The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-20
BY Mrs. A. c. Ellison.

V d HEN cnllu grauuaIeS from
wv Mother Goose and enters
upon the suffering days of
enlightening his mind thru a classic,
life becomes weary, stale, fiat and I'M
proftable.'' There seems to hang
) about this innocent-appearing word
subtle repellance to intimate acqualnt-
ance. 1t savors of the alphabet, altho
J the latter has become much more ad,
yanced branch Of knowledge. Apart
appears no special reason to fight shy
of the word. but so difficult is it to be
born wise or to keep intact the impetus
in such a direction, that to point out TO
a child that the road to culture leads
thru the doorways of classic, is to
write over its portals "Death to all
who enter here.'
The Influence of the Book.
Yet of all the influences thrown about
O child s life, there are perhaps none
more alluring, more permanent, or more
productive of results than from the
pages of a book. Some one has said
that "There is in every one Of us a
poet whom the man has outgrown,"
and to keep the poet alive, feed the
youthful ardor, and guard the sensitive
ness of early impressions, is to people
the child s world with lovable and noble
images. Within the shadowy depths
of his soul lie possibilities of both good
and evil and to nourish the germ of
good, enlarge the opportunities for
growth. and to broaden the life. should
said: elf | were to pray for a taste
which should stand me in stead under
every variety of circumstances, and be
a source of happiness and cheerfulness
to me thru life, and a shield against it's
ills, however things might 60 amiss
and the world frown upon. me, it
would be a taste for reading.N But
ing a taste for it, and the developing of
that taste is where the hitch comes in
The task would be simplifed if two
thirds of the authors of the children 8
books could be condemned to the ex'
elusive perusal of their own dull pro
auctions, for they would not only
have less time to devastate the earth
but the child himself would be less
hedged about with don It's. and being
more free to choose for himself
would look less askance at the classic
from which all odious comparisons haC
been removed.
Advent Into Fairyland.
From Mother Goose to the Picture
Book is but step into fairyland, whose
"Once upon a time will continue t(
cast ats spell over the earth as long a.
q child is left to invoke it. In the
fairy tale all the unawakened magma
tion finds expression, and the instinc
tive sense Of justice that lies at thu
root of a child s nature is satisfied
Right is never on the scaffold, and i:
wrong ever mounts the throne, he il
promptly made to abdicate in favor o:
The true prince. Neither rags, nor dirt
nor the subtiIties of social distinction
guard the gates; all may enter, and NJ
child is poor while dwelling within
them. for he contacts the unity of lift
and his nature responds to it.
AS early as 1897 collection of fairy
tales appeared, by Charles Perrault
who published a small volume called
"Tales from Mother Goose,' the lat
ter represented as an old woman tellin!
stories to a group of children. Ihi
volume contained eight fairy tales, in
cluding "Bluebeard,' "Cinderella
and "Hop o. Ny Thumb This ed
ton has been translated into Englis
and can be had under it's original title
Those who object to the complete ed
fions of Andersen and Grimm on az
count Of their COLLINS and dragons, wi
find some of these omitted in Andre7
Lang's collections, the latter includin
tales from many countries, and en-
hodying as we'll the charm of goo
English.