parison,
Shakespeare or the folk-tales? It might be rather a pleasant task to
discover who is the Cordelia, the Othello, the Rosalind, and the
Portia of the folk-tales; or who the Beauty, the Bluebeard, the
Cinderella, the Puss-in-Boots, and the Hop-o'-my-Thumb, of
Shakespeare.

The little child is open to emotional appeal, his heart is tender and
he is impressionable. If he feels with the characters in his tales he
develops a power of emotion. In Andersen's _Snow Man_ it is hard to
say which seems more human to him or which makes more of an emotional
appeal, the Snow Man or the Dog. He is sorry for the poor Shoemaker in
_The Little Elves_, glad when he grows rich, delighted for the Elves
when they receive their presents, and satisfied at the happy end.
Since literature depicts life and character in order to awaken noble
emotions, it follows that one must omit to present what awakens
repulsive or degrading emotions. And it is for this reason, as has
been mentioned under the heading "Elements to be avoided," that the
tales of the witch and the dragon must be excluded, not for all time,
but for the earliest years, when they awaken horror.

Through fairy tales we have seen that the emotional power of the child
is strengthened. This has been effected because, in the tale just as
truly as in life, action is presented in real situations; and back of
every action is the motive force of emotion. This cumulative power of
emotion, secured by the child through the handling of tales, will
serve daily a present need. It will be the dynamic force which he will
require for anything he wishes to accomplish in life. It will give the
child the ability to use it in any situation similar to that in which
it was acquired. It will make a difference in his speech; he will not
have to say so much, for what he does say will produce results. This
growing power of emotion will carry over into feelings of relation and
thus lead to judgment of values. This evaluation is the basis of
reasoning and answers to the child's daily call to think from causes
to consequences. This increasing power of emotion develops into the
aesthetic sensibilities and so results in a cultivation of taste and an
understanding of life. Emotion therefore leads to appreciation, which,
when logically developed, becomes expression. Fairy tales, thus, in
conducting emotional capacity through this varied growth and toward
this high development, hold an educational value of no m