GOOD STORIES FOR GREAT HOLIDAYS ARRANGED FOR STORY-TELLING AND READING ALOUD AND FOR THE CHILDREN'S OWN READING BY FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT Index according to reading level is appended. TO THE STORY-TELLER This volume, though intended also for the children's own reading and for reading aloud, is especially planned for story-telling. The latter is a delightful way of arousing a gladsome holiday spirit, and of showing the inner meanings of different holidays. As stories used for this purpose are scattered through many volumes, and as they are not always in the concrete form required for story-telling, I have endeavored to bring together myths, legends, tales, and historical stories suitable to holiday occasions. There are here collected one hundred and twenty stories for seventeen holidays--stories grave, gay, humorous, or fanciful; also some that are spiritual in feeling, and others that give the delicious thrill of horror so craved by boys and girls at Halloween time. The range of selection is wide, and touches all sides of wholesome boy and girl nature, and the tales have the power to arouse an appropriate holiday spirit. As far as possible the stories are presented in their original form. When, however, they are too long for inclusion, or too loose in structure for story-telling purposes, they are adapted. Adapted stories are of two sorts. Condensed: in which case a piece of literature is shortened, scarcely any changes being made in the original language. Rewritten: here the plot, imagery, language, and style of the original are retained as far as possible, while the whole is moulded into form suitable for story-telling. Some few stories are built up on a slight framework of original matter. Thus it may be seen that the tales in this volume have not been reduced to the necessarily limited vocabulary and uniform style of one editor, but that they are varied in treatment and language, and are the products of many minds. A glance at the table of contents will show that not only have selections been made from modern authors and from the folklore of different races, but that some quaint old literary sources have been drawn on. Among the men and books contributing to these pages are the Gesta Romanorum, Il Libro d'Oro, Xenophon, Ovid, Lucian, the Venerable Bede, William of Malmesbury. John of Hildesheim, William Caxton, and the more modern Washington Irving, Hugh Miller, Charles Dickens, and Henry Cabot Lodge; also those immortals, Hans Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Horace E. Scudder, and others. The stories are arranged to meet the needs of story-telling in the graded schools. Reading- lists, showing where to find additional material for story-telling and collateral reading, are added. Grades in which the recommended stories are useful are indicated. The number of selections in the volume, as well as the references to other books, is limited by the amount and character of available material. For instance, there is little to be found for Saint Valentine's Day, while there is an overwhelming abundance of fine stories for the Christmas season. Stories like Dickens's ``Christmas Carol,'' Ouida's ``Dog of Flanders,'' and Hawthorne's tales, which are too long for inclusion and would lose their literary beauty if condensed, are referred to in the lists. Volumes containing these stories may be procured at the public library. A subject index is appended. This indicates the ethical, historical, and other subject-matter of interest to the teacher, thus making the volume serviceable for other occasions besides holidays. In learning her tale the story-teller is advised not to commit it to memory. Such a method is apt to produce a wooden or glib manner of presentation. It is better for her to read the story over and over again until its plot, imagery, style, and vocabulary become her own, and then to retell it, as Miss Bryant says, ``simply, vitally, joyously.'' CONTENTS NEW YEAR'S DAY (January 1) THE FAIRY'S NEW YEAR GIFT: Emilie Poulsson, In the Child's World THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL: Hans Christian Andersen, Stories and Tales THE TWELVE MONTHS: Alexander Chodsvko, Slav Fairy Tales THE MAIL-COACH PASSENGERS: Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY (February 10) HE RESCUES THE BIRDS: Noah Brooks, Abraham Lincoln LINCOLN AND THE LITTLE GIRL: Charles W. Moores, Life of Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls TRAINING FOR THE PRESIDENCY: Orison Swett Matden, Winning Out WHY LINCOLN WAS CALLED ``HONEST ABE'': Noah Brooks, Abraham Lincoln A STRANGER AT FIVE-POINTS: Adapted A SOLOMON COME TO JUDGMENT: Charles W. Moores, Life of Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls GEORGE PICKETT'S FRIEND: Charles W. Moores, Life of Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls LINCOLN THE LAWYER: Z. A. Mudge, The Forest Boy THE COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIONS: Adapted MR. LINCOLN AND THE BIBLE: Z. A. Mudge, The Forest Boy HIS SPRINGFIELD FAREWELL ADDRESS [Lincoln] SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY (February 14) SAINT VALENTINE SAINT VALENTINE: Millicent Olmsted A GIRL'S VALENTINE CHARM: The Connoisseur, 1775 