care, health and development Child: Original Article

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01216.x

Fairy tales: a compass for childrens healthy development a qualitative study in a Greek island
P. Tsitsani,* S. Psyllidou,* S. P. Batzios, S. Livas, M. Ouranos* and D. Cassimos
*Department of Paediatrics, General Hospital of Kos, Kos First Department of Paediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki Department of Foreign Languages, Ionian University, Corfu, and Department of Paediatrics, Democritus University of Thrace, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece Accepted for publication 17 December 2010

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Abstract
Background Fairy tales have always been an integrated part of childrens everyday life. In our days, they still represent important ways of helping the children share their desires and express their agonies and inner conicts. The present descriptive qualitative study aims to describe parents opinions and childrens preferences regarding storytelling. Methods Four hundred and seventy parents took part in the study and were interviewed following a semi-structured guide with open-ended trigger questions. Data were processed via content analysis methods. Results Three main themes were constructed. The vast majority of interviewees acknowledged their strong belief in the power of fairy tales and stated that their children listen to stories at least once a week. Most of them use storytelling as an instructive tool, in order to soothe their childrens anxieties or set examples for them. Concerning childrens preferences, the majority of them choose classic fairy tales over modern ones with Little Red Riding Hood taking precedence over other famous stories. All participants acknowledged the fact that their children are amused and positively affected by storytelling, while young readers share their enthusiasm for fairy tales in many ways, mostly by talking about their favourite character. Finally, in relation to the villains, children seem to be satised or relieved when they are punished and only a small number of participants stated that the cruel punishment of bad characters creates feelings of fear to their kids. Conclusions The ndings of this study emphasize the crucial role that storytelling plays in childrens life and normal development.

Keywords childrens preferences, fairy tales, parents perception, storytelling, villains Correspondence: Pelagia Tsitsani, Department of Paediatrics, General Hospital of Didimoteiho, 25th May 152 Street, Didimoteiho PC 68300, North Evros, Greece E-mail: pelazina@gmail.com

Introduction
Stories have been used for centuries as means for passing common wisdom and knowledge from one generation to the next, stressing values and manners of the time and place in which they were initially recorded (Zipes 1988). Founded upon the oral tradition of village lore and country fables, modern fairy tales can be traced back to the 18th and 19th centuries,

with Charles Perrault, the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, representing some of the most important pioneers of this literary genre. In general, fairy tales are universal and ageless, most of the time sharing common features and identical themes, whereas sometimes they differ profoundly from one culture to another (Dieckmann 1971). In their many forms, they have such a profound meaning in our pursuit of happiness and thus, appeal to individuals of all ages.

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For children, stories represent one of the most important cultural and social events of their life, functioning as instruments of socialization and acculturation (Zipes 1988). From this perspective, the meaning of fairy tales and their psychodynamic potential was rst investigated only recently, during the 20th century (Heuscher 1963; Bettelheim 1976). Bettelheim (1976) suggests that childrens literature stimulates mind and personality development, providing young readers with the mechanisms of coping with their inner problems, lifes stresses and anxieties. Through mixing facts with ction, fairy tales promote childrens initiative and capacity for autonomy, in a more effective manner than everyday life experience itself (Rustin & Rustin 2003). We could compare fairy tales to compasses, which provide road maps to help children nd their pathway to love, power and privilege, while at the same time pointing the way back to safety and serenity of their home. How this happens, how children develop their inner mechanism of coherently integrating events and justifying the plot of the story measuring it to their set of moral values, is a very interesting subject, which Ageliki Nicolopoulou (2008) developed. Apart from the important positive effect of fairy tales in childrens normal development, as presented in the above mentioned bibliography, storytelling has also been used as a therapeutic tool in a wide spectrum of physical and mental diseases in children and adolescents (Fosson & Husband 1984; Freeman 1991; Krietemeyer & Heiney 1992; Stevens-Guille & Boersma 1992; Arad 2004; Konz 2006). Through the power of symbolism and metaphor, both traditional fairy tales and modern childrens literature creations have been widely used in psychotherapy of children with mental health problems (Dieckmann 1997; Noctor 2006). Both medical practitioners and parents use fairy tales as scientic tools in order to support children, while storytelling is also widely used as a diagnostic utensil in developmental problems (Mazzeschi et al. 2001) and as an educational instrument for nursing students (Crawley 2009). In the present study, we investigate current trends regarding the use of fairy tales, parents opinions and childrens habits, as well as the way all these are formed through modern family relationships and lifestyle. Although the role of fairy tales in various medical conditions has been extensively explored, few studies have investigated their role in normal children, and none, to our knowledge, has done it using qualitative methods. Additionally, the use of qualitative methods has the advantage of unravelling and presenting current trends and general tendencies, in order to guide paediatricians and other professionals on child care, in relation to the use of fairy tales and the appreciation of their role in childrens normal development.

