_The tale of the dragon_. This would eliminate _Siegfried
and the Dragon_. A dragon is too fearful a beast and
produces terror in the heart of the child. Tales of heroic
adventure with the sword are not suited to his strength. He
has not yet entered the realm of bold adventure where
Perseus and Theseus and Hercules display their powers. The
fact that hero-tales abound in delightful literature is not
adequate reason for crowding the _Rhinegold Legends, Wagner
Stories_, and _Tales of King Arthur_, into the kindergarten.
Their beauty and charm do not make it less criminal to
present to little children such a variety of images as
knighthood carries with it. These tales are not sufficiently
simple for the little child, and must produce a mental
confusion and the crudest of returns.

_Giant tales_. This would omit _Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack
the Giant-Killer_, and _Tom Hickathrift_, moving them up
into the primary field. A little girl, when eating tongue,
confidingly asked, "Whose tongue?" and when told, "A cow's,"
immediately questioned with tenderness, "Don't he feel it?"
Thereafter she insisted that she didn't like tongue. To a
child of such sensibilities the cutting off of heads is
savage and gruesome and should not be given a chance to
impress so prominently. Life cannot be without its strife
and struggle, but the little child need not meet everything
in life at once. This does not mean that absolutely no giant
tale would be used at this time. The tale of _Mr. Miacca_,
in which "little Tommy couldn't always be good and one day
went round the corner," is a giant tale which could be used
with young children because it is full of delightful humor.