Why fairy tales reading is important for creativity of Our Children?

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
                                                                 -Albert Einstein

This could be a slip between the cup and the lip, yet risking it. While doing a mathematical sum, if we missed on a particular step, the entire sum was considered wrong. In science, if the diagram or step or line was missing our marks crashed down, the answer should be perfect and to the point. But, with literature the answer is never always wrong, if it’s not specific. A reason that Literature as an assumption is always close to the truth, yet is not the absolute truth. It is this truth which opens the door for other subjects, that there isn’t absolute truth, and we are actually are living life of assumptions. The reason of writing all this begins with Einstein’s thought of, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” What actually did he mean by it? Why should children read fairy tales? What was the logic that the modern genius posed? What did Dr. Einstein mean when he said “that creative imagination is the essential element in the intellectual equipment of the true scientist, and that fairy tales are the childhood stimulus to this quality”? How could fairy tales be a stimulus for scientist?

Let’s take a look at the conversation where he made this statement:

Once upon a time the famous physicist Albert Einstein was confronted by an overly concerned woman who sought advice on how to raise her small son to become a successful scientist. In particular she wanted to know what kinds of books she should read to her son.

“Fairy Tales,” Einstein responded without hesitation.

“Fine, but what else should I read to him after that?” the mother asked.

“More fairy tales,” Einstein stated.

“And after that?”

“Even more fairy tales,” replied the great scientist, and he waved his pipe like a wizard pronouncing a happy end to a long adventure.

While we might never know the full, accurate details for Einstein’s fairy-tale adage, embedded in it is something the celebrated physicist felt very strongly about: the importance of the liberal arts and humanities in education.

With every question, as to what might be read the answer was same, only the difference being “more”. When our mind is active, it gets lost into multiple worlds and for a genius it must be something like a puzzle. The only answer possible, when we day dream and escape from the real world. According to Annie Dillard, Day Dreaming is delicious art of living, which guides us.

So taking myself as a stimulus as what Einstein and Annie Dillard said, as a child I was always lost weaving stories with open eyes, but never writing them. Maybe way back then drawing the castle in the mind’s eye was more important than writing; needless saying that dreaming was my favourite pastime. But, I read stories a lot, transferring me into another world, in one word Escape. I visualized everything happening in real. Words transferring everything I read into a vision. Now, I know the most important thing to me in this world is words. But, other than appreciating the work of others, creating one’s own is nothing less than a magic. I liked the Hindi serial years back, “Mungeri Lal ke hasin sapne” as a child, which transits the protagonist into another world; because the world of reality never gave him an opportunity to play the role he wanted to play. Then there is this well - known movie Inception, which takes you into Dreams within Dreams, and which if not destroyed on return, can make one lose track of the current world. So, is it wrong altogether to dream, to escape into another world and be creative, find patterns which others would initially laughed at, and be called crazy. That’s what we do, we think Scientist or Research Scholars, live in the world of their own and have no connection with reality, then why is that we want our kids be to like Einstein. We kill the creativity of the child, when we kill their idea and rubbish it. So, what’s the solution? If they are not studying, tell them to work on their idea. At their age they are full of ideas, enthusiasm and creativity. The idea that they share with you as a child, don’t expect them to be successful in their first attempt, never discourage them. Tell them to try again next day, ask them what is that they want. Let them find their way and guide them. If you understand because of your life experience, help them in their ideas. And, if you don’t understand the working of their mind, help them in their interest… and from there would come the Explorers, the Travellers, Adventurers of Real life heroes who will make a difference and help them stand out in the crowd. Another reason why reading of fairy tales is important, that everything began with our mind, the collective unconscious of our forefathers… which began with Oral Stories, later written down to “Once upon a time…”… all suggestive of the fact that the pattern, solution to unanswered question lies within the mind, which at times escapes from its own brain to visualize the probable solution and in order to escape and give a boast to their creative mind, they should be read fairy tales. Concluding it with what Kaufmann said about Creativity, "Creative expression is self-expression” and “is nothing more than an individual expression of your needs, desires and uniqueness."

For further reading:
The Great Debate: Myth Versus Fairy Tale in Joseph ...

mythicthinking.org/.../the-great-debate-myth-versus-fairy-tale-in-joseph-...

18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html
http://m.theatlantic.com/…/why-study-philosophy-to…/283954/…