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| Poll |
How do you feel about magic in kids' books?
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| Never |
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6% |
[ 2 ] |
| It's the best! |
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73% |
[ 22 ] |
| Sometimes appropriate - explanation in the comments |
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20% |
[ 6 ] |
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| Total Votes : 30 |
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FranticFrummie
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 Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:58 pm
Rappel, I really admire you for wanting to have a clean, kosher, Torahdik home. I also admire you for thinking ahead, and considering what you want for your kids when they're older. Please don't think that anyone should consider you a prude or anything. You have every right to do what you think is appropriate for your family and for your community. So it really doesn't matter what we do in our homes, with our own kids.
I know a wonderful Yeshivish family that was absolutely dead set against any kind of magic fiction. Absolutely, no two ways about it. All of their kids had learning disabilities, just like their dad, and they struggled terribly with reading. Homework always ended up in tears, tantrums, and torn up work sheets.
Then the oldest discovered Harry Potter through a friend, and she wanted to read it. Her parents fought about it for a long time. Finally they gave in, and for the first time in her teenage life, she had her nose stuck in a book! Pretty soon, the other kids wanted a turn reading, and next thing they knew, they had a house full of readers.
All of the kids' grades went up in English class, and their teachers were thrilled. The kids were happy, and overjoyed when their mom went to the library to select books for them that she pre-approved. Sitting around and reading on Shabbos afternoon replaced whining about how bored they were, or sibling wars.
They had to admit that as much as they hated the idea of letting "clean magic" in their house, the effect it had on getting their kids to read was amazing. If your kid is an avid reader, and you see no reason to bring magic books in, then there is nothing wrong with not letting them in.
IMHO, it's like saying "My toddler will never watch videos". For some families, this works out fine and the kids never miss it. For other families, it's the only way to preserve mom's sanity, or to motivate a kid to get homework done or to help out around the house. An hour of screen time can be worth more than gold to some kids.
The one thing I really learned about being a parent, is to "play it by ear." See what type of kid you have, watch what effect certain things have on your kid, and then use your best seichel. Be willing to throw some ideas out the window, and be flexible if something seems to be working better.
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librarygirl
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Thu, Oct 22 2020, 5:42 pm
Golden compass has lots of hashkafic problems. Doesn't mean all fantasy books are like that.
You can always give your kids the Anthony Goldstein fan fic!
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tigerwife
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Thu, Oct 22 2020, 5:51 pm
I grew up on fantasy books. I don’t remember ever having confusion about reality versus fiction.
Loads can be learned from fantasy books. There are still themes and messages (this you can check before buying the book), even if they’re told by faeries or dragons. Think of I as a mashal.
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