By Nancy Olsen-Harbich, MA
The fairytales that you remember fondly from your own childhood might endear themselves to your children or frighten them. Fairytales can show that good can conquer evil or cause children to believe that evil lurks under their beds, in the form of crocodiles, snakes, or ogres.
How can you predict your child’s reaction to fairytales?
In addition to having a unique perspective on your child’s likes, dislikes, and sensibilities, recognize that choosing proper books or stories for children is a lot like choosing clothes. They should “fit” and be suitable for your child, meet the needs of a growing child, offer variety, reflect your family values, and bring happiness to your child.
Building up to Fantasy
Books and stories appropriate for children follow a continuum,
Picture books with common objects —- Books with more and more text but situations familiar to children —-
Stories requiring high levels of thinking, an appreciation of humor and irony, and the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality
Children should progress along this continuum according to their ability to understand and process information. Fairytales are “rich fare” with detailed plots and sometimes-graphic violence and parents will do well to assess their child’s readiness for these kind of stories. When children have a firmer grasp on reality vs. fantasy, usually closer to school age, fairytales and other fantasy tales can have positive benefits for children.
- Fantasy and fairytales can stimulate a child’s imagination.
- Reading fairytales to a child can provide excitement and adventure while the child is secure in your lap or in a group of other children.
- Fairytales can help children explore their fears of the unknown
- Fairytales can reinforce a child’s increasing awareness that life is not always trouble-free or fair, but with perseverance, wrongs can be righted and good can conquer evil.
- Fairytales and other forms of traditional literature are part of our cultural heritage. Many fairytales, such as Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs, are stories that children may be expected to know in school and cultural icons that may be referred to throughout the child’s lifetime. Nowadays, there are many appropriate books for children aged 3 to 5. If you’re uncertain about which to choose, check with your children’s librarian or a child development expert at Cornell Cooperative Extension. Most importantly, note which books catch your child’s interest .Try a variety of books with different topics and styles and bring your child to the library to look over the selection and pick books that appeal to him or her.
Nancy Olsen-Harbich is Program Director and a Human Development Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s Family Health and Wellness Program. She can be reached at 631-727-7850 ext. 332 or at no18@cornell.edu.