Short Stories
Good Stories for Great Holidays

Good Stories for Great Holidays

Frances Jenkins Olcott

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Book Info
Category: Short Stories
Sections: 135   What's this?

Table of Contents
Suggested Books
Section 1 of 135
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. Church, The Greek Gulliver

THE SPIRIT OF THE CORN: Harriet Mazwell Converse,
     Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois

THE HORN OF PLENTY: Ovid, Metamorphoses

CHRISTMAS DAY (December 25)

LITTLE PICCOLA: Celia Thazter, Stories and Poems for Children

THE STRANGER CHILD, A LEGEND: Count Franz Pocci, Fur Frohliche Kinder

SAINT CHRISTOPHER: William Caxton, Golden Legend

THE CHRISTMAS ROSE, AN OLD LEGEND: Lizzie Deas, Flower Favourites

THE WOODEN SHOES OF LITTLE WOLFF: Francois Coppee

THE PINE TREE: Hans Christian Andersen, Wonder Stories

THE CHRISTMAS CUCKOO: Frances Browne, Granny's Wonderful Chair

THE CHRISTMAS FAIRY OF STRASBURG, A GERMAN FOLK-TALE:
J. Stirling Coyne, Illustrated London News

THE THREE PURSES, A LEGEND: William S. Walsh, Story of Santa Klaus

THE THUNDER OAK, A SCANDINAVIAN LEGEND: William S. Walsh and Others

THE CHRISTMAS THORN OF GLASTONBURY, A LEGEND OF ANCIENT BRITAIN:
William of Malmesbury and Others

THE THREE KINGS OF COLOGNE, A LEGEND OF THE MIDDLE AGES:
John of Hildesheim, Modernized by H. S. Morris

ARBOR DAY

THE LITTLE TREE THAT LONGED FOR OTHER LEAVES:  Friedrieh Ruckert

WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES NEVER LOSE THEIR LEAVES:
Florence Holbrook, Book of Nature Myths

WHY THE ASPEN QUIVERS: Old legend

THE WONDER TREE: Friedrich Adolph Krummacher, Parables

THE PROUD OAK TREE: Old Fable

BAUCIS AND PHILEMON: H. P. Maskell, Francis Storr,
     Half-a-Hundred Hero Tales

THE UNFRUITFUL TREE: Friedrich Adolph Krummacher, Parables

THE DRYAD OF THE OLD OAK: James Russell Lowell, Rhoecus (a poem)

DAPHNE: OVID, Metamorphoses BIRD DAY

THE OLD WOMAN WHO BECAME A WOODPECKER:
Phoebe Cary, A Legend of the Northland (poem)

THE BOY WHO BECAME A ROBIN: Henry R. Schoolcraft,
The Myth of Hiawatha

THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW: A. B. Mitford, Tales of Old Japan

THE QUAILS, A LEGEND OF THE JATAKA: Riverside Fourth Reader

THE MAGPIE'S NEST: Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales

THE GREEDY GEESE: Il Libro d'Oro

THE KING OF THE BIRDS: The Brothers Grimm, German Household Tales

THE DOVE WHO SPOKE TRUTH: Abbie Farwell Brown, The Curious Book of Birds

THE BUSY BLUE JAY: Olive Thorne Miller, True Bird Stories

BABES IN THE WOODS: John Burroughs, Bird Stories from Burroughs

THE PRIDE OF THE REGIMENT: Harry M. Rieffer,
The Recollections of a Drummer Boy

THE MOTHER MURRE: Dallas Lore Sharp, Summer

REFERENCE LISTS FOR STORY-TELLING AND COLLATERAL READING
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