CONTENTS: 1. ST. GEORGE OF MERRIE ENGLAND 2. TOM-TIT-TOT 3. THE GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX 4. TATTERCOATS 5. THE THREE FEATHERS 6. LAZY JACK 7. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER 8. THE THREE SILLIES 9. THE GOLDEN BALL 10. THE GOLDEN BALL 11. THE TWO SISTERS 12. THE LAIDLY WORM 13. TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE 14. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 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.