One of my absolute favorite things to teach is fairy tales. Kind-hearted, beautiful princesses and courageous, daring princes, magical enchantments and talking animals, benevolent fairies disguised as stately ladies and wicked dwarves, snowy woods and enchanted gardens, cabbages that are really people and rings that transport you when you twist them – it’s all so magical and wondrous!
Fairy tales seem to be one of the things that I love as much as, if not even more than, my students. And while brilliant authors like George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Vigen Guroian have written extensively on the incredible benefits of reading fairy tales as children, I want to suggest that fairy tales are for adults, too (and maybe even convince you to reread some of your childhood favorites!).
Fairy tales help re-awaken us to the enchantment of the world that we, as adults, too easily grow accustomed to. Children naturally see the world as an enchanted place. They stare wide-eyed at rainbows shimmering inside bubbles as they play outside. They wildly laugh and chase leaves that blow in the wind (just come watch one of our lively recesses as the leaves are falling from the trees, and you’ll see!). They are amazed by a science experiment, delighted in learning a new song, and thrilled to see their history and religion lessons intersect. In things that have long lost their charm to the adult, children see with eyes fresh with wonder. Fairy tales remind us to notice again the enchantment of our world, particularly in the beauty of nature. As we watch Beauty make the simple request from her father of a single rose – an action that sets her entire enchanting story into motion – and Felicia’s pot of pinks magically transform into a prince and Cinderella’s pumpkin into a grand carriage, the way we see our own world is transformed. Suddenly, our own roses look a bit more radiant and our own flower pots a bit more charming. We start to see the magic in the world around us. We readjust to our eyes of wonder.
Fairy tales also draw us back into the adventurous spirit that we lived in as children. I asked my students to describe their favorite things about fairy tales and the most common answer, by far, was ‘the exciting adventures and quests!’ Children see their own world as a grand adventure, and everything from walking across the turf to discovering their new desk spots is full of excitement. My two-year-old daughter loves to say, “We’re going on an adventure, mama!” whenever we go to the grocery store. Things that have become so routine to me, like walking in line or pushing a grocery cart, are anything but to the child. Fairy tales invite us back into that wild and daring adventurous spirit. As we escape the witch with Hansel and Gretel, free the dwarf with Snow-White and Rose-Red, or run away from the ball with Cinderella, we slowly once again start seeing our own lives as beautifully grand adventures.
Lastly, and most importantly, fairy tales remind us that we, too, are promised a happily-ever-after. Tolkien describes the “Consolation of Happy Endings” found in fairy tales (the ‘Happily-Ever-After’) and notices that the Christian story contains the greatest Happy Ending of all in the Resurrection (On Fairy-Stories). It can be easy for adults to shrug off the happily-ever-after as the make-believe endings of children’s stories; happy endings are for story books, but real life experience has taught us differently, and we know the prince doesn’t always defeat the dragon. But, as Tolkien reminds us, the greatest happy ending of all is not found in the slaying of dragons or rescuing of the princess. It’s not even found in marrying the prince and inheriting the kingdom. The greatest happy ending of all is found in our eternal life with God in heaven. And this is a happily-ever-after which is promised to each one of us. Just as Prince Hyacinth breaks the curse and is finally able to be truly happy by marrying the Dear Little Princess, we, too, are promised the sweetest happily-ever-after, but of an even greater kind with our ultimate union with God.
Whether you’re ten, forty, or eighty, I encourage you to read a fairy tale. Read it with eyes open to wonder, read it with excitement and adventure, and read it with the hope of your very own happily-ever-after awaiting you in eternal life in heaven.
AUTHOR: Gabrielle Morris, Grade 4 Teacher
