weather is mild enough for gardening, it is not so warm but that close caps and high-neck dresses are worn.
If the school supply of pictures is rather limited, the enthusiastic teacher may supplement it with borrowed prints of large size from outside sources,—library collections and private houses. Who would not be glad to lend a favorite picture to a schoolroom for a week, that the picture might tell its own beautiful story to the children? So much has been said and written of late about the value of storytelling in the schools, as a means of recreation and education, that it is superfluous in this place to present any arguments in its favor. Our teachers all believe in it heartily, but many are timid in their experiments, and lack confidence in their ability. Good pictures will fortify them wonderfully for the task and furnish the necessary material.
It will be seen that making pictures tell stories is somewhat different from the so-called “picture reading” used in some schools as a part of the language work. The latter is apt to be fabrication rather than interpretation, and leads the child far afield. Is it not taking a great liberty with a fine work of art to tack an entirely extraneous story upon it? One could so easily spoil a good thing in this way. The child grown to years of discretion may wish with all his heart he could forget some of the foolish tales of his own invention about some masterpiece.
Picture story subjects may be of various kinds, dealing with child life or ranging over all the world
