own to the understandings of children.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

The most valuable discussion of the
difficulties to be mastered in writing the
literary fairy tale, and the story of the only
very complete mastery yet made, will be found
in the account of Hans Christian Andersen in
_Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century_, by
Georg Brandes. Now and then hints of importance
on such stories and their value for children
may be found in biographies of the more
prominent writers represented in the section
and mentioned in the bibliography, and in
magazine articles and reviews. These latter may
be located by use of the periodical indexes
found in most libraries. For the proper
attitude which the schools should have toward
fiction and fanciful writing in general,
nothing could be better than two lectures on
"Children's Reading," in _On the Art of
Reading_, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.

190

The rabbis of old were good story-tellers. They
were essentially teachers and they understood
that the best sermon is a story. "They were
fond of the parable, the anecdote, the apt
illustration, and their legends that have been
transmitted to us, all aglow with the light and
life of the Orient, possess perennial charm."
It is possible to find in rabbinical sources a
large number of brief stories that have the
power of entertaining as well as of emphasizing
some qualities of character that are important
in all ages. The plan of this book does not
include the wonderful stories of the Old
Testament, which are easy of access to any
teacher and may be used as experience directs.
The Hebrew stories following correspond very
nearly to the folk anecdote and are placed in
this section because of their literary form.

Dr. Abram S. Isaacs (1851--) is a professor in
New York University and is also a rabbi. The
selection that follows is from his _Stories
from the Rabbis_. (Copyrighted. Used by special
permission of The Bloch Publishing Company, New
York.) Taking advantage of the popular
superstition that a four-leaved clover is a
sign of good luck, Dr. Isaacs has grouped