Comments on: How do you like your fairy tales? Scary or sanitized?

By: dieta kopenhaska

dieta kopenhaska — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:49:15 +0000

I’m sure that i will come back to your blog soon. Keep us posting

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:42:51 +0000

I have 8 grandkids aged 10 to 1. They like both the old and new stories. The girls love Cinderella and any other story that involves girls as independent persons. Dora, the Explorer or the Disney stories about women. One of the boys is a great Caterpillar fan but all the boys like Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings, etc. Some of the things they watch make me uncomfortable, but then I took my two older boys to the first Star Wars movie when they were 6 and 8. I remember reading stories to them and then acting out some of the scary parts like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood or startling them with a stomach tickle when they looked too intense. They loved it. The way I looked at it is that by making the scary scenes into a fun thing, they were not left to let their imagination run wild about what may have happened in the story. Now that my oldest kids are in their thirties, I don’t see that it has done any harm. The way I look at it, the world is a violent, politically incorrect place. Hiding kids behind some artificial sensibilities breeds kids who don’t know how to think critically.

My $ .02,

Tom

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:14:37 +0000

I think the Classics are important and tend to carry themes that although mature promote discussion and question. Many of the Disney fairytales have dark themes yet positive endings. My daughter enjoys books of all kinds both classic and modern. What is most important is that we read and discuss them together.

By: eleena

eleena — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:11:49 +0000

@tiunfan: You hit the nail on the head with your comment. Sometimes I think we underestimate what kids can handle not realizing that they’re viewing the stories through a totally different prism than ours.

@Yolanda: Estoy de acuerdo contigo que los cuentos clásicos deberían ser una parte de la niñez.

Gracias tiunfan y Yolanda por comentar.

By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Los niños crecieron leyendo los clásicos y no había tanta violencia como la que hay ahora. Siempre pasaron la idea de qué al final vence el bien. Que existe el amor. Los niños siempre crecieron usando la imaginación y era natural saber que cuentos eran cuentos. Vida real era vida real.

Yo me acuerdo mi mamá o papá leyéndome estos clásicos, después yo les escuchaba en los discos y más tarde los pasé a leerlos yo.

By: tiunfan

tiunfan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:04:48 +0000

I have to say that I love fairy tales. For those who think fairy tales could make negative influences on children, I need to say that, children are really simple and pure humanbeings, they don’t have the intention nor the ability to expand the meanings of the tales they read, they actually wouldn’t get the message that the way to a happy life for a poor girl is hooking up some rich guys (after listening to Cinderella)… Children care only about the story itself, they’d be pleased knowing the prince and the princess got married in the end, they’d cry because little mermaid was dead. Classics are classics. It is not by accident that we still have chance to read and admire them today after several centries. I’m not against those modern tales but I grew up reading classics, and I’m perfectly healthy spiritually.

Finally… un beso a cody’s cuentos, I love this podcast.