Lately, I have dived back into one of my favorite childhood books, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The Harry Potter series was a favorite of mine in my adolescence. It is a delightful tale, at least in the beginning, that gave me a whole new secret world to explore. I spent many hours daydreaming about my life at Hogwarts. Not all of my kids have loved Harry Potter the way I did, but they each fell in love with a great book series that has enriched their lives. From their early childhood, books have been a big influence on them.
The characters children are introduced to in the books and stories they read fire their imaginations and influence what kind of person they will become.
At any age a child’s favorite series teaches them what kind of characteristics are essentially good and evil. The characters they read about give them role models to emulate. These role models can give them the confidence to be brave and strong in challenging life situations. Different characters teach them to see things from other people’s perspectives and how to be kind to those who may be different. Other characters are adventurous and take them to real or make-believe places where they learn and experience different cultures. For Harry Potter fans, they feel like they have been sorted into their favorite Hogwarts house (Go Gryffindor!) and have stood up against evil alongside of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Children want to be the heroes of their own stories.
The worlds stories take place in also give our children different blueprints of how our world can be.
My son read Ender’s Game this past year. Reading the ending and realizing what the generals made Ender do really shook him. That has influenced him to be honest with others and to hold leaders accountable. The magical world of Fairyport Landing in the Sisters Grimm series has enchanted my younger daughter. It is a world where younger kids are given the responsibility of keeping the world safe and get to fight the bad guys. My daughter loves the feeling that she is powerful and can make a difference in her community. You bet she will be more likely to run for student council positions in school. The realistic world that J.R. Palacio set her book Wonder in has had a profound impact on our society. The Choose Kind movement that encourages people to perform daily acts of kindness grew from this novel. It also is a tool in schools used to teach about bullying, having empathy, and friendship. Anyone who is starting school or moving to a new school can relate to it. The worlds our children’s stories take place in have a profound impact on shaping them. Our children will get to know the world through the stories we tell them.
