTON _W. Mabie_
MOPSA THE FAIRY _Jean Ingelow_
THE DOG OF FLANDERS AND OTHER STORIES _Ouida (Raméé)_
THE CHILDREN’S BOOK _Horace E. Scudder_
THE BEE-MAN OF ORNE _Frank R. Stockton_
HALF A HUNDRED HERO TALES _Francis Storr_
STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN _Celia Thaxter_

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.