Cultivating Moral Imagination through Fairy Tale
Growing up, I remember lying on my bed as my wrinkly, allegedly Native American grandma shuffled in, sat down next to me, and told me a folk tale. She would end by whispering, “Now, sleep as stretched out as possible. Wiggle your toes and stretch far, and you will grow big and tall, little one.” And so every night, I would lay down and try to sleep as if I were a birch tree, limbs splayed out flat and long. I jokingly contribute my above-average height to the words of my petite grandma.
Perhaps you too have a memory like this from when you were a child, whether that be listening to a parent read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or retell odd folklore. Not only did these stories inspire you, but they affected you. And I would venture to say that you too replicated the stories you heard in one way or another.
Stories affect people, mind and soul. And everything, from movie to video game, tells a story. However, not all stories are beneficial. Not all are beautiful, good, or true. As parents, we have the special privilege to curate the stories enjoyed by the little ones we care for, the stories that they will continue to return to as they age and grow. As a theologian and book editor, I see the importance of literature in the development of a child’s imagination and character.
Christian parents ought to help develop moral imagination in their children through the means of fantasy and fairy tale in order to teach, instruct, and inspire them as young Christ followers.
As we will see, literature inspires the soul, sharpens the mind, and quenches the spirit.
Scripture as Literature
When considering bedtime stories for littles, the Bible is often at the top of the list. Christian parents understand the importance of reading stories such as the story of Creation, how God crafted all things in His mighty hands; David and Goliath, which encourages bravery and reliance on God; and retellings of Christ's miracles, arousing adoration and awe. The Bible is made up of these powerful anecdotes and many others that cohesively tell of God's love for us. The Bible is also a form of literature. While not fictional imagination, the Word of God spoke through the poets and the prophets in prose and story. God uses story to speak to us, His children, teaching and guiding us throughout generations. He captivates us and draws in us close to His bosom, as a Father reading to His children, with stories of suffering and redemption, justice and love.
In the Christian Imagination, professor Leland Ryken argues that the Bible “sanctions the imagination as a valid form of expressing truth,” as the Word does not use sermon outlines to convey truth, but narrative. Take for example Christ’s parables. One of Jesus’ primary methods of teaching is by way of story. Consider the parable of the wandering sheep (Matt. 18:10-14) and that of the Wedding Banquet (Matt. 22:1-14), among the dozens of others recorded in the Gospels. Throughout the Bible, God confirms the importance of literary form and beauty. If these two qualities were not important, there would be no reason to convey truth through articulate and imaginative narrative.
From the very beginning, God created what was pleasing to the eye and good to the taste (Gen. 2:9). Aesthetic and beauty is an expression of the Triune God, and we were created to appreciate and desire it. Reading literature, especially fairy tale and fantasy, is a means of enjoyment of this aesthetic, as quality literature embodies the truth of the incarnation. God reveals His love for us in mysterious and even fanciful ways. God, the Creator, stepped down from heaven and put on flesh to live alongside of us and call back His wayward children. God is intimate in His storytelling. For these reasons, literature must be considered valuable in raising God-fearing children as a means of aesthetically communicating truth that inspires.
Just as the Christ uses story to teach his disciples, so do fairy tales and fantasy teach the young child.
Moral Imagination and Literature
Why Fantasy and Fairy Tale:
The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.
J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories"
Many books teach necessary skills to children, but, as Vigen Guroian articulates in Tending the Heart of Virtue, only a method that "awakens and enlivens the moral imagination will persuade the child or the student that courage is the ultimate test for good character, that honesty is essential for trust and harmony among persons, and that humility and magnanimous spirit are greater than the prizes won by selfishness, pride, or the unscrupulous exercise of position and power" (24).
Literature, particularly fairy tale and fantasy, allows for the child to imagine and dream rather than simply be told to retain fact. Why is it that creativity and imagination are so much more transformative that being told how the world works in black and white?One way that fairy tales are so meaningful is because of their use of repetition and cyclical circumstances.
