Produced by Al Haines
By JANE L. HOXIE
1916
whose evening story-hour is the happiest memory of my childhood this little volume is affectionately inscribed
A number of the stories in this little book have been told to thousandsof children in the kindergartens of Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia,Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburg, and other cities. The delight withwhich they have everywhere been listened to is an assurance of theirappeal to child thought and sympathy. I know no equally simple,varied, and interesting collection of stories for children between theages of four and six; and I earnestly hope that A KINDERGARTEN STORYBOOK may rapidly win the popularity it merits.
It is the author's aim in this collection to furnish stories for thechild that shall be short, simple in form and familiar in subject, thatshall contain much repetition, rhythm, dramatic possibility,alliteration, and also onomatopoetical and imaginative qualities, allof which the young child craves in the literature which is presented tohim. The writer has striven to avoid elaborate introductions, long andintricate descriptions, and all those characteristics from which thechild instinctively turns.
The matter here presented naturally falls under three heads: first,original stories; secondly, favorite childhood stories rewritten;thirdly, adaptations of popular tales.
Nearly all of the purely original stories are based upon some of themore vital motifs to be found in the best of our fairy lore.
Of the favorite childhood stories, "Billy Bobtail" is evidently foundedupon "The Bremen Town-Musicians"; and, as it is given here, it is anadaptation of a story heard frequently during the writer's childhood.It will readily be seen that "Kid Would Not Go" is only another form of"The Old Woman and Her Pig," and that "Fox Lox" is identical with thetale of "Chicken Little." "The Wee, Wee Woman" is supposedly anadaptation of the old English story of "Teeny Weeny." It is given herein the form in which it was told to the author by a friend. "TheLittle Long Tail" will be recognized by many as a prime favorite oftheir early childhood.
In the three stories from Grimm it has been the aim to simplify, toshorten, and to eliminate all objectionable qualities; as, forinstance, the cruel step-mother element to be found in the originalCinderella.
The two stories from Mrs. Ewing and the adaptation of Saintine's"Picciola" have proved fascinating to the childish audiences to whichthey have been presented.
Simplicity of form and language makes it possible for the teacher notonly to tell the stories contained in this collection, but also to readthem to the children, with good effect. Some of the tales, notably thefavorite childhood stories rewritten, may be placed in the hands of the