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by
With an Introduction by Henry Suzzallo, Ph.D.
President of the University of Washington, Seattle
One of the problems of present-day education is to secure for theentire school system, from the kindergarten to the university, acurriculum which shall have a proved and permanent value. In thiscurriculum literature has established itself as a subject ofunquestioned worth. But children's literature, as that distinctportion of the subject literature written especially for children orespecially suited to them, is only beginning to take shape and form.It seems necessary at this time to work upon the content of children'sliterature to see what is worthy of a permanent place in the child'sEnglish, and to dwell upon its possibilities. A consideration of thissubject has convinced me of three points:
(1) that literature in the kindergarten and elementary school should be taught as a distinct subject, accessory neither to reading nor to any other subject of the curriculum, though intimately related to them;
(2) that it takes training in the subject to teach literature to little children;
(3) that the field of children's literature is largely untilled, inviting laborers, embracing literature which should be selected from past ages down to the present.
A single motif of this children's literature, Fairy Tales, is herepresented, with the aim of organizing this small portion of thecurriculum for the child of five, six, or seven years, in thekindergarten and the first grade. The purpose has been to show thisunit of literature in its varied connection with those subjects whichbear an essential relation to it. This presentation incidentally mayserve as an example of one method of giving to teachers a course inliterature by showing what training may be given in a single motif,Fairy Tales. Incidentally also it may set forth a few theories ofeducation, not isolated from practice, but united to the everydayproblems where the teacher will recognize them with greatestimpression. In the selection of the subject no undue prominence ishereby advocated for fairy tales. We know fairy tales about which wecould agree with Maria Edgeworth when she said: "Even if children doprefer fairy tales, is this a reason why their minds should be filledwith fantastic visions instead of useful knowledge?" However, there isno danger that fairy tales will occupy more than a fair share of thechild's interest, much as he enjoys a tale; for the little child'smain interest is centered in the actual things of everyday life andhis direct contact with them. Yet there is a part of him untouched bythese practical activities of his real and immediate life; and it isthis which gives to literature its unique function, to minister to thespirit. Fairy tales, in contributing in their small way to this highservice, while they occupy a position of no undue prominence,nevertheless hold a place of no mean value in education.
In the study of fairy tales, as of any portion of the curriculum or asin any presentation of subject-matter, three main elements must unite