The Emerald Story Book


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.5 stars; 2 reviews)

There is no richer theme for children’s stories than the miracle of Spring. The selections in “The Emerald Story Book” aim to serve the young reader’s interest in three ways. Some of the myths and legends are interesting or amusing because flowers, insects, or birds are presented as personalities and emphasise human qualities or feelings. Some of the stories and poems contribute to the child’s store of knowledge by attracting his attention to some fact, beauty, or blessing in nature which may have escaped his notice. Still others make an appeal by suggesting or affirming the abiding hope symbolised in the thought, “See the land her Easter keeping.”

The child’s heart is filled with the joy of spring,—with the rapture expressed in the thrush’s song which Mrs. Ewing describes. “Fresh water and green woods, ambrosial sunshine and sun-flecked shade, chattering brooks and rustling leaves, glade and sward and dell. Lichens and cool mosses, feathered ferns and flowers. Green leaves! Green leaves! Joy! Joy!” (From the Introduction) (7 hr 2 min)

Chapters

April by Robert Browning 1:16 Read by thood
The Spring-Maiden and the Frost Giants (Norse Legend) by Eleanor L. Skinner 14:54 Read by Rita Boutros
How the Bluebird Was Chosen Herald by Jay T. Stocking 22:47 Read by Rita Boutros
The Springtime by Eugene Field 11:47 Read by Andrea Atwood
The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde 10:44 Read by Caro Davy
The Promised Plant by Andrea Hofer Proudfoot 4:00 Read by BettyB
Brier Rose by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith 8:09 Read by Kim Lamb
Picciola (Adapted) by St. Saintine 7:19 Read by Cindy Price
St. Francis, the Little Bedesman of Christ by William Canton 4:54 Read by Kim Lamb
Prosperpina and King Pluto (Greek Myth) by Eleanor L. Skinner 13:36 Read by Kim Lamb
The Wonder--A Parable (From ''Parables'') by Friedrich Adolph Krummacher 4:00 Read by Kim Lamb
Green Things Growing (Poem) by Dinah Mulock Craik 1:19 Read by Caro Davy
The Story of a Little Grain of Wheat by May Byron 15:03 Read by Tanya Bessler
The Little Acorn by Lucy Wheelock 5:07 Read by TallyTiger
The Story of Two Little Seeds by George MacDonald 4:13 Read by Caro Davy
How the Flowers Came (Selected) by Jay T. Stocking 7:26 Read by whisperintoearth
The Legend of the Trailing Arbutus (Indian Legend) by Eleanor L. Skinner 5:51 Read by Andrea Atwood
The Fairy Flower (adapted from ''Norwood'') by Henry Ward Beecher 6:48 Read by BettyB
The Snowdrop by Hans Christian Andersen 4:54 Read by Nichalia Schwartz
What the Dandelion Told by Clara Maetzel 5:42 Read by Oxalis
Verse by James Russell Lowell 0:43 Read by mleigh
A Great Family by Agnes McClelland Daulton 5:13 Read by Cindy Price
The Birth of the Violet (Legend) by Ada M. Skinner 5:15 Read by Kayty Harrelson
A Lyric of Joy (Poem) by Bliss Carman 0:59 Read by Caro Davy
Robin's Carol (From ''Angler's Reveille'') by Henry van Dyke 1:08 Read by czandra
How the Birds Came (Indian Legend) by Ada M. Skinner 4:18 Read by Kelly Van Roy
How the Birds Learned to Build Nests by James Baldwin 4:58 Read by Caro Davy
Out of the Nest by Maud Lindsay 6:50 Read by David Friedman
The Story of Blue-Wings by Mary Stewart 6:41 Read by Stacy Dugan-Wilcox
An Eastern Legend (Poem) by Grace Duffield Goodwin 1:47 Read by mleigh
The House Wren by Neltji Blanchan 7:27 Read by mleigh
The Children of Wind and the Clan of Peace (A Christ-Legend) (Adapted) by Fiona… 5:38 Read by czandra
A Spring Lilt (Poem) by Unknown 1:02 Read by Caro Davy
How Butterflies Came by Hans Christian Andersen 1:56 Read by Caro Davy
White Butterflies (Poem) by Algernon Charles Swinburne 0:56 Read by Cindy Price
The Butterfly by Mrs. Alfred Gatty 12:23 Read by Cindy Price
The Wind, a Helper by Mary Stewart 8:17 Read by Kelly Van Roy
The Springing Tree: Willows by Mrs. Dyson 8:56 Read by Kelly Van Roy
Pussy Willow by Kate Louise Brown 2:51 Read by Caro Davy
The Dragon Fly by Mrs. Alfred Gatty 9:29 Read by czandra
The Cicada's Story (Selected) by Agnes McClelland Daulton 7:23 Read by Caro Davy
Edith and the Bees by Helen Keller 4:22 Read by ColleenR
The Little Tadpoles (From Stories in ''Prose and Verse'') by Katharine Pyle 8:12 Read by Stacy Dugan-Wilcox
Mr. Hop-Toad (Poem) by James Whitcomb Riley 0:47 Read by Stacy Dugan-Wilcox
Buz and Hum by Maurice Noël 9:22 Read by Tarik Alyahya
The Story Without an End translated by Sarah Austin from the German of A. Carove 9:11 Read by Jack Kali
Legend of the Forget-Me-Not by Ada M. Skinner 3:30 Read by Caro Davy
Four-Leaf Clover (Poem) by Ella Higginson 1:35 Read by Caro Davy
Jolly Little Tars by Agnes McClelland Daulton 22:03 Read by Rita Boutros
Mr. Maple and Mr. Pine by Warren Judson Brier 8:39 Read by Kayty Harrelson
Old English Verse 0:54 Read by Caro Davy
The Easter Rabbit (German Legend) by Eleanor L. Skinner 9:14 Read by czandra
The Boy Who Discovered the Spring by Raymond MacDonald Alden 10:46 Read by Kayty Harrelson
Sheep and Lambs (Poem) by Katharine Tynan 1:32 Read by mleigh
Robin Redbreast--A Christ-Legend (Adapted) (From Christ-Legends) by Selma Lager… 9:57 Read by Alex Kameleon
The Maple Seed from The Atlantic Monthly 5:35 Read by Caro Davy
Why the Ivy Is Always Green by Madge Bingham 8:27 Read by Caro Davy
Jonquils (Poem) by Margaret Deland 1:15 Read by Caro Davy
When Thou Comest Into Thy Kingdom by Mary Stewart 16:42 Read by Alex Kameleon
The Legend of the Easter Lily by Ada M. Skinner 1:55 Read by Dulaney High Key Club
Song by Henry Neville Maughan 0:45 Read by Dulaney High Key Club
In the Garden: An Easter Prelude by W. M. L. Jay 3:43 Read by Dulaney High Key Club
''Spirit'' and ''Life'' by Margaret Emma Ditto 8:49 Read by Wayne Cooke
A Child's Easter (Poem) by Annie Trumbull Slosson 2:30 Read by Dulaney High Key Club
The Spirit of Easter by Helen Keller 1:56 Read by Dulaney High Key Club
There Are No Dead by Maurice Maeterlinck, adapted from ''The Bluebird" by Madam… 5:37 Read by Phil Schempf
Little Boy Blue (Poem) by Alfred Noyes 1:41 Read by Dulaney High Key Club