inadequate manner of speaking about certain matters which demand
very large and beautiful expression."

I would strongly urge upon young teachers to revise, by this
definition, some of the stories they have included in their
repertories, and see whether they would stand the test or not.

4. _Stories containing strong sensational episodes_. The danger
of this kind of story is all the greater because many children delight
in it and some crave for it in the abstract, but fear it in the
concrete.[15]

An affectionate aunt, on one occasion, anxious to curry favor with a
four-year-old nephew, was taxing her imagination to find a story
suitable for his tender years. She was greatly startled when he
suddenly said, in a most imperative tone: "Tell me the story of a bear
eating a small boy." This was so remote from her own choice of
subject that she hesitated at first, but coming to the conclusion that
as the child had chosen the situation he would feel no terror in the
working up of its details, she a most thrilling and blood-curdling
story, leading up to the final catastrophe. But just as she reached
the great dramatic moment, the child raised his hands in terror and
said: "Oh! Auntie, don't let the bear really eat the boy!"

"Don't you know," said an impatient boy who had been listening to a
mild adventure story considered suitable to his years, "that I don't
take any interest in the story until the decks are dripping with
gore?" Here we have no opportunity of deciding whether or not the
actual description demanded would be more alarming than the listener
had realized.