This is an informative talk by Mr. Andrew Pudewa, one of the founders of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, whose program our Sisters use in the lower grades of our school. For my latest Reconquest, I interviewed our 1st and 2nd grade teacher, Sister Mary Joseph on the subject, “Saving or Slaying Your Child’s Moral Imagination”; this talk of Mr. Pudewa’s came up in our discussion.
Here is the IEW’s description:
Are fairy tales good, even important for Christian students? Where did they come from, what can they teach our children, and should we spend our valuable time reading them? In this session we will discuss several basic themes in fairy tales and traditional children’s literature (goodness, truth, beauty, hope, honesty, wishes, etc.) as well as key archetypes of literature and their importance to the moral imagination. With the confusion surrounding modern fantasy writing, many parents feel uncertain in discerning the good and important literature from misleading and confusing books, stories, and movies.
