The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-05-26

things mothers and grandmothers
and weI-meaping relatives expect
Of children.
The moral of the story, If it has
one-and this is by no means OBJ
ligatory-will strike the child in
dependently of any "rubbing in
Children are much quicker than we
often give them credit for in trac-
ing the effects to causes. Any
thing consciously didactic or prosy
is the unpardonable offense in sto-
rv-telling. We have only to apply
the touchstone to our own expert
ence to indorse it.
1t is not matter of great i'm
portance whether the story is fin
ished at one sitting. Anticipation
of pleasure is a stimulant to the
achievement Of many things, and
on occasion, with children,
might help In the accomplishment
Of the more difficult tasks. But
let no one think Of Sinking the
completion of the story. The little
imaginations once fired and affec-
tions invoked by the hero, be he of
two or four legs, there will be no
lasting peace until he is satisfac-
torily disposed of. On one occa-
sion, being rather tired of the
older favorites, we hit on the idea
of a story which admitted of peri
odic additions, and called it .'The
and excitement-producing proper
a regular newspaper serial. 1t ran
many weeks, and at last had to be
summarily ended by the introduc-
tion Of q party Of hunters, who
dispatched several to oblivion, and
the remainder each to his own habi.
tat. The real Importance of it lay
in the educational value, though
this, like the moral one, was sub
ordinated to the narrative inter
est. Each animal chosen by the
children in turn was invited to en-
ter the circle and relate something
Of its experiences Of life, It's bab.
its, pastimes, food and mode of
capturing it, etc. Any peculiari-
ties Of build OF habits were woven
into the story, whether Of the do.
fensive or offensive kind, and the
adaptation Of their structure to
their mode Of life pointed out.
Thus the monkey, with whose love
of mischief the children were fn.
miliar, pulled the dogs tail as he
passed to the place Of honor, caus-
ing roars Of laughter. Then came
the ponderous elephant. who al
most annihilated the mouse with
his foot. at which the desire to be
amused at the clumsiness OF the
pachyderm contended oddly with
concern for the mouse.
Contrast. variety, humor, which
is one Of the most easily cultivated
instincts Of children, and above all
plenty of action are among tho
indispensable clements of q good
story. Nor must we forget the
Importance of endowing things in.
animate and animal with personal
attributes 1t not only evokes IN
terest, but rouses sympathy and
tends to the comprehensive toler-
ance Of another's point of view
another's predicament, for which
storytelling should be primarily
pursued.
Thus a little impromptu story of
recalcitrant chair, one of whose
legs was weak, and who grew to
resent being continually sat on,
might be as provocative OF SYM
pathy and pleasure as those classics
Of the nursery, "Red Riding
the "Three Bears" Then the
personation Of flowers-for no
things lend themselves so delight
of perennial pleasure. When every
thing has failed to make fidgety
child behave at table, the reminder
that the flowers were looking Mt
him had an immediate effect,
And IN nllepory- also if not too