KEEP-WELL STORIES FOR LITTLE FOLKS
BY
MAY FARINHOLT-JONES, M.D.
Mississippi Normal College
ILLUSTRATED BY
PAULINE WRIGHT
Sophie Newcomb College
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1916
REPRINTED NOVEMBER 23, 1916
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
FOREWORD
The Author, in her work with young teachers, hasfrequently noted the great difficulty they seem to havein presenting hygienic facts to little children in a mannerso attractive as to catch and hold their attention.
The child's mind dwells constantly in the realm ofimagination; dry facts are too prosaic to enter thisrealm. The "Land of Story Books" is the most fascinatingof all lands, and therefore the Author has endeavoredto weave hygienic facts into stories that will appealto the child's imagination. She believes the truths ofhygienic living and habits in the stories will "creep upon the blind side," so to speak, and impress themselvesupon the young mind.
The child can appreciate only those hygienic factswhich can be applied in every-day living: he has nointerest in health as an end in itself. Furthermore, thatinstruction in hygiene which is given as an end in itself,and which does not reach beyond the school-room in itsinfluence, is a failure. Therefore, that instruction inhygiene which is in line with the child's interest is alsothe instruction which is most effective.
The effort throughout has been to make scientifictruths simple and concrete, and so captivating that theyoung pupil will at once find interest in them. Theearly years of child-life are the most impressionable; itis, therefore, especially important that we stress duringthese years that which means more to the conservationof life than any other one thing, viz., hygiene.[vi]
Lessons of personal cleanliness, the necessity forgood food, fresh air and exercise are the truths whichare the underlying principles of these stories. Withthese as suggestions, the teacher may easily developfurther.
The mother as well as the teacher will find themhelpful as she gathers her little ones around her knee atthe evening hour, in response to the request for "astory."
The questions following each story, a kind of catechism,supply more information than it was thoughtbest to give in the story itself.
The illustrations have been prepared especially forthis work and make the lessons of the story moreimpressive.
The Author desires to acknowledge her obligationsto Mr. Charles Jerome for permission to use "TheSand Bed"; to the Woman's Christian TemperanceUnion for "The White Ship," and "