MR. PEPYS HIS VALENTINE: Samuel Pepys, Diary CUPID AND PSYCHE: Josephine Preston Peabody, Old Greek Folk Stories WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY (February 22) THREE OLD TALES: M. L. Weems, Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes YOUNG GEORGE AND THE COLT: Horace E. Scudder, George Washington WASHINGTON THE ATHLETE: Albert F. Blaisdell and Francis R. Ball, Hero Stories from American History WASHINGTON'S MODESTY: Henry Cabot Lodge, George Washington WASHINGTON AT YORKTOWN: Henry Cabot lodge, George Washington RESURRECTION DAY (Easter Sunday) (March or April) A LESSON OF FAITH: Mrs. Alfred Gatty, Parables from Nature A CHILD'S DREAM OF A STAR: Charles Dickens THE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLD: Hans Christian Andersen, Stories and Tales MAY DAY (May 1) THE SNOWDROP: Hans Christian Andersen; Adapted by Bailey and Lewis THE THREE LITTLE BUTTERFLY BROTHERS: From the German THE WATER DROP: Friedrich Wilhelm Carove, Story without an End, translated by Sarah Austin THE SPRING BEAUTY: Henry R. Schoolcraft, The Myth of Hiawatha THE FAIRY TULIPS: English Folk-Tale THE STREAM THAT RAN AWAY: Mary Austin, The Basket Woman THE ELVES: Harriet Mazwell Converse, Myths and legends of the New York State Iroquois THE CANYON FLOWERS: Ralph Connor, The Sky Pilot CLYTIE, THE HELIOTROPE: Ovid, Metamorphoses HYACINTHUS: Ovid, Metamorphoses ECHO AND NARCISSUS: Ovid, Metamorphoses MOTHERS' DAY (Second Sunday in May) THE LARK AND ITS YOUNG ONES: P. V. Ramuswami Raju, Indian Fables CORNELIA S JEWELS: James Baldwin, Fifty Famous Stories Retold QUEEN MARGARET AND THE ROBBERS: Albert F. Blaisdell, Stories from Enylish History THE REVENGE OF CORIOLANUS: Charles Morris, Historical Tales THE WIDOW AND HER THREE SONS MEMORIAL DAY (May 30)[1] AND FLAG DAY (June 14) Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated in some States on April 26 and in others on May 10. BETSY ROSS AND THE FLAG: Harry Pringle Ford THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER: Eva March Tappan, Hero Stories from American History THE LITTLE DRUMMER-BOY: Aloert Bushnell Hart, The Romance of the Civil War A FLAG INCIDENT: M. M. Thomas, Captain Phil TWO HERO-STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR: Ben La Bree, Camp Fires of the Confederacy THE YOUNG SENTINEL: Z. A. Mudge, The Forest Boy THE COLONEL OF THE ZOUAVES: Noah Brooks, Abraham Lincoln GENERAL SCOTT AND THE STARS AND STRIPES: E. D. Townsend, Anecdotes of the Civil War lNDEPENDENCE DAY (July 4) THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: Washington Irving, Life of Washington THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: H. A. Guerber, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies A BRAVE GIRL: James Johonnot, Stories of Heroic Deeds THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY: John Andrews, Letter to a friend written in 1773 A GUNPOWDER STORY: John Esten Cooke, Stories of the Old Dominion THE CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA: Washington Irving, Life of Washington WASHINGTON AND THE COWARDS: Washington Irving, Life of Washington LABOR DAY (First Monday in September) THE SMITHY: P. V. Ramaswami Raju, Indian Fables THE NAIL: The Brothers Grimm, German Household Tales THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER: Horace E. Scudder, Book of Fables and Folk Stories THE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE: Juliana Horatia Ewing, Old Fashioned Fairy Tales HOFUS THE STONE CUTTER, A JAPANESE LEGEND: The Riserside Third Reader ARACHNE: Josephine Preston Peabody, Old Greek Folk Stories THE METAL KING: A German Folk-Tale THE CHOICE OF HERCULES: Xenophon, Memorabilia of Socrates THE SPEAKING STATUE: Gesta Romanorum THE CHAMPION STONE CUTTER: Hugh Miller BILL BROWN'S TEST: Cleveland Moffett, Careers of Danger and Daring COLUMBUS DAY (October 12) COLUMBUS AND THE EGG: James Baldwin, Thirty More Famous Stories Retold COLUMBUS AT LA RABIDA: Washington Irving, Life of Christopher Columbus THE MUTINY: A. de Lamartine, Life of Columbus THE FIRST LANDING OF COLUMBUS IN THE NEW WORLD: Washington Irving, Life of Christopher Columbus HALLOWEEN (October 31) THE OLD WITCH: The Brothers Grimm, German Household Tales SHIPPEITARO: Mary F. Nixon-Roulet, Japanese Folk Stories and Fairy Tales HANSEL AND GRETHEL: The Brothers Grimm, German Household Tales BURG HILL'S ON FIRE: Elizabeth W. Grierson, Children's Book of Celtic Stories THE KING OF THE CATS: Ernest Rhys, Fairy-Gold THE STRANGE VISITOR: Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales THE BENEVOLENT GOBLIN: Gesta Romanorum THE PHANTOM KNIGHT OF THE VANDAL CAMP: Gesta Romanorum THANKSGIVING DAY (Last Thursday in November) THE FIRST HARVEST-HOME IN PLYMOUTH: W. De Loss Lore, Jr., The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England THE MASTER OF THE HARVEST: Mrs. Alfred Gatty, Parables from Nature SAINT CUTHBERT'S EAGLE: The Venerable Bede, Life and Miracles of Saint Cuthbert THE EARS OF WHEAT: The Brothers Grimm, German Household Tales HOW INDIAN CORN CAME INTO THE WORLD: Henry R. Schoolcraft, The Myth of Hiawatha THE NUTCRACKER DWARF: Count Franz Pocci, Fur Frohliche Kinder THE PUMPKIN PIRATES, A TALE FROM LUCIAN: Alfred J.