spaniel in the great park where we see them. He loves the Sistine Madonna and explains how the beautiful mother, with her baby boy upon her arm, hearing from afar the call of the suffering and sorrowful, came out of the dim angel hosts of heaven and hastened forth with shining eyes to bring her child to help people in their trouble. I shall be much disappointed if this promising child does not grow up to discriminate between Raphael and Bouguereau, between Reynolds and Greuze, between the strong and sincere in art, and the weak and sentimental.
If we have good success with our picture storytelling, it will gradually take a place of its own in the home life. The “Children’s Picture Hour” should be a regular institution corresponding to the “Story Hour,” and perhaps alternating with it at certain intervals. The mother should keep a good supply of pictures on hand, with some always in reserve for a surprise. They are easier to get than books, and cheaper, too. The art dealers have excellent lists of penny, nickel, and dime prints, and if we wish something more expensive, we may get fine photographs from original paintings both at home and abroad. Files of old magazines are a rich storehouse of treasures. From their pages we may cull pictures by famous illustrators, like Howard Pyle, E. A. Abbey, Maxfield Parrish, Boutet de Monvel, Jessie Wilcox Smith, and many others.
The typical child’s collection contains plenty of animal pictures, and these are a prolific source of story material. Landseer’s Shoeing is just what we
