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SUPERSTITION AND FAIRY-TALE THINKING



Fiction or Fact?

Do you remember the story of Cinderella? Her fairy godmother
waved a magic wand and changed a pumpkin into a coach,
some mice into horses, and a rat into a man to drive the coach.
Then, with another wave of her wand, she instantly dressed
Cinderella in beautiful clothes and glass slippers.
As a child, when this story was read to you, did you wonder
how a tiny mouse could be instantly changed into a large horse?
Or a small rat changed into a big man?
You knew that this story was a "fairy tale," pure fiction
that described imaginary people doing magical things that could
not have happened. What you knew about the real world contra-
dicted the events described in the fairy tale.
Children enjoy fairy tales because imagination is stimulated
by the game of "Let's Pretend." We encourage the telling and
reading of fairy tales because this helps children learn to enjoy
books and reading. But as young folk grow older they quickly
learn that many of the events said to happen in fairy tales
cannot happen in real life.
Not all "fairy tales" are in books. We are all fond of the
delightful story of Santa Claus bringing gifts to every child
in the world on Christmas eve. Adults know we are playing
a game of "Let's Pretend," but many young children think that
Santa Claus really exists. They have not yet developed the
reasoning power to realize the contradictions with reality.
How could just one Santa bring toys for perhaps a billion
children everywhere on earth in just one night? How does he
get all those toys into one small sleigh? How do those reindeer

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12 Part One: Superstition and Fairy-Tale Thinking

manage to fly? How does a chubby Santa ever manage to get
those bulky toys down the narrow chimneys described in story
books, and somehow scramble out again?
As children grow older and gain experience, they begin to
understand that events described in the story of Santa Claus
contradict what we know about the real world. They come to
realize that he is a "symbol" for the joyous season of gift-giving
and good will, but does not actually exist.
Any adult who could not tell the difference between fairy-
tale fiction and real-world facts would have a very serious