The expert spoke about the plots in old fairy tales that are dangerous for the psyche of children

Many fairy tales can scare and confuse modern children. It's about the changed cultural and social context, the perception of the world and the approach to parenting, when more and more attention is paid to the feelings of children. This was announced on Friday, May 30, by the editor of the literary literature "Litres" Anna Danilina in an interview with "Gazeta.Ru».

"For example, Charles Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood" in the original is capable of seriously scaring. The girl and grandmother are eventually eaten by a wolf, which is then gutted by hunters. The plot can compete with dark Scandinavian thrillers in terms of bloodiness, if you omit the fabulous convention and metaphor," the source noted.

The expert also criticized the fairy tale "Cinderella" by Charles Perrault: she recalled that in the original story, the sisters of the main character deprive themselves of their toes for the sake of a cherished shoe. According to Danilina, this may be perceived by children as a trend towards plastic surgery. The expert, on the contrary, urged to teach the child to love himself the way he is.

As for the folk tale "Morozko", it may worry that a father takes his daughter Nastenka to the forest in the cold winter.

"The girl has no one to rely on, she does not feel the protection of the closest person and finds herself in mortal danger because of her stepmother," explained Danilina.

Even the fairy tale "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka" can scare a child, the expert claims. As the literary editor pointed out, a little boy turns into a kid for a childish prank. The expert called such punishment exaggerated.

"Listening to your elders is important and necessary, especially when they provide security and don't scare you unnecessarily," she said.

At the same time, the expert emphasized that fairy tales are a valuable cultural heritage with a set of archetypes that can help even adults solve problems.

"But you need to thoroughly understand the motives of the characters and the hidden meanings. So that the plots do not traumatize, but direct children in the right direction, choose fairy tales thoughtfully," concluded Danilina.

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Earlier, on May 19, research by experts from UCASSA and the Litres electronic and audiobook service, which Izvestia reviewed, showed that fantasy, detective fiction, science fiction, psychology, and romance novels are the most popular genres of books. Among the Russians surveyed, more than a third (34%) of the respondents read any books. More than half (53%) choose paper books, another 30% choose electronic books, and 12% mostly listen to audiobooks.