Anyway, regarding your topic of discussion (by the way, I quite enjoy the Motherlode column, as well), I would imagine that if there indeed is a decline in fairy tale reading, it is probably related to the increase in availability of books related to popular television shows and movies. Kids love to read about characters they recognize and will usually choose a book featuring familiar faces over one they know nothing about.

As for the moral lessons inherent in fairy tales and parental fears of lessons that might be learned from them, perhaps this is an example of the modern helicopter parenting style (wherein parents “hover” over their children). I think that children develop their ideas of right v. wrong, good v. bad, admirable v. dastardly from the reactions of the people around them. Then they fit what they read into that paradigm. So, if children perceive the women in their lives to be strong and independent, they are probably more likely to scoff at wimpy heroines than to emulate them. Thus, rather than a long parent-dictated discussion of fairy tale archetypes, the children will probably get the same benefit from a well-timed snide remark or laugh of approbation as their parents read the stories. And remember, the fact that their parents are actually sitting down and reading books to them at all is the best and biggest influence of all.

I agree that it is important not to let the discussion get in way of the fun of the story. Interrupting the narrative the first time the child hears the story is probably a bad idea. But discussing it afterwards, or later as the child asks to hear it again and again–I don’t see that as a problem. Fortunately, children will often ask their own questions “What’s that in George’s mouth, Daddy?” and then it’s natural to use these as a jumping off point.

I can’t imagine foregoing all discussion always in fear of shadowing the fun. That would be an overblown fear. Fairy Tales are a lot sturdier than that. They can take it! Or maybe it’s just that our children are used to me–”all right Mama, keep reading now!”

Interestingly, I actually ended up with two copies of the pink edition that way–one from my childhood and one from Amazon. (I had thought I was ordering the blue one). As luck would have it (and this is an AMAZING coincidence) my little brother had also been searching the world for these volumes and he also had two of one edition and none of the other, but he had the one I didn’t have! (Weird & awesome, eh?) At least, I think that’s what happened. Now that I’m writing it down it seems rather incredible. Anyway, I know that the way I got the one I needed was by trading my Pink Amazon one for my brother’s blue one.

I think my sister also got her copies from Amazon (yes, it is the type of amazing book that everyone feels the need to hunt down twenty years later!) So, I think great patience and continued searching might eventually land you the edition you need. (Although if you find it as low as $2.50 again, I will call you a truly lucky duck!)

Anyway, I don’t know if people are reading fairy tales less often now. I think maybe they are reading watered down versions of the fairy tales, a la Disney. I was actually thinking about how children’s literature has so drastically changed today because we have been on a Disney-movie-watching marathon this week as we prepare for our trip to Disney World next week. We were watching Aladdin on an old VHS tape we had in the basement and I remembered/re-realized that they had changed the words on the first song, Arabian Nights, because apparently some American Arab association had been offended by how Arabs were labeled as violent and barbaric because they might “cut off your ear if they don’t like your face”. So I googled it and found out that not only were they offended by the song, but pretty much the whole movie and so Disney changed the words for the home video.

Then, in direct contrast to that PC effort, I found some clips of the animation sequences from Song of the South on YouTube, which I remember watching as a kid, but which has been out of circulation in the U.S. for years. I decided to show them to my kids so that they would be more familiar with the story line, songs, and characters in the Splash Mountain ride. As we were watching, I was surprised to hear Brer Fox talking about hanging, skinning, or barbecuing Brer Rabbit over a fire. Although we only saw the animated clips, I found the synopsis of the whole movie online, and found out that the actual movie involves kids drowning dogs and has one or two people die in it, I think.

It really made me think, boy, people didn’t used to water down children’s entertainment back in the old days! I don’t think that’s all bad–certainly children don’t need any early exposure to violence and gore–but on the other hand, I don’t think that children’s literature needs to be all sunshine and roses. I mean, don’t you think that the Disney happy ending on the Little Mermaid really loses a little something compared to the original Hans Christian Anderson ending? I remember reading the story of the Little Mermaid over and over again in those Fairy Tale books, crying at the sad ending when the she turned into sea foam, but also enjoying the tragedy of it so much that it was my favorite fairy tale out of that book.

I think we need to view fairy tales and myths (I’m a big fan of all types of folklore and mythology) the same way you view any literature–there are good and bad things that happen, and good and bad people, and some are more realistic than others. Sometimes there’s something worth teaching in there, something we can learn from and make our lives better because we read it, and sometimes, it’s just a really good story, and that doesn’t make it any less valuable to us.

Not only does discussing keep us from what we want to do next (read the next fairy tale) it also is actually negative fun because it ruins the fairy tale under discussion. Who wants to talk about why a cat really shouldn’t deceive others to get ahead?

So why not encourage your readers, after reading puss in boots, just to move on to Seven at One Blow.