"Let" him read the Oz books? Are you kidding? He still has his Oz books! He always knew they were stories, of course, and if he'd asked us if they were real life events, we wouldn't have lied, we would have explained what a "story" was. Did your children believe the Oz books were true stories, JC? Did you try to get them to believe they were true in the belief that would increase their enjoyment of them?
I remember once my husband (before he'd collected them, one at a time, for our son), arguing with the local librarian about their not having the Oz books in the library. She said something derogatory about them, and he replied, "Yes, it's only children and scholars who appreciate them."
Children love make-believe, as you know, and and the fact that they know it's make believe doesn't interfere a whit. They choose to suspend disbelief, as we would do with our son about Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Our son loved being "in the know" about the actual truth behind the "stories" other children were told.
He also knew not to let them in on the secret, because when to tell them the truth was up to their parents.
My son also loved magic tricks. He knew they were tricks, and loved mastering them. |
