fearful for the child who has not learned to distinguish the
true from the imaginative. This would move _Hansel and
Grethel_ into the second-grade work and _Sleeping Beauty_
preferably into the work of the first grade. The child soon
gains sufficient experience so that later the story
impresses, not the strangeness.

_The tale of the dragon_. This would eliminate _Siegfried
and the Dragon_. A dragon is too fearful a beast and
produces terror in the heart of the child. Tales of heroic
adventure with the sword are not suited to his strength. He
has not yet entered the realm of bold adventure where
Perseus and Theseus and Hercules display their powers. The
fact that hero-tales abound in delightful literature is not
adequate reason for crowding the _Rhinegold Legends, Wagner
Stories_, and _Tales of King Arthur_, into the kindergarten.
Their beauty and charm do not make it less criminal to
present to little children such a variety of images as
knighthood carries with it. These tales are not sufficiently
simple for the little child, and must produce a mental
confusion and the crudest of returns.

_Giant tales_. This would omit _Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack
the Giant-Killer_, and _Tom Hickathrift_, moving them up
into the primary field. A little girl, when eating tongue,
confidingly asked, "Whose tongue?" and when told, "A cow's,"
immediately questioned with tenderness, "Don't he feel it?"
Thereafter she insisted that she didn't like tongue. To a
child of such sensibilities the cutting off of heads is
savage and gruesome and should not be given a chance to
impress so prominently. Life cannot be without its strife
and struggle, but the little child need not meet everything
in life at once. This does not mean that absolutely no giant
tale would be used at this time. The tale of _Mr. Miacca_,
in which "little Tommy couldn't always be good and one day
went round the corner," is a giant tale which could be used
with young children because it is full of delightful humor.
Because of the simplicity of Tommy's language and his sweet
childishness it appeals to the child's desire to identify
himself with the character. Tommy is so clever and inventive
and his lively surprises so brimful of fun that the final
effect is entirely pleasing