when we give the hero of this pretty little story so much
attention, does it not seem worth while? Will not we, grown men and
women, find so much in the hero that we may gather our young friends
about us and lead them to see how admirable a character he has and how
beautifully Andersen has shown it? If we talk not _to_ the boys and
girls, but _with_ them, if we invite their questions as to the Tin
Soldier's character, and by our informal questions lead them to
appreciate the strength, courage, and devotion of the little toy, will
they not get some taste for a good story well written, and perhaps,
learn some little lessons that will help them to be better men and
women?

_Journeys_ furnishes you with many another fine story, equally
interesting. There are a number of the tales, too, which may call for
your own best efforts in the study of character, and from which even you
may derive some genuine help in the heavy problems life thrusts upon
you.

In many places, too, the present writer has appended outlines and
questions which the young people themselves may like to pore over and
which may assist the inquiring parent even more than the brief study
above. The following are particularly suggestive:

Volume I, page 224. _Cinderella._
Volume IV, page 93. _A Dog of Flanders._
Volume VIII, page 335. _Dream Children._
Volume VIII, page 364. _The Tempest._

C. THE SCENES

One of the benefits of good reading is that it fills the mind with
beautiful pictures of places that we cannot visit or that live only in
the eyes of the imagination. A powerful descriptive writer takes his
reader with him, and by graphic words makes visible and almost real the
scenes among which they wander. One may sit in the light of his study
lamp during a black northern winter and read himself away from the chill
and dreariness into some warm, sunny clime where flowers of new and rare
forms flaunt their gorgeous colors and perfume the air with strange
delicious odors; great trees with tufts of far-reaching leaves cast
their welcome shade, and long vines trail gracefully from their living
supports. Wonderful birds with brilliant plumage flit about, as through
the openings in the trees glimpses are given of long waves rolling
gently upon the glistening beach. It is only necessary to give free rein
to the imagination and to visualize the scenes that the skilful writer
describes.

There are people of such literal minds that des