Consider the classic fairy tale of Pinnochio by Carlo Collodi. Pinocchio wishes aloud to be made into a man, but the blue-haired fairy requires him to first be a good boy—learning obedience, truthfulness, and filial love before receiving life. While a wooden puppet, he begins to learn to love his father Geppetto by helping gain a fortune for him, but he is soon distracted by quick pleasures. This repeats as Pinnochio is separated from his father, seeks to return home and is once again distracted by fleeting joys; he then becomes lost and seeks to find his father. It is not until the end where he reunites with his father in the belly of a shark that he fully learns sacrificial and filial love as he takes care of Geppetto, who has become sick, and rescues both of them.
This filial love, that of respect and responsibility toward one's family, is seen as the child experiences the full story arc and journeys with the protagonist as they fall short but still continue on.
This fairy tale, like many others, mirrors the struggles that the children face themselves: seeking to act rightly, being tempted, falling into that temptation, seeking to act rightly again, and then later falling back into the same temptation.
Through stories like these, a child learns empathy. As Christ came in the flesh to be a servant who cares for the sick and feeds the poor, so does Pinocchio learn to serve, placing the needs of his father above his own selfish desires. In the end, Pinocchio offers up his own life in the hope of saving his father.
This fairy tale teaches that to be good is a "quality of respect and responsibility toward others you love, firstly and especially one's parents and siblings" (Guroian 47). Pinocchio also illustrates moving on, learning from mistakes, and maturation, as he quests for boyhood and manhood. The child reads as the character grows, journeying with them as the character develops moral imagination over a series of lessons, as the journey changes their entire self.
So the imagination needs to be guided by reason, sound memory, and the common stock of human wisdom about the world and its possibilities. Pinocchio's journey to real boyhood and sonship is dependent upon the presence and appropriation of these things to serve his deep desire to be a real boy and human son.
Vigen Guroian, 52
What makes a good story? A story must first hold a child's attention by entertaining them and arousing their curiosity. But for a story to enrich a child's life, it has to stimulate their imagination, developing their intellect and helping them better understand their emotions. The story becomes meaningful when it speaks to the child's insecurities and aspirations, acknowledging the difficulty of life.
Through the lens of the psychoanalytic model of the human personality, psychologist Bruno Bettelheim found that fairy tales communicate valuable messages to the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind. In the Use of Enchantment, he writes, "By dealing with universal human problems . . . these stories speak to [the child's] budding ego and encourage its development, while at the same time relieving preconscious and unconscious pressures. As the stories unfold, they give conscious credence and body to id pressures and show ways to satisfy these that are in line with ego and superego requirements."
So why is the genre of fairy tales and fantasy specifically beneficial here? Are not historical fiction and classic literature enough to cultivate moral imagination? Within the Evangelical church, there have been many parents who have forbade any form of magic in their children's books. Harry Potter was dismissed and ostracized from the home.
Yet fairy tales uniquely remove the child from the ordinary. They experience a world that is unlike their own—one that draws parallels to their experience of life but is distinct and fanciful enough to immerse themselves in something other. This is a quality the historical fiction cannot attain. Fairy tale dazzles the child gradually with truth.
Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.
It is not they that have forgot the Night,
or bid us flee to organized delight, . . .
They have seen Death and ultimate defeat,
and yet they would not in despair retreat,
but oft to victory have tuned the lyre
and kindled hearts with legendary fire,
illuminating Now and dark Hath-been
with light of suns as yet by no man seen.
- J. R. R. Tolkien, "Mythopoeia"
Why Moral Imagination:
Within the relativistic culture of the United States, parents are needed to raise their children to hold firm to the truths of the gospel and a life in pursuit of Christ. This is done by cultivating moral imagination. Why stress moral imagination as a necessary quality? Moral imagination allows the child to think through and consider a full range of possibilities and outcomes to help solve ethical and daily challenges, helping foster virtuous little ones who act on their convictions. To aid in this, fairy tales answer eternal questions, such as How am I to act in the world? Their suggestive (but not explicit) conclusions allow children to fantasize to what degree and how they will apply what they have learned of the world and human nature to their own daily life.
The Virtuous and the Value-Filled:
Moral imagination teaches virtue, while culture merely seeps with value. So what is virtue, and what is value? And is there truly a difference?
