Stories  and  rhymes  are  the  literature,  the  art  of  language  for  chil-
dren  of  kindergarten  age.  To  appreciate  good  literature  means  to
enjoy  one  of  the  highest  products  of  civilization,  a  product  which  is
the  result  of  the  high  development  of  capacities  which  raise  man
above  the  brute,  that  is.  imagination  and  verbal  expression.  Good
i literature  embodies  universal  principles  in  a  form  which  can  be  under-
stood by  all  peoples  in  all  times.
GENERAL  AIMS.
To  give  pleasure,  and  in  giving  pleasure  to  develop  appreciation
of  good  literature.
To  rouse  the  imagination  and  the  desire  to  create  through  verbal
form  or  through  dramatic  representation.
SPECIFIC  AIMS.
.  To  develop  control  of  verbal,  expression:  1.  By  supplying  a  choice
vocabulary.    2.  By  giving  a  model  of  art  form.
To  suggest  lines  of  action  which  will  appeal  to  the  child  and  which
lie  will  produce  dramatically,  carrying  his  imagination  over  into
situations  which  he  has  not  actually  experienced.
To  promote  high  ideals:  1.  Through  stories  of  humorous  situations.
The  lower  orders  of  man  enjoy  unusual  situations  even  if  these  bring
discomfort  to  another.  The  ideal  humor  provokes  laughter  by  harm-
less surprise.
2.  Through  stories  which  interpret  a  child's  experience.  The  sig-
nificant in  the  child's  own  experience  can  be  isolated  and  emphasized
or  shown  in  its  proper  relations  by  means  of  a  story.
3.  Through  stories  of  moral  purpose  which  give  models  for  ways  of
acting.  The  moral  should  never  be  stated :  if  it  is  not  indicated  obvi-
ously enough  for  the  child  to  interpret  for  himself,  the  story  is  weak.
46


LITERATURfi.  47

SUBJECT  MATTER.
