ories by the
Grimms, the _Tales from the Norse_, by Sir G. W. Dasent, (which some
foolish 'grown-ups' denounced as 'improper'), and Miss Frere's Indian
stories. There are hundreds of collections of savage and peasant fairy
tales, but, though many of these are most interesting, especially
Bishop Callaway's Zulu stories (with the Zulu versions), these do not
come in the way of parents and uncles, and therefore do not come in
the way of children. It is my wish that children should be allowed to
choose their own books. Let their friends give them the money and turn
them loose in the book shops! They know their own tastes, and if the
children are born bookish, while their dear parents are the reverse,
(and this does occur!), then the children make the better choice. They
are unaffected in their selections; some want Shakespeares of their
own, and some prefer a volume entitled _Buster Brown_. A few--alas,
how few!--are fond of poetry; a still smaller number are fond of
history. 'We know that there are no fairies, but history stories are
_true_!' say these little innocents. I am not so sure that there are
no fairies, and I am only too well aware that the best 'history
stories' are not true.

What children do love is ghost stories. 'Tell us a ghost story!' they
cry, and I am able to meet the demand, with which I am in sincere
sympathy. Only strong control prevents me from telling the last true
ghost story which I heard yesterday. It would suit children
excellently well. 'The Grey Ghost Story Book' would be a favourite. At
a very early age I read a number of advertisements of books, and wept
because I could not buy dozens of them, and somebody gave me a book on
Botany! It looked all right, nicely bound in green cloth, but within
it was full of all manner of tediousness.

In our Fairy Cabinet, which cannot extend to sixty volumes, we have
aimed at pleasing children, not 'grown-ups,' at whom the old French
writers directed their romances, but have hunted for fairy tales in
all quarters, not in Europe alone. In this volume we open, thanks to
Dr. Ignaz Kuenos, with a story from the Turks. 'Little King Loc' is an
original invention by M. Anatole France, which he very kindly
permitted Mrs. Lang to adapt from _L'Abeille_.

Major Campbell, as previously, tells tales which he collected among
the natives of India. But the sources are usually named at the end of
each story, and when they are not named children will not miss them.
Mrs.