Fairy tales have been used to regale and amaze children for centuries. In German, the word is captured beautifully in the phrase, ‘wundermärchen’, which literally means ‘wonder tale’.
In a Gulf News twitter poll, asking if people think children should read fairy tales, a majority 80 per cent of respondents voted yes.
Classic stories have been passed on from generation to generation since time immemorial, with legendary storytellers like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault and Aesop.
In fact, according to cultural anthropologists at Durham University, UK, the story of Little Red Riding Hood has 35 versions across different cultures, and shares a common ancestor dating back to more than 2,600 years.
One Aesop’s fable was found to be dated from about the 6BC.
Travelling through space and time, like a capsule of magic, these tales may carry different names and variations, across cultures, but they never fail to seize a child’s imagination and take it beyond the reach of the ordinary life.
It’s why even today, there exists a Little Mermaid statue by the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. And why Peter Pan still stands in bronze, in Kensington Gardens, London.
