The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children, by
Flora J. Cooke

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Title: Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children

Author: Flora J. Cooke

Release Date: December 29, 2009 [EBook #30800]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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NATURE MYTHS
AND
STORIES
FOR
LITTLE CHILDREN

by
FLORA J. COOKE

Chicago.

_A. Flanagan, Publisher._

NATURE MYTHS

AND

STORIES

FOR LITTLE CHILDREN

BY
FLORA J. COOKE
of the
Cook County Normal School
Chicago

REVISED EDITION

CHICAGO
A. FLANAGAN, PUBLISHER.

COPYRIGHT 1895
BY FLORA J. COOKE.

PREFACE.

Feeling the great need of stories founded upon good literature, which
are within the comprehension of little children, I have written the
following stories, hoping that they may suggest to primary teachers the
great wealth of material within our reach. Many teachers, who firmly
believe that reading should be something more than mere _word-getting_
while the child's _reading habit_ is forming, are practically helpless
without the use of a printing press. We will all agree that myths and
fables are usually beautiful truths clothed in fancy, and the dress is
almost always simple and transparent.

Who can study these myths and not feel that nature has a new language
for him, and that though the tales may be thousands of years old, they
are quite as true as they were in the days of Homer. If the trees and
the flowers, the clouds and the wind, all tell wonderful stories to the
child he has sources of happiness of which no power can deprive him.

And when we consider that here, too, is the key which unlocks so much of
the best in art and literature, we feel that we cannot rank too highly
the importance of the myth in the primary schoolroom.

For instance the child has been observing, reading, and writing about
the sun, the moon,