Henry Churchill King says:"It is his susceptibility to the faintest suggestion that makes the child so marvelous an imitator."The significance of this truth lies not only in the fact that he responds to the example in manners and morals of those about him,but equally,and perhaps even more exactly,to the heroes who live within the covers of his books.If the dangers are great,our response must be as forceful and our search untiring for the influence which will most surely lead the child to the best.
And what means shall be found?The answer seems ready to hand in the use of one of the oldest,yet one of the newest arts,the art of story-telling.You may talk to a child about books,he will give a certain kind of response,particularly if he respects your judgment because of previous experience,but tell him a story and you have fastened him with chains he does not care to resist.
The inauguration of the story hour then is but the grasping of an opportunity,first of all to give keenest joy to the child,and at the same time to set his standard for judging the value of other stories by those he hears,to give him a love for beautiful form,to introduce him to books he might never choose for himself and to bind him to the friend who tells him stories,so that he will feel a confidence in her suggestions.
Before choosing our stories for telling it will be well to remind ourselves of our purpose in telling stories,namely,to give familiarity with good English,to cultivate the imagination,to develop the sympathy,and to give a clear impression of moral truth.With this purpose in mind we shall gather our children into groups whose ages are near,and will be reached by the same tales.We must be methodical in this as in all our library work,and have our campaign well planned before we begin.
Not everyone has the gift of telling stories,but if one is not gifted with the art himself,there will doubtless be someone who is,who can be secured for the purpose,if we only feel that the need is great enough.
The way is open to the minds and hearts of the children.Shall we neglect it because it is old,or because it is new,or because we seem somewhat hampered by existing conditions?Why not follow the successes of others,and then find our own?
The above paper by Miss Lyman is offered as introductory to a talk which she will give at Beloit at the Wisconsin state meeting,February 22,1905.The story hour has been most successfully conducted in a few of our libraries.To be sure every librarian is not qualified to conduct a successful story hour,but it is usually possible to find someone in the community who will tell the stories.The story hour requires a good deal of preparation.In Pittsburgh the librarians who were to tell stories had special training under Miss Shedlock,a well-known English story teller,and gave thorough study to the subject before attempting to interest the children.This library has published a pamphlet on Story telling to children from Norse mythology and the Nibehulgenlied.This pamphlet contains references to material on selected stories,an annotated reading list for the story teller and for young people,a full outline of a course,and many valuable suggestions.The same library published in its bulletin,October,1902,the following outlines:
LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
Story 1.Merlin the Enchanter.
Story 2.How Arthur won his kingdom and how he got his sword Excalibur.
Story 3.The marriage of Arthur and Guinevere and the founding of the Round Table.
Story 4.The adventure of Gareth.
Story 5.The adventure of Geraint.
Story 6.The adventure of Geraint and the Fair Enid.
Story 7.The story of the dolorous stroke.
Story 8.How Launcelot saved Guinevere;or,The adventure of the cart.
Story 9.Launcelot and the lily-maid of Astrolat.
Story 10.The coming of Galahad.
Story 11.The quest of the Sangreal.
Story 12.The achieving of the Sangreal
Story 13.The passing of Arthur
