A Study of Fairy Tales | Page 4

omit the adventures of fairyland from our
educational program. They are too well adapted to the restless, active,
and unrestrained life of childhood. They take the objects which little
boys and girls know vividly and personify them so that instinctive
hopes and fears may play and be disciplined.

While the fairy tales have no immediate purpose other than to amuse,
they leave a substantial by-product which has a moral significance. In
every reaction which the child has for distress or humor in the tale, he
deposits another layer of vicarious experience which sets his character
more firmly in the mould of right or wrong attitude. Every sympathy,
every aversion helps to set the impulsive currents of his life, and to give
direction to his personality.
Because of the important aesthetic and ethical bearings of this form of
literary experience, the fairy stories must be rightly chosen and artfully
told. In no other way can their full worth in education be realized. They
are tools which require discrimination and skill. Out of the wisdom of
one who knows both tales and children, and who holds a thoughtful
grasp on educational purpose, we offer this volume of unusually
helpful counsel.--HENRY SUZZALLO.
CHAPTER I

THE WORTH OF FAIRY TALES
In olde dayes of the kyng Arthour, Of which that Britouns speken gret
honour, Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie; The elf-queen, with hir joly
compaignye, Daunced ful oft in many a grene mede.--CHAUCER.
I. TWO PUBLIC TRIBUTES
Only a few years ago, in the gardens of the Tuileries, in Paris, a statue
was erected in memory of Charles Perrault, to be placed there among
the sculptures of the never-to-be-forgotten fairy tales he had
created,--Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Puss-in-Boots,
Hop-o'-my-Thumb, Bluebeard, and the rest,--so that the children who
roamed the gardens, and in their play gathered about the statues of their
beloved fairy friends, might have with them also a reminder of the
giver of all this joy, their friend Perrault. Two hundred years before,
Perrault truly had been their friend, not only in making for them fairy
tales, but in successfully pleading in their behalf when he said, "I am

persuaded that the gardens of the King were made so great and
spacious that all the children may walk in them."
Only in December, 1913, in Berlin, was completed the Märchen
Brunnen, or "Fairy-Tale Fountain," at the entrance to Friedrichshain
Park, in which the idea of the architect, Stadt-Baurat Ludwig Hoffmann,
wholly in harmony with the social spirit of the times, was to erect an
artistic monument to give joy to multitudes of children. This fairy
entrance to the park is a decorative lay-out, a central ground surrounded
by a high, thick lodge of beeches. Toward this central ground--which
has been transformed into a joyous fairy world--many hedge walks lead;
while in the sidewalks, to warn naughty children, are concealed
fantastic figures. There is the huge Menschen-fresser, who grasps a
tender infant in each Titan hand and bears on his head a huge basket of
children too young to have known much wrong. A humorous touch,
giving distinct charm to the whole creation, pervades all. From lions'
heads and vases, distributed at regular intervals in the semicircular
arcade in the background, water gushes forth; while in the central basin,
nine small water animals--seven frogs and two larger animals--appear
spouting great jets of water. Clustered about the central fountain are the
nine fairy characters of Professor Ignatius Taschner, among whom are
Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Grethel each riding a duck,
Puss-in-Boots, Cinderella, and Lucky Hans; and looking down upon
them from the surrounding balustrade are the animal figures by Joseph
Rauch. In these simple natural classic groups, fancy with what pleasure
the children may look to find the friendly beasts and the favorite tales
they love!
Such is the tribute to fairy tales rendered by two great nations who have
recognized fairy tales as the joyous right of children. Any education
which claims to relate itself to present child life can hardly afford to
omit what is acknowledged as part of the child's everyday life; nor can
it afford to omit to hand on to the child those fairy tales which are a
portion of his literary heritage.

II. THE VALUE OF FAIRY TALES IN EDUCATION

In considering fairy tales for the little child, the first question which
presents itself is, "Why are fairy stories suited to the little child, and
what is their value for him?"
Fairy tales bring joy into child life. The mission of joy has not been
fully preached, but we know that joy works toward physical health,
mental brightness, and moral virtue. In the education of the future,
happiness together with freedom will be recognized as the largest
beneficent powers that will permit the individual of four,