imate and Personal with Your Audience._ Express your opinion
now and then as your own; interrupt the story occasionally (not often
enough to spoil the interest) by asking for the ideas of the children.
Let them guess, sometimes, at the outcome of the story. Make them feel
that they are an important part of the exercise. Sometimes they will
help you wonderfully.

6. _Use Direct Discourse Wherever Possible._ Make your characters speak
in their own words. Say, "John said, 'I saw the nest,'" rather than,
"John said that he saw the nest."

7. _Keep the Climax Out of Sight as Long as Possible._ Curiosity is a
large factor in interest, and if the children know "how the story is
coming out" you are liable to lose their attention. However, you will
find that some stories will prove such favorites to young children that
they will call for the tales again and again. Occasionally small
children are very particular about the way in which a story is
repeated--there must be no deviations from the way in which it was first
told. You may congratulate yourself on having told the story well, if
the children ask for its repetition; and if they criticise your second
telling you may know you did very well in your first attempt.

8. _Be Enthusiastic; Be Dramatic._ Throw yourself into the tale; _see_
what you are describing; _feel_ what your characters feel, and _enjoy_
the story itself. Speak distinctly; use clear, sympathetic tones; speak
slowly or rapidly as the action demands, and use pauses effectively.
Don't be in a hurry. See that your face expresses your feelings, that
your attitudes are easy and your gestures appropriate and graceful. Act
your part.

9. _Do not Preach._ Tell the story so the moral, if there is any, may be
seen and felt without your striving to point it out.

10. _Talk the Story Over Freely with Your Children._ Try to get their
ideas, rather than to give your own. You can tell whether you have
succeeded and what your faults in narration have been.

_The Fairies of the Caldon-Low_

The difference between poetry and prose may be shown in rather a
startling manner with such a selection as _The Fairies of the
Caldon-Low_ (Volume II, page 395). Children like Mary Howitt's little
narrative, but what does it really say? Let us put it in plain prose and
see!

"Where have you been, Mary?"

"I've been to the top of Caldon-Low to see the midsummer night."

"What did you see?"

"I saw the sunshine come down and the