Why is the wisdom of children's books so relevant right now?

All of us are former children and for most have memories of some of the stories we read or were told when we were children. As adults, many of us still encounter these stories - whether from reading to young ones or for our own enjoyment. As a medium, children's stories are doing more than just keeping young people entertained - they are pathways for growth; helping to navigate some of the challenges, hurdles and opportunities of life in a safe and supported way. When starting to explore why storytelling is a foundation stone for human evolution, our entire understanding of children's stories can begin to expand.

As former English teachers, Holly and Rachel have read and taught a lot of fiction to younger readers and we both are avid readers of children's stories, advocating the deep wisdom to be found in many classic texts, no matter our age. In this conversation we explore the why, what and how of the values and constructs of children's fiction; explore how myth and storytelling has passed down through human history; think about the impact of films on story learning and reflect on some of the wisdom of key classic texts across the world.

In this episode, we mention:

• Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise - Katherine Rundell (article)
• C. S. Lewis on Writing For Children - CS Lewis (article)
• Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness & Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way - Jon M. Sweeney, Mark S. Burrows and Meister Eckhart (book)
• The Death of the Author - Roland Barthes (book)
• Triple WellBeing Storybooks - Rachel Musson & Alex Brenan (storybooks)

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