Second Book of Tales

By Eugene Field, 1896

Download Second Book of Tales by Eugene Field. A classic 1896 short-story collection of humour, childhood, family feeling, fantasy, and sentiment. Available in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and AZW3 formats.

Second Book of Tales

About Second Book of Tales

Second Book of Tales by Eugene Field is an 1896 collection of short stories blending humour, sentiment, childhood, family feeling, fantasy, and human nature. Gathered as part of Field’s prose and verse writings, the volume shows his gift for affectionate observation, whimsical invention, moral reflection, and emotionally direct storytelling.

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Why Read Second Book of Tales?

In Second Book of Tales, Eugene Field gathers stories of children, parents, dreamers, soldiers, lovers, neighbours, and odd comic figures, all shaped by his familiar mixture of tenderness, humour, and imaginative charm.

Second Book of Tales is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy classic American short stories, sentimental fiction, literary sketches, and gentle humour. Field is best remembered for his writing about childhood, but this collection shows a broader range: domestic stories, moral fables, humorous pieces, fantasy-tinged tales, and character sketches all sit beside one another.

The collection includes stories such as “The Mother in Paradise,” “The Child’s Letter,” “The Singer Mother,” “Sweet-One-Darling and the Dream Fairies,” “The Werewolf,” and “The Story of Xanthippe.” These titles suggest the book’s variety: some tales are tender and devotional, others playful or ironic, and others touched by folklore, dream, or satire.

Field’s strength lies in his ability to make simple emotional situations memorable. He writes about family affection, longing, kindness, grief, childhood imagination, and the small moral tests of everyday life. Even when the stories turn comic, they often retain a note of warmth and sympathy for human weakness.

The volume also reflects Field’s late nineteenth-century literary world, where short tales could move freely between humour, moral reflection, fantasy, and domestic sentiment. Its range makes it useful for readers interested not only in Field’s children’s writing, but also in his prose style and his place in American popular literature.

Readers who enjoyed Eugene Field’s A Little Book of Profitable Tales, The Holy Cross and Other Tales, Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse, or The Mouse and The Moonbeam will find Second Book of Tales a natural companion, full of affectionate storytelling, whimsical invention, and old-fashioned charm.