Contents: 1. THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY 2. CATSKIN 3. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS 4. NIX NAUGHT NOTHING 5. MR. AND MRS. VINEGAR 6. THE TRUE HISTORY OF SIR THOMAS THUMB 7. HENNY-PENNY 8. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL 9. MR. FOX 10. DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT 11. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG 12. THE WEE BANNOCK 13. HOW JACK WENT OUT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE 14. THE BOGEY-BEAST 15. CHILDE ROWLAND 16. THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM 17. CAPORUSHES 18. THE RED ETTIN 19. THE FISH AND THE RING 20. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS 21. MOLLY WHUPPIE AND THE DOUBLE-FACED GIANT 22. THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK 23. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END 24. THE ROSE TREE INTRODUCTION The stories collected in this volume have been selected from many sources, because in the judgment of the editor, they are sound pieces of writing, wholesome in tone, varied in interest and style, and interesting. It is his hope that they will not only furnish good reading, but that they will suggest the kind of reading in this field that should be within the reach of children. Children ought to have stories at hand precisely as they ought to have food, toys, games, playgrounds, because stories meet one of the normal needs of their natures. But these stories, like the food given to the body, ought to be intelligently selected, not only for their quality but for their adaptation. There are many good books which ought not to be in the hands of children because children have not had the experience which interprets them; they will either fail to understand, or if they understand, they will suffer a sudden forcing of growth in the knowledge of life which is always unwholesome. The fairy tale belongs to the child and ought always to be within his reach, not only because it is his special literary form and his nature craves it, but because it is one of the most vital of the textbooks offered to him in the school of life. As a class, children not only possess the faculty of imagination, but are very largely occupied with it during the most sensitive and formative years, and those who lack it are brought under its spell by their fellows. They do not accurately distinguish between the actual and the imaginary, and they live at ease in a world out of which paths run in every direction into wonderland.