Fictitious narratives, designed for the perusal of children, should (in the opinion of the Writer) be familiar in their subjects as well as in their style; and slight in their construction: They should hardly aim to excite more than a very transient or superficial emotion. If they are highly wrought, or laboured with dramatic interest, they will rarely be read without injury by children whose imaginations are lively, or whose feelings are strong. In other cases, they will be harmless only in proportion as they are useless.
It is desirable that children should be tempted to seek a portion—but never a large portion, of their amusement in books, as well as in active sports. That this species of amusement should be harmless is, perhaps, its best praise. While it avoids the hazards which must always attend any fictitious excitement of the imagination or the stronger feelings, it may safely aim to illustrate the minor virtues,—to exhibit the less important faults to which children are liable, or, to give a playful exercise to the understanding.
In what way religious principles may be advantageously presented to the minds of children through the medium of fiction, is a question upon which the Writer has no wish to give an opinion: he has only to say that he has not deemed himself qualified for a task of so much difficulty.