Some of the stories, legends, and poems in the present volume point out facts in Nature; others stimulate interest because they appeal to the young reader's fancy, quicken his sense of humour, or attract his attention to some spiritual significance. Also, large use has been made of myths and wonder stories. They evolved in the childhood of the race when the mystery of the physical world made a deep and serious impression upon primitive men. In terms of their own experiences, they explained and symbolized the beauty, order, and power which they beheld. "The Turquoise Story Book" is the third volume in a series of nature books, each of which emphasizes the interest and beauty characteristic of a particular season. The central theme of this volume is the loveliness of summer and its manifold blessings. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The editors' thanks are due to the following authors and publishers who have permitted the publication of their works in this volume—to Mr. Albert Bigelow Paine for permission to include "How the Rose Became Queen," and "A Legend of the Lily-of-the-Valley," from a "Little Garden Calendar," published by the Henry Altemus Company; to Helen Gray Cone for her two poems, "An Evening Primrose" and "A Yellow Pansy"; to Frances Gillespy Wickes for "Mother Spider"; to Edward Bliss Reed and the Yale University Press for the poem "Flowers," from "Sea Moods"; to Frank A. Waugh and the _Woman's Home Companion_ for "The Friendly Summer Trees"; to Miss M. L. Cook for her translation of "Why the Lady-Bug Is Called Beloved of God"; to Lucille Corbett for "The Story of the Dewdrop"; to George Allen and Unwin Ltd., for permission to retell "The Sun Princess" and "Princess Fire-fly" from "Old World Japan Legends"; to the Outlook Company for "The Tale of Two Tails," and to Ernest Ingersoll and the Outlook Company for "Birds' Nests"; to George H. Doran Company for "The Dew Mother," by May Byron; to the Educational Company for "The Boy Who Hated Trees"; to _Town Topics_ for "Hatto, the Hermit," by Selma Lagerlöf; to Charles Scribner's Sons for the selections from Eugene Field and Henry Van Dyke; to D. C. Heath and Company for "Legend of Tithonus" from "Favorite Greek Myths," by Lillian S. Hyde; to Frederick A. Stokes Company for a selection by Alfred Noyes; to E. P. Dutton and Company for "Robin Goodfellow," from "English Fairy Tales," by Ernest Rhys; to C. H. Barbeau for permission to retell "Legend of the Sun and Moon," from "Memoirs"; to S. E. Cassino Company for "The Grubbiest Grub" from _Little Folks Magazine_; to J. B. Lippincott Company for permission to retell a legend from Skinner's "Legends of Flowers, Fruits and Trees"; to Small, Maynard and Company for three poems from "Complete Works of Madison Cawein"; to Macmillan and Company Ltd., London, for a poem by Maud Keary; to John P. Morton and Company for "Morning Glories" from "Poet and Nature," by Madison Cawein; to T. Fisher Unwin Ltd. for