ler plans, but spontaneously, as the child's own plan,
answering to some felt need of his. But that does not prevent the
story-teller from using her own imagination, and through it, from
realizing what opportunities for growth the story presents, and what
possible activities ought to be stimulated. A good guide will keep
ahead of the children, know the possibilities of the material, and by
knowledge and suggestion lead them to realize and accomplish the plans
they crudely conceive. A consideration of these plans will modify the
telling of the tale, and should be definitely thought about before the
telling of the tale. A story told definitely to stimulate in the
children dramatization, will emphasize action and dialogue; while one
told to stimulate the painting of a water-color sketch, will emphasize
the setting of the tale.

The telling of the tale. With this preparation, directions seem
futile. The tale should tell itself naturally. You must begin at the
beginning, as your tale will if you have selected a good one. You must
tell it simply, as your tale will have simplicity if it is a good one,
and your telling must be in harmony with the tale you tell. You will
tell it with joy; of course, if there is joy in it, or beauty, which
is a "joy forever," or if you are giving joy to your listeners. Tell
it, if possible, with a sense of bestowing a blessing, and a delicate
perception of the reception it meets in the group before you, and the
pleasure and interest it arouses in them, so that in the telling there
is that human setting which is a quickening of the spirit and a union
of ideas, which is something quite new and different from the story,
yet born of the story.

The re-creative method of story-telling. This preparation for telling
here described will result in a fundamental imitation of the author of
the story. By participating in the life of the story; by realizing it
as folklore; by realizing it as literature--its emotion, its
imagination, its basis of truth, its message, its form; by paying
conscious attention to the large units of the structure, the exact
sequence of the plot, the characters, and the setting, the particular
details of description, and the unique word--the story-teller
reproduces the author's mode of thinking. She does with her mind what
she wishes the child to do with his. With the very little child in the
kindergarten and early first grade, who analyzes but slightly, this
results consciously in