It is safe to assume that the child in question will make fewer needless mistakes for a long time because of the wholesome reminder of his likeness with one who “ain’t got the sense he was born with.”  And what occurred so visibly in his case goes on quietly in the hidden recesses of the mind in many cases.  One Epaminondas is worth three lectures.

I wish there were more of such funny little tales in the world’s literature, all ready, as this one is, for telling to the youngest of our listeners.  But masterpieces are few in any line, and stories for telling are no exception; it took generations, probably, to make this one.  The demand for new sources of supply comes steadily from teachers and mothers, and is the more insistent because so often met by the disappointing recommendations of books which prove to be for reading only, rather than for telling.

For the benefit of suggestion to teachers in schools where story-telling is newly or not yet introduced in systematic form, I am glad to append the following list of additional stories which will be found to be equally tellable and likeable.  The list is not mine, although it embodies some of my suggestions.  I offer it merely as a practical result of the effort to equalise and extend the story-hour throughout the schools.  The list is roughly graded in four groups.  Stories in the present volume have been excluded.

STORIES FOR REPRODUCTION

FIRST GROUP

     The Lion and the Mouse, AEsop
     The Fox and the Crow, AEsop
     The Hare and the Tortoise, AEsop
     The Wolf and the Kid, AEsop
     The Crow and the Pitcher, AEsop
     The Fox and the Grapes, AEsop
     The Dog and his Shadow, AEsop
     The Hare and the Hound, AEsop
     The Wolf and the Crane, AEsop
     The Elf and the Dormouse[1]
     The Three Little Pigs[1]
     Henny Penny
     The Three Bears[1]
     Why the Woodpecker’s Head is Red[2]
     Little Red Riding-Hood
     The Cat and The Mouse, Grimm
     Snow White and Rose Red, Grimm

SECOND GROUP

     The Boasting Traveller, AEsop
     The Wolf and the Fox, AEsop
     The Boy and the Filberts, AEsop
     Hercules and the Wagoner, AEsop
     The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, AEsop
     The Star Dollars[1]
     The Pied Piper[1]
     King Midas[1]
     Raggylug[1]
     Peter Rabbit, B. Potter
     The Tar-Baby, Joel Chandler Harris
          (from Uncle Remus)
     The Tailor and the Elephant
     The Blind Men and the Elephant
          (Harrap’s Dramatic Readers, Book II.)
     The Valiant Blackbird, Wm. Canton
          (from The True Annals of Fairyland)
     The Wolf and the Goslings, Grimm
     The Ugly Duckling, Andersen
     The Old Woman and Her Pig[1]
     The Cat and the Parrot[1]