by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: January 17, 2011

There is no doubt that fantasy books are good for children. They expand the mind of a child, allowing that child to become lost in a world of imagination and wonder. They can also give that child a love for reading that they will never lose - not just for reading, but for writing too. There are no negative aspects to fantasy books as everyone, young and indeed old, become enraptured by what they read upon the page.

Books such as Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, Magician, and many more, all have that unputdown quality to them. They enrapture and capture children in such a way that they feel for the characters within the books. They, 'become' the characters in the books, feeling sad,when they are sad, happy when they are happy, and scared when they are scared.

An addiction to fantasy books is a good thing, and is much better and safer than a child becoming addicted to drugs or drink. There is no harm that can be done when a child picks up a good book to escape from the worries and cares of the real world for a while. Is that not what adults do? 

Also, it has to be said that in this age of technology, with fantasy computer games all the rage, it is rare for a child to pick up a book and simply become lost within that book's pages.  Books play the most important part of all in expanding the mind of a child. In allowing their imaginations to grow, and allowing the child to wonder about 'what if'?

For all stories, especially horror or fantasy, begin with the question 'what if'?  From those two simple words can a whole story grow from the imagination of the author, who passes this on to the child or adult.  'What if' has spawned a million fantasies or more, and has allowed the anticipation, and excitement, of opening up that first page of a fantasy book to run wild.

There is no harm in this at all and in fact, it is part of being human, part of being a child, and what we all experience {or should experience} as children. Because to be denied the joy of reading, simply because some adults do not see, in a certain book, what childfren see, is a bad thing indeed.  It denies that child the joy of reading, and what right do adults have to stop that? What right do adults have to try and stop a child from imagining?

Everyone has a right to an imagination, it is how we grow as,human beings, and books are so very important in this process. In some states in America - mainly the 'Bible-Belt' of the Deep South, Harry Potter books have

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