Often virtue is defined as living with a high moral standard. But this is a surface level definition. Rather, virtues define the character of a person, their relationship to the world, and how they will interact with it. Virtues define a person's will. To be virtuous and courageous, for example, is to have the virtue of courage and for it to be a part of one's self and identify. A person would not be considered courageous in essence if they often had spouts of cowardice. Virtue is cultivated by simple acts of obedience in the same direction, growing as the will grows.
Virtues [are] the qualities of character that we need in order to steer our way through the complicated and mysterious sea of morality into which we have been placed.
Vigen Guroian, Tending the Heart of Virtue, 33
On the other hand, values are instruments of autonomous, personal moral living. They are standards of behavior that the self chooses for the self and can be easily disregarded by way of fancy. They are subjective. Recently, there has been a large push to teach one’s children tolerance as a value, but with this emphasis for the tolerance of all beliefs, all lifestyles, and all religions, moral clarity has become nonexistent.
Because we highly regard values as a society, they can rarely be pushed against because they have become personal, making moral ethics subjective. To believe in a singular higher morality is to be ostracized.
If moral imagination and virtues are not cultivated, they shrivel and make way for relativism, which leads to a belief in plurality of truths.
Topics Introduced in Books
As books have the power to build up one’s imagination with what is good, they also have the ability to corrupt young minds. There has been a recent push to expose children to all topics, ranging from sexual identity to political views. But there are some topics that ought to be withheld.
Neil Postman in his book the Disappearance of Childhood observes that television has eroded the distinction between child and adult. Adult “secrets” like sex and violence are placed into popular entertainment and are pitched in such a way that they can be easily comprehended by children.
The same thing has occurred in children’s literature. Authors address topics of gender neutrality and feminism with colorful illustrations and suggestive plots. Yes, these types of topics should be discussed with children in a healthy, mature way—but many of these conversations can be introduced much later in adolescence. A second grader should not be prompted to ask herself whether she is a boy or a girl. Rather, parents can use this time to help their children root their identity in Christ, affirming that they were made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and that God loves them deeply.
Books of the True, Good, and Beautiful
Parents can curate conversation and disciplines inspired by fairy tales that shape their children in a God-honoring way. Stories like The Double Story by George MacDonald can help teach children discipline and boundaries, enabling them to better understand and respect the authority of God. These stories read to your children should praise integrity in the small decisions and encourage empathy when others are pained, all while modeling self-control.
As theologian Anthony Esolen states, “The child is meant to be free, which is to say, he is meant to behold what is good and beautiful and true, and love it because it is so.”
When considering how to train up children, we must ask: Is it true? Is it good? Is it beautiful?
Books like The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis inspire—filling children with wonder and guiding them in moral decisions.
In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Lewis depicts the struggle between good and evil in the human heart. Edmund, one of the four siblings who ventures into Narnia, falls into darkness when the evil White Witch bribes him with a sweet treat—eating the forbidden fruit that ties him to her wickedness and leads him to willfully reject goodness. It is Aslan, the son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea who has come to redeem Narnia, who sacrifices himself to save Edmund.
Another example is The Double Story: The Wise Woman by George MacDonald, a novel which tells the stories of two little girls, one a princess and the other a pauper. They are both obsessed with self. The Wise Woman whisks them away and slowly teaches obedience and selflessness, and, after going through many trials and tests, are guided by the Wise Woman to live a life of virtue.
How Books Affect Children:
As a child, I remember reading through the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke. The more immersed I was, the greater my imagination grew. One day, I went outside and stood by the old oak tree in our backyard. I pursed my lips and let out a low whistle, just loud enough for my dragon to hear. Yes, I had a pet dragon.
Not only do stories themselves alter the imagination of a child, but the entire liturgy of reading through a story with a beloved elder. Yes, reading through The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald cozy in your bed as a child affected you, but is not that story more memorable when first read to you by your mother? There is power first in repetition, the ritual of the retelling, and then there is power in generational story telling.
It is the relational aspect of story reading that fully affects the child.
Growing up in Arizona, each summer my family would take a short drive to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. We would spend the week at a lovely beach resort—our days building sandcastles and splashing in the ocean. While I have distinct memories of crafting a large sand house with windowsills, a door frame, and individual rooms, I more starkly remember reading a particular fantasy novel with my mother.
