Child Stories from the Masters

Pippa's one free day from the silk mill opens a collection that brings poetry and art into children's stories. As she walks through Asola singing, her song gives fresh courage to people she passes. Maud Menefee draws on Browning, Goethe, Dante and Wagner, choosing scenes and ideas for young listeners. The contents also include stories connected with paintings, including Millet's The Angelus and Correggio's The Holy Night.

Work, kindness and spiritual understanding shape these short interpretations. In the Parsifal selection, a young stranger encounters mountain knights troubled by their king's suffering; the passage about Beatrice presents heaven through love and familiar faces. Menefee's foreword explains how storytelling can support children's creative work, from winding thread to making looms. Readers interested in the history of children's education can see how literature, music, painting and practical activity were brought together, while families can read the tales as introductions to their source works.