a double motive enters in, namely, the conveyance of
truth in life, at the same time affording real pleasure to the
listeners. Either motive alone will be inadequate. You cannot convey the
truth without the desire to give pleasure; you cannot make the pleasure
worth while without the truth. But this is the place to insist that the
truth which you desire to convey must find its way to the conviction of
the child through the story and not through any moral or preface or
particular statement which you may make. The moral or lesson must be
clear to you but carefully held in reserve to direct the matter and
manner of the story.

Secondly, be prepared to pay the price of this most effective method of
instruction. It will cost the reservation of a certain amount of time
both for acquiring the story and for relating it. It will require
careful thought and planning, especially to be sure that the story is
told in sympathy with the child's world. People who are too busy to tell
their children stories are, perhaps fortunately, coming to realize that
they are too busy to have children. If it looks like a waste of time to
turn off the lights and sit by the firelight for from twenty to thirty
minutes, we shall need to revise our estimates of the value of
child-character. Nor must we shrink from the investment of time in
preparation for the narration of the story; if it is worth telling, it
is worth telling well.

Thirdly, keep a record of sources of stories. This may be preserved in a
notebook. One parent used a card-index for this purpose. There are a few
books published containing good collections.[17] You will find most
valuable your own little book in which you have noted down the fugitive
stories and short selections which are to be found in general
literature.[18]

Fourthly, do not tell a story so as to close the child's interest in the
narrative. Stories ought to lead to inquiry and further reading in the
book or other source from which they have been drawn; indeed,
story-telling is one excellent method of quickening an interest in
reading.

Fifthly, allow the children to retell the stories to one another. Often
the whole family will be entertained and helped by the explanation which
a small child will give of the story he has learned by hearing it
repeated a few times from his mother's lips.

Sixthly, telling Bible stories to children in the quiet hour is the best
of all methods to stimulate their interest in the Bible