Methods
Participants
For the sake of this theoretical research, qualitative methods were used, as this type of research enables deeper insight into behaviour and attitudes, intending to uncover the range of views and generate theory (Fielding 1992; Pope et al. 2000; Pope & Mays 2006). This was achieved through a combination of observation and exploration of the ways in which people interpret the impact of fairy tales in normal childrens development. The present descriptive qualitative research took place at Kos, an island in the south-eastern part of Greece, between July 2007 and February 2008. The participants were parents of healthy children between 3 and 5 years of age. They were recruited either from the outpatient clinic of Department of Paediatrics at Kos General Hospital or from public and private day nurseries and kindergartens of the island. Recruitment covering letters and information sheet, explaining the purpose of the study, were distributed to eligible subjects by clinic and school personnel. Those parents willing to take part were contacted by a member of the research team by telephone, in order to arrange an appointment for the interview. A total of 548 couples were initially approached with an invitation to take part in the research. Seventy-eight refused because of their restrained time schedule (14% non-participation ratio). From the 470 couples that nally took part in the study, there were no further dropouts.

Data collection
Parents who gave informed consent for their participation in the study completed a demographic questionnaire, providing general information concerning the age and gender of the child, age of parents, their educational level and occupation. Three of the authors (P. T., S. P. and M. O.) conducted interviews following a semi-structured guide with open-ended trigger questions (Table 1). In order to establish a common denition of what constitutes a fairy tale, researchers took into account the different scientic approaches to the term fairy tale, as well as the fact that the research took place in a Greek island community, which has been inuenced by modernity. Reviewing the literature, researchers bore in mind that a fairy tale is a story (between fable and literature) with some constant traits: (i) a distant (without chronology) past; (ii) the storyteller (whose personality plays a vital role in the children taking in the plot); (iii) a clear start and a clear ending; and (iv) heroes and villains with powerful characters (Bettelheim 1976; Megas 1994). That is

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Table 1. Semi-structured interview guide 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Do you believe in the power of fairy tales? How much time does your child spend away from you? Who is with your child during that time? How often does your child listen to fairy tales? Who is usually playing the role of the storyteller? What method do you employ in order to tell a fairy tale? Do you prefer reading or narration? Please justify your answer. Your selections of fairy tales are based on which criteria? What kind of fairy tales does your child listen to? What kind of fairy tales does your child prefer? Whats your childs favourite fairy tale? Do you have a specic hour for storytelling? Do you tell stories based on a specic schedule? What do you think is the main purpose of a fairy tale? Does your child seem pleased when you are reading a fairy tale? If so, does he/she have a specic way of sharing his/her feelings? What does your child think about villains? What does your child feel when the villain is punished? Do you consider fairy tales instructive? Justify your answer. In what way do fairy tales affect your child? When you were children, have you been listening to fairy tales?

members of the research team in order to achieve the nal matching and validity of categories. Data saturation was considered to have been reached when no new ndings were identied from manuscripts. Analysis of data was carried out manually and no software analysis package was used.

Results
Participants characteristics
The mean age of children whose parents participated in this study was 4 years. Within this population, 51.8% were boys and 48.2% were girls. The mean age of mothers was 33.6 years, whereas for fathers it was 37.7 years. Forty-eight per cent of interviewees had graduated from high school, and 38.4% held university degrees. Kos is a famous holiday destination, and because of its touristic development, 20% of interviewees were hoteliers, while 18% were freelancers, working in their personal business.

why, it was explained from the beginning to parents that by the term fairy tales the researchers refer to classic and modern childrens literature stories. Interacting with the parents expanded this spectrum to: western fairy tales, folk Greek lore and ancient Greek fables and stories out of Greek and universal childrens literature. The contact invariably started with the question Do you believe in the power of fairy tales?, aiming to create a friendly environment and stimulate discussion. The major issues covered in all conversations included parents opinions in relation to the use of storytelling, childrens habits and preferences, as well as general topics related to the function of the family and modern lifestyle trends. All interviews were carried out at the participants homes, lasting 35 to 45 min. Dialogues were audio-recorded with the permission of all participants and fully transcribed to written manuscript.

Findings
The results of this study are distributed in three main categories, as: 1 general topics about fairy tales related to family lifestyle trends; 2 parents opinion in relation to the use and usefulness of fairy tales; 3 childrens habits, attitude and preferences regarding fairy tales. The majority of respondents explicitly stated their belief in the power of fairy tales. According to one mother: . . . Many times while reading a fairy tale to my daughter, I soon nd myself engrossed in a series of imaginary adventures involving charming kings, beautiful princesses and wicked witches . . .

