Kids stories and buliding resilience

[BrightSparkles]

So, i heard an interesting analogy when i was at a conference a little while ago, about kids stories and building resilience - i'd never really looked at it this way.
So we know that to build resilience you have to experience adversity. If we think about different kids books, how many of the charaters experience adversity or all the bad stuff before they get to all the good stuff.

Hansel and gretel - lose parent/s, kidnapped, want to be eaten but the end ends positively
Beauty and the beast - lives with her dad, dad gets kidnapped, shes forced to live in the castle, escapes, meets a prince and live happily ever after.
Lion King - Simba experiences adversity, but builds resilience from this.

There are plenty of others too.
I do know some people believe that kids stories are setting children up to believe in something that will may never happen, but as parents/carers, we need to explain that this is a story.

What do others think?

[myturn]

I use stories to illustrate points in my work with kids all the time - I think they are great at providing the opportunity for learning and discussion with kids... and I think kids will take lessons from them that are far greater than simply "setting kids up to believe things that may never happen".... there are morals and lessons in everything... otherwise why would we tell them a story from our own past to explain something... everything is explained with some kid of story... and books just formalise the process...\

I have a few favourites - but I can think of these at the moment..

The Blue Day Book for Kids - Bradley Trevor Grieve (as it says - strategies for feeling better when you are sad..... with animal photos - awesome... kids love this one!!
Ish - Peter Reynolds (Love this one!! It's about accepting your 'attempts' at doing things, and enjoying them, rather than expecting perfection
Witches and Fairies - Eva Montanari (about being left out - but that we are all a bit the same, no matter how different)

[jackrose]

I have heard something similar, and it came at a time that my eldest DD was becoming interested in fairy tales, stories of the big bad wolf etc. I read that scary tales and tales of children going through adversity, when read to kids by an adult, can open the lines of communication between adults and children. This then allows them to experience a wide range of emotions including fear and sorrow in a safe place and with a person available to help them sort though it. This really appealed to me and we have never avoided any challenging stories or stories of adversity.

I believe in a broad base. Lots of different stories/experiences for a well rounded child and the chance to escape into a story and imagine different scenarios. It is interesting that although happy light stories are certainly popular, stories that may not be all about sunshine and lollypops is something that draws children in.

I know that personally, I will mull over and think scenarios through to logical conclusions before I can be ok with them. I think it is a natural way for people to work through issues and make sense of their worlds. Stories in childhood are the lesson or the precursor to being able to do this for yourself. To sugar coat life and not allow children to explore darker themes could mean that they don't learn to develop resilience later in life, absolutely.