Each morning before we were able to go play on the beach, my mother would read a chapter of the book my siblings and I had chosen from the library. There is one book that I remember above all others, a book about a little boy and girl who fell upon a magic dandelion. They were bored by their mundane lives, so they made a wish to go on an adventure. With that wish, they were whisked away into another land and spent the rest of the time seeking to return home—a hero's quest of slaying dragons, finding their way through mazes, and collecting magical stones. They finally fell upon a dandelion where they once again had the opportunity to wish for anything, and they chose to return back home.
I cannot remember the name of this book. I cannot remember the author's name. I cannot remember the name of the two main characters. It was only read to me once. Recently, I asked my mom if she knew which book I was describing, and she has no absolutely no idea which book of the many she read to me that I might be referring to. And yet this nameless story, this fantasy, has touched all of the writing that I have produced thereafter. Each short story and children's novel I have written is tinged by the quest I so fondly recollect from this book that I will likely never be able to find again. A quest that ends with returning home, returning to family. I venture to say that that is why I am so terribly fond of home, of family.
Parents as Guides in the Christian Walk
Gospel and Fairy Tale
The Christian life is best suited to be understood in the mythopoetic sense, seeing the gospel as the most marvelous "myth" that is actually true, stirring the heart of the young child.
Fairy tales starkly depict the dichotomy between good and evil, expressing the horridness of evil to reveal the good as truly desirable. While current culture is obsessed with corruption (consider the surplus of apocalyptic books like Hunger Games), fairy tales offer the unique opportunity to present the child with what could be, what should be, and what will be.
In Tree and Leaf, J. R. R. Tolkien articulates how the gospel is the grandest of fairy tales. The Gospels "embrace all the essence of fairy-stories, they contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, selfcontained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe" (23).
Fairy tales, in return, model the ultimate story of depravity, reconciliation, and redemption. Considering the gospel, "There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath" (23).
Create lifelong learners and readers by reading well
Guiding Principles
Literature can teach children intellect, creativity, and morality, but dialogue between parents and children must be also evident in order for this moral imagination to grow. By dialoguing with your children based on themes in the books you read together, parents can model how to interact with literature out of love, respect, and discernment, giving children the tools to read well and live out what they learn.
While we cannot completely remove the ability for a child to read books on certain topics we deem inappropriate, we can continue to offer them whatever is good, beautiful, and true, "whatever is lovely," giving them to ability discern what to read and what to not, as well as teaching them how to interact with literature and discern it.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
You as a parent see the value of fairy tale, but perhaps you do not know where to start or how to be involved in your child's reading. Is it enough to simply provide a bookshelf and hope your child will open up a book on their own accord? What should you as a parent consider as your children are running around the library and book store to choose new books to read?
Qualities of the Book
- Is the book good, beautiful, and true?
- Does it inspire?
- Do the characters experience hardship, embrace it, and learn from it?
Cultivating a Love for Literature
- Create a list: Take time to evaluate the books you want your child to read. Remember: Are they good, beautiful, and true?
- Prioritize Bedtime: Read aloud a chapter of the Bible at night followed by a chapter of a fairy tale.
- Make Reading Days: Take a trip to the library in the morning, have each child choose a handful of books. Keeping the lights off in the house, make a pillow fort out of the living room with all of the blankets and pillows you can scour. Spend the morning with flashlights in hand and snacks, reading aloud.
A Short Synopsis to Share:
Work Cited
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (Vintage Books, 2010) 1-20.
Clausen, Christopher. The Moral Imagination: Essays on Literature and Ethics. University of Iowa Press, 1987.
Esolen, Anthony. "Reclaiming Childhood Through Poetry.” Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. May/June 2017.
Guroian, Vigen. Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination. Oxford University Press, 1998.
MacDonald, George. A Double Story: The Wise Woman. D. Lothrop, 1879.
Mills, Claudia. Ethics and Children's Literature. Routledge, 2016.
Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood. Vintage, 1994.
Tolkien, J. R. R. Tree and Leaf, "On Fairy-Stories," (London: HarperCollins, 2012), 3-82.
Ryken, Leland. The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing. Waterbrook Press, 2015.