Data analysis
Thematic analysis of written transcripts took place during and after the period of data collection through interviews. Following a number of steps, two members of the research group (D. C. and S. P. B.) evaluated data using the content analysis method (Pope et al. 2000), where sentences and phrases were used as analysis units. In brief, the two researchers read independently all manuscripts and categorized them into similar subject areas. Distinctive themes and recurrent patterns were coded, and codes were placed in the margin of pages next to sentences and phrases. Coding similarities and differences were discussed until mutual agreement was reached. The results were discussed by all

General topics about fairy tales related to family lifestyle trends

In the study, 90.8% of parents reported that their children are separated from them during morning hours, whereas few of them (6.2%) spend their afternoon away from home as well. According to interviewees, only a small number of children (2.4%) seem to be inseparable from at least one of their parents,

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Table 2. Reasons justifying the choice between narration and reading Choice Narration Examples of quotations from respondents . . . Narration enables your mind to create its own pictures. It is more creative to use your imagination and through improvisation promotes mental development . . . . . . My son loves it. He is actively participating in the plot of the story . . . . . . I personally prefer narration. It is amazing to use your own skills to create a story . . . This makes the whole process more personal . . . . . . We believe that narration is more amusing, both for us and our daughter . . . . . . Denitely narration. You can improvise and create a story wherever and whenever you want . . . . . . It costs nothing . . . Reading of course. It is the only way to cultivate a passion for words and teach your child to love books . . . . . . Maria is thrilled to see all this colourful pictures. It is the best way to draw her attention . . . . . . It is actually bizarre, but although our son does not read, he seems to expect what is going to happen. Reading helps him follow the plot . . . . . . It is easier for me. I can read but I can not be Hans Christian Andersen . . .

Table 3. Roles of fairy tales in childrens life Role Instructive Examples of quotations from respondents . . . I believe that fairy tales help him to realize who he is and what he is capable of . . . . . . She seems to realize that even in fairy tales, heroes must ght to get what they want . . . . . . While narrating, I always incorporate ideas worthy of emulation . . . . . . Each night she lies in her bed, cuddling her favourite toy and listens to the stories of fairies, until she falls asleep . . . . . . There is no better way to put her back to sleep after a nightmare . . . . . . When its impossible to persuade him do something, my friend Peter Pan can always do that . . . . . . When we tell them that there is no fairy tale for tonight, they always understand that they have done something bad . . . . . . If you are naughty the big bad wolf is going to eat you . . . . . . Within fairy tales she nds a moral corrective to everyday life. You see, all these stories represent a world in which the good is consistently rewarded and bad is consistently punished . . .

Relaxing

Exemplary

Reading

usually the mother. Most of children (89.8%) attend day nurseries or kindergartens and one-fourth regularly spend time with their grandparents. Concerning storytelling, one-third of children listen to fairy tales on a daily basis, while the vast majority of parents (95.1%) declared that their children read fairy tales at least once a week. The role of reader/narrator is assumed by parents (84.3%), nursery governesses (54.2%), audio-visual material (39.3%) and grandparents (31.6%). Some children also listen to fairy tales from their older brothers (10.5%), other relatives and friends (3.2%).

Parents opinion in relation to the use and usefulness of fairy tales

The majority of respondents (71%) usually prefer reading, while narration and audio-visual material occupy the second and third place in their preferences; nevertheless, reading and narration are equally considered constructive forms of storytelling. A summary of reasons for the use of either narration or reading emerging from the interviews is provided in Table 2. Generally speaking, many parents who chose reading believed that colourful images of books trigger their childrens imagination, while those who preferred narration suggested that it promotes mental development through improvisation and active participation of their child in the whole process. Concerning criteria for selecting a fairy tale, parents varied in their opinions.

Many (65.9%) highlighted the importance of the theme of fairy tales, while a frequently mentioned criterion was the preference of their child. One-fourth of parents stated that book illustration impacts on their choices, whereas a small group of interviewees (2.3%) preferred low-cost books. Almost half of responders (44.5%) declared that their children listen to fairy tales following a specic time schedule, although signicant per cent (30%) read stories based on their childrens demand. The importance of fairy tales in childrens lives is depicted upon the various roles that storytelling plays, which are summarized in Table 3. According to this research, 66.4% of parents use fairy tales to set examples for their children, 50% in order to soothe their anxieties usually at bedtime, while the deprivation of storytelling is employed as means of punishment by several couples (15%). All participants agreed that fairy tales represent instructive tools and identied the positive effect of storytelling in their childrens life. While the majority of responders were listening to fairy tales on a daily basis during their childhood (79.5%), they admitted that as parents they dedicate less time than they would actually want, in telling stories to their children.

