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INTRODUCTION
Albert Einstein gave us a simple secret to creating brilliant children-". . . tell them even more fairy tales."
Without a doubt, telling or reading your children fairy tales and other stories does far more than prepare them for school. Experts have proven it has profound, long-term effects on intelligence, brain development, concentration, creativity, imagination, social skills, and self-confidence-the building blocks to a successful future.
These building blocks begin to form before birth based on the words a child hears while in the womb.
In Kids Health Guide for Parents, Elizabeth Bass and Medical Doctors Steven A. Dowshen and Neil Izenberg state, "Listening to, reading, and acting out stories are essential to every child's development . . . a development that starts before birth."
Yes, establishing a family reading program even before your child is born is crucial to their development and success in life.
Swiss biologist-psychologist Jean Piaget observed that "construction of knowledge whereby newborn infants build up neural patterns in the brain by which their world picture and capacity of response to that picture forms actually begins somewhere around the fifth natal month. From about the seventh month in the womb, an infant 'imprints' to the speech used by his/her mother."
Wow! An unborn child's development and future success can be shaped by a mother's loving, caring voice reading stories to them even before birth. That's why every facet of "Fairy Tales Of The Heart™" is carefully coordinated-from the very first word to the review questions at the end.
"Fairy Tales Of The Heart™" weave fantasy, myth, and reality into an educational, entertaining, and inspirational experience for children of all ages.
In The Way to Write for Children, Joan Aiken states, "A child needs myth to give them a blueprint for behavior and to strengthen their imagination. Imagination is a necessary faculty and modern living gives it little to feed on. Myth-type stories furnish three basic ingredients: reassurance, emotion, and mystery."
As they listen to or read "Fairy Tales Of The Heart™", children ARE using their imaginations. That's one of the reasons there are no pictures or artwork in the stories (just a cover picture). We want your children to create their own images! To develop their infinite imaginations and brilliant minds!
There are blank spaces on each page for them to draw their own pictures. Or they can simply describe what they "imagine" or "see" to whoever is reading them the story. Then that person can then help them "draw it" into reality or write down what the child is "imagining" for future reference.
Internationally acclaimed author, lecturer, and expert on child development Joseph Chilton Pearce enlightens us even more on this process saying that the "learned ability to create internal images" is one of nature's highest achievements. Children who lack this ability "will have severe difficulty" with the abstract language and thought on which all higher intelligence is based. "The more imagination a child has, the more options he or she has for solving problems and avoiding violence as a solution."
Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, in his book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, states: "Fairy Tales build the cultural background that every child needs to become a good reader and they also help children face life . . . with more courage and self confidence."
Every hour a child is read to is an hour they bond with their caregiver, listen attentively, develop their brain, use their imagination, learn the proper use of language, and learn to visualize.
Research clearly shows that children think in images. A child's intelligence, capacity of mind, the integration of thought, feeling, and action into a whole psychic structure able to develop its evolutionary potential, depend on this inner image ability. Storytelling is a critical element in a child's early development precisely because of the way the child's reality is built upon images.
These "Fairy Tales" foster the developmental process through words, imagery, and the stories they create, providing a rich, loving experience for both readers and listeners. Touching the very core of our human hearts, they inspire readers and listeners to form their own pictures, instilling them with the unshakeable conviction of their own self worth.
In Endangered Minds-Why Children Don't Think and What We Can Do About It, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., states that the words children hear
". . . arrange their intellects and help them learn to reason, reflect, and respond to the world. Severe deprivation of language during early years guarantees lasting neural changes that noticeably affect speech and understanding."
In The Preschool Years, Ellen Galinsky and Judy David state: "For parents who wonder about teaching phonics to their three-year olds, a far more effective approach is to continue exposing children to books and storytelling and discussing the stories."
Psychologist Richard Landis states, "If we tell children what they should or shouldn't do, it doesn't have as much impact on them as a story because a story builds in the experience. If the story's told well, the child experiences the story. It's a way of teaching them about life."
Adventure, science fiction, myth, mystery, heroes and heroines like Bliss Beary Bear™ and his "Fairy Tales Of The Heart™" have always been powerful vehicles for teaching, sharing values, and discovering one's own personal power. Children historically incorporate heroes into their play.
Parents, grandparents, and caregivers are also highly encouraged to read the "Fairy Tales" over and over. Kids love to read the same stories over and over because the brain retains information and grows through this process. You can tell when this process is complete when children begin acting the story out.
Susan Neuman's Research (1999) states ". . . no other single activity is as important as the shared book experience between caregivers and children."
Children want to understand the world around them: why parents and peers do things, how things work and get done. We live in a time when children are dealing with far more information and sensory input than they had to 20 years ago. If their language skills are weak, their ability to achieve becomes limited.
Dr. Sherry Schiller of Countdown 2001, a nonprofit corporation, states that "Critical-thinking skills are the major skills in the transition to the 21st Century that were not available in the 20th Century."
An article in the Orange County Register, Feb. 8, 1990, stated: "Tell a story. Bedtime storytelling is more than just a peaceful interlude between bath time and dreamland, say psychologists and librarians. On their simplest level, stories teach children about language. But their content can shape behavior, impart culture and family history, and plant the seeds of a child's future beliefs and values."
We know that by listening to these "Fairy Tales Of The Heart™", bringing their own images to life, and spending quality time with you each day, your children will be off to a great start in achieving their full potential in life!