Looking Through Candy Eyes

Many wonderful stories were told to us when we were just kids. Our bed time stories consisted of damsels in distress waiting for their prince charming come slay the dragon, a princess who almost slept for forever, or something of that sort. These books were written purposefully for children; to help them imagine, explore, or to even help them go to sleep. When we become older, we leave our children's books behind thinking that we have outgrown the magic and left fantasy land. What most of us do not know and realize is that children's books have a deeper message that not only caters to children but to people of all ages.

The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland may seem like a cutesy and colorful story to read but when read by an adult, the darker themes of the story may surface. I always wonder about the versatility of children's books. How it can suite and cater to people of all ages and provide ideals from one spectrum to another. But I can't help but think, is the book versatile or are we versatile and ever-changing? It is amazing how our perspective on things and life change as we mature, how we become different from our original beings--the one that doesn't judge, the that is unfabricated by society, and the one that goes beyond the complications. As children, we were all so carefree. We never had a problem too big to handle. I like reading children's books as an adult because it is nice to see things differently. It is nice to see things in an unadulterated eyes and just read and experience the world as it is, without the complications. Children's books are more than just bed stories but they are a work of art that reflects culture, values, history, and life. The children are just very lucky because they get to absorb everything and read everything without being biased, judgmental, and without an adult's eyes. In the words of Orson Scott Card, "one can make a good case for the idea that children are often the guardians of the truly great literature of the world, for in their love of story and unconcern for stylistic fads and literary tricks, children unerringly gravitate toward truth and power."