Childrens habits, attitude and preferences related to fairy tales

Concerning childrens preferences, 80.6% of parents reported that their children choose classic fairy tales over modern ones, with Little Red Riding Hood accorded a far precedent position

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over other famous stories. Almost half of participants recognized that they usually choose the stories their children listen to; this fact was clearly depicted in the words of one mother who quoted . . . I know what is the best for my child . . . . Almost all children ask for fairy tales on a daily basis, while half of them prefer to hear the same story repeated several times. All participants acknowledged the fact that their children are amused and positively affected by fairy tales. The basic way for children to share their enthusiasm for fairy tales is to speak about their beloved characters and narrate parts of their favourite story while they are engaged in other activities (90%). Following storytelling with devotion, participating actively and correcting mistakes of parents while reading their favourite fairy tales, are frequently mentioned patterns used by children in order to express excitement. Concerning the villains of fairy tales, most of children do not seem afraid of them but are instead satised or relieved when they are punished; nevertheless, 30.4% of parents stated that their children show sympathy for the eventual fate of wicked characters. Finally, 15.2% of parents motivated by concern for their children claimed that the cruel punishment of evil characters created feelings of fear to their children. No differences were observed concerning childrens choices or preferences in any question, in relation to gender.

Discussion
This study offers a qualitative account of current trends regarding fairy tales and highlights their great signicance in childrens life. Although few scientists argue whether traditional fairy tales still have any value or interest for modern children, most researchers acknowledge that storytelling provides not only entertainment, but also a creative way to help children form a clear picture of themselves in order to be able to understand others and develop meaningful relationships with them (Noctor 2006). The ndings from this study support a dual notion: (i) that fairy tales are of great importance in a childs life and (ii) that most parents wholeheartedly share this perception. This is clearly depicted by the fact that the majority of parents read fairy tales to their children at least once a week, while an important per cent of 25% chooses to narrate stories on a daily basis. Regarding storytelling, parents, although separated daily from their children for several hours, still play the central role, while grandparents seem to be less involved in the process. Grandmothers have traditionally been the main storytellers, a fact that was often captured in the illustrations of fairy tale books (Macnab & Langlois 2006). Despite the reluctance of some parents, almost 40% of them seem to use audio-visual material, mostly because todays gen-

eration of children is accustomed to multimedia-rich environments. The advancing technology affected literature and with the rise of the cinema, the fairy tale lm became one of the most popular cultural commodities worldwide (Zipes 1997). Nowadays, children are continually exposed to stories through reading, but fairy tale lms seem to take precedence over literature, especially through television (Zipes 1997). Concerning narration and reading, the majority of interviewees considered them equally important, although most of parents preferred reading. The richness of the language and the enthusiasm of the reader are of great importance, while the method of storytelling does not affect any of these factors (High et al. 2000). Parents are now grown-ups, and through storytelling, they rediscover hidden aspects and qualities of themselves. Fairy tales hold the key to their forgotten world of truth and innocence: I want to be what I used to be, when I was like you . . . Most of all, I want to relearn how to laugh . . . (Once upon a time, a poem by Gabriel Okara). In relation to the purpose of storytelling, most parents put emphasis on the use of stories as instructive tools. This is in agreement with the notion that the main purpose of the tale from the beginning was to instruct, as fairy tales were intended to provide models of behaviour and implicit rules of pedagogization for the rearing of children (Zipes 1988). Concerning their exemplary role, it is widely accepted that when a story includes a character that readers can relate to or admire, then the message communicated from the writer and the parent can be easily understood by the child (Fosson & Husband 1984). Finally, fairy tales are known for their bedtime manner for centuries, and it is not surprising that many parents use them in order to relax and help their children deal with separation anxiety, which is at its peak before sleep (Lubetsky 1989). Our results demonstrate that children prefer classic fairy tales over modern ones. Little Red Riding Hood was the favourite fairy tale in this study, although this particular story was demonstrated to appeal to school-aged children in previous studies (Lubetsky 1989). In addition, a rather unexpected result of this research was that no differences were found concerning the preferences of children in relation to gender, something that probably reects a new trend, which is also obvious in modern childrens literature. Modern stories do not use as much stereotyped presentations as classic fairy tales do (Turkel 2002). Despite the fact that fairy tales have the purpose of giving life to a childs point of view, parents seem to impose their preferences in relation to the choice of the theme. Storytelling is an experience to be shared between parents and children; nevertheless, children should always play the leading role in choosing a story, as well as in determining the conditions under which

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they listen to it in order to gain meaning from it (Lubetsky 1989). All parents agreed on the positive effect of fairy tales and quoted several behavioural patterns that their children exhibit in order to share their enthusiasm. A statement captured in many interviews is that most of children speak about their favourite heroes showing their admiration. Current literature critics suggest that the image of a fairy tale hero corresponds to the image of the world that a child has, and thus fairy tales represent a literary genre concerned with nding solutions and developing the self (Hammon 1992). As far as villains are concerned, the majority of children seem to be relieved when they are punished. To date, it remains unclear whether frightening stories lead to relief or provoke anxiety to young readers (Orbach et al. 1993); nevertheless, according to