Please Don't Take the Fun out of Storytelling

     Are fairy-tales damaging our kids, because they're anti scientific? This is a question an eminent scientist has been asking himself and a thought that he shared with an audience at a recent literary festival.

     The statement itself has caused some controversy and may, or may not have been reported out of context; however it does give us something to ponder over.

     Okay, we all know that the frog turning into a prince, Cinderella going to the ball in a pumpkin carriage, Hansel and Gretal finding a house in the wood made of gingerbread, are fanciful tales. So, why have generations of parents read them to their children?

     I believe that it's a manner in which the sometimes harsh realities of life can be explained to a child in a way that they can more easily understand. It may also even cushion the blow, when they find out that there really are people who are wolves in sheep clothing.

     But, forgetting the underlying morals that the tales often try to teach and the important stimulation that the child's mind receives; to me it's also about the fun that is enjoyed by both the adult and child in the telling of a tall tale.