ble the story-teller to enter, at the same time, into the life of
the story she tells, and the life of those listening, to see the gift
of the one and the need of the other.

The ideal position for the story-teller is to be seated opposite the
center of the semicircle of listeners, facing them. The extreme
nearness of the group, when the teller seeks the fingers of the
listeners to add force to the telling, seems an infringement upon the
child's personal rights. A strong personality will make the story go
home without too great nearness and will want to give the children a
little room so that their thoughts may meet hers out in the story.

Suggestions for telling. Now that the teacher is ready to speak, her
first step in the art of story-telling, which is the first step in the
art of any teaching, which lies at the very foundation of teaching,
which is the most important step, and which is the step that often is
neglected, is the _establishing of the personal relation between
herself and the listener_. This is one of those subtleties which
evades measuring, but its influence is most lasting. It is the setting
to the whole story of teaching. It must play so important a part
because, as teacher and listener are both human beings, there must be
between them a common bond of humanity. How do you wish to appear to
this group of listeners? As a friend to be trusted, a brother or
sister to give help, or as a good comrade to be played with; as
"master, expert, leader, or servant"? If you wish to be as real and
forceful as the characters in your story, you must do something which
will cause the personal relation you desire, to be established; and
moreover, having established it, you must live up to it, and prove no
friend without faith. You must do this before you presume to teach or
to tell a story. You need not do it before each individual story you
present to a group you meet often; you may do it so effectively, with
a master-stroke, at the beginning when you first meet your class, that
all you need do at successive meetings will be but to add point to
your first establishment.

A student-teacher, in telling a story to a group of kindergarten
children who were complete strangers, and telling it to them as they
sat in a semicircle in front of her comrades, adult students,
established this personal relation by beginning to tell the little
children her experience with the first telling of _Three Bears_ to a
little girl of fou