Fantasy in Childrens Picture Books is a Factor in the Exploration of Developmental Themes - Essay Example

?How Fantasy in Children’s Picture Books is a Factor in the Exploration of Developmental Themes or Themes of Migration And Identity in a Children’s Story Children’s fantasies greatly help them to cope with any changes that they experience in their lives. Most of the times, when parents or guardians make the decision to move to new region, they do not discuss their reasons for the move with their children. They simply carry their children along; thus leaving the children to acclimatise themselves with their feelings about the move. Sudden moves can be a source of fright for young children. Parents may not think much of this fact because they may not have acknowledged that even when among familiar faces, young children can still experience anxiety when suddenly put in strange environments. A child’s imagination is quite potent as a child’s imagination is not fettered by thoughts of what might be possible or practical or impossible (Haven and Ducey, 2006). Fantasy allows children to be able to experience the feeling of being ‘in charge’ of all aspects of life- which may not be the case in real life. Tales about good and bad non-human characters, unexplored realms, giants, and dwarves also help a child to develop a creative imagination. Most picture books expose a child to a different world from the one that he or she is used to- this is something that persuades the child that it is possible to create yet another world into which he or she can retreat. When children are moved from one place to another without any fore warning, they become anxious about their new environment and retreat to fantasy in order to avoid dealing with the feelings of anxiety. In turning to fantasy, the child is retreating into a safe haven from which he or she feels empowered to try and solve the outer conflicts of the sudden relocation. The world of fantasy presents the child with a situation that is quite similar to the new environment that the child is put in (Evans, 2006). Moreover, in the fantasy, the child has more power over his surroundings and situation than is the case in the real world. The child can dissociate from his or her real self by attributing feelings such as fear of the future and anger to one of the created characters in the fantasy. This allows the child to be able to study and examine his or her feelings while they are attributed to ‘another person’. The characters that the child creates in the land of fantasy can also be entrusted with the anger that the child feels towards his or her parents and guardians at the prospect of being thrown into his or her new surroundings. Moreover, these feelings will not be in their true form, but will manifest as negative feelings projected by the characters in the fantasy towards themselves (Schaker, 2013). This saves the child from feeling anxious at the thought of being angry with his or her parents while also dealing with unresolved feelings within him or herself. Many times, when children experience incidences that disturb them or make them anxious, they cannot process what they feel in the same way that adults do. It would not be a healthy indication if they used pacifism or seriousness when handling issues. Children use play and fantasy to solve their perceived problems. The exploration that is done within the confines of a safe environment, such as that provided by fantasies makes the thing that hurts children seem powerless and helps them to accept reality (Tsitsani, Psyllidou, Batzios, Livas and Ouranos, 2012). In essence, education is basically about the processing of different concepts. For children, their concepts and ideas about different things are nurtured and arranged in order when they retreat into fantasies. Children even use abstract forms of thinking when they allow pots to become furry animals or pillows to become playing balls (Evans and Hygge, 2007). A child can even develop social skills when involved in fantasies. Relating with other characters within fantasy or creating roles for them actually develops a child’s potential social finesse. When a child creates various characters when in fantasy, he or she gets the ability to be able to see the world through the perspectives of others. This can result in the development of empathy in the child, for example. The child that is frustrated due to being put in a different environment as a result of relocation will be able to see things from the point of view of other siblings or even parents (Bettelheim, 2010). This is a development towards the child starting to understand how social relationships between relatives or friends are conducted. In addition, the psychological well being of a child is tied to fantasy. Children who are in trying circumstances and are experiencing anxiety, such as the case with a sudden relocation, feel empowered in their fantasies while they feel powerless on the outside. For example, when a child is relocated without his or her parents having spoken of it before, the child may recreate the event continuously for a period of time in his or her fantasies (Jones, 2008). This will simply give the child the time and chance to develop a feeling of control where he or she may previously have had none. Fantasies also benefit children in other different ways. For example, children can develop an interest in reading when they read fairy tales. Fairy tales also inspire children to believe in the significance of good works. For example, when children read about bad witches or wizards being defeated by kind princesses and kings, their fantasies will take on the tenure of those stories (Lynn, 2005). They will start to believe that good things will happen for them. Heroes in fairy tales such as Rapunzel’s prince inspire the imagination of the child (Mollet, 2013). Fantasies also help children to realise their undeveloped talents. For example, if a child reads about ‘Cinderella’, it is not likely that the child will cease to think about the story when it finishes. It is more likely that the child will be more inquisitive and want to read about more heroes and heroines (Jones, 2013). The more cognitively developed the child becomes, the larger his capacity to create fantasies becomes. This will not just be of benefit for the child’s educational development, but also in his or her self expression. Reading about enchanted lands and fantasising about living in them awakens a child’s curiosity. The child may start to write stories based on what he or she read, or even draw images that he or she fantasised about. This shows that fantasising can help a child to learn how to express his or her self through literary or artistic abilities. These creative paths will then lead to other more developed ones in future. Children are also influenced to adopt the virtuous moral codes of their heroes in their fantasies which tend to be offshoots of the tales that they read about. References Bettelheim, B. (2010) The uses of enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales, Vintage, Chicago. Evans, G.W. (2006). ‘Child development and the physical environment’, Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 57, pp. 423-451. Evans, G.W., & Hygge, S. (2007) Noise and performance in children and adults, Wiley, London. Haven, K. & Ducey, M. G. (2006) Crash course in storytelling, Greenwood, New York. Jones, C. (2013) ‘Thoughts on ‘Heroism” in French fairy tales’, Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, vol. 27, no. 1 Jones, G. (2008) Killing monsters: why children need fantasy, superheroes, and make believe violence, Basic Books, New York. Lynn, R. (2005) Fantasy literature for children and young adults: a comprehensive guide (Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference), Libraries Unlimited, New York. Mollet, T. (2013) ‘With a smile and a song . . .”: Walt Disney and the birth of the American fairy tale’, Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, vol. 27, no.1 Schaker, J. (2013) ‘Slaying blunderboer: cross-dressed heroes, national identities, and wartime pantomime’, Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, vol. 27, no. 1 Tsitsani, P., Psyllidou, S.P., Batzios, S., Livas, M., & Ouranos, D. (2012) ‘Fairy tales: a compass for children's healthy development – a qualitative study in a Greek island’, Child: Care, Health and Development, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 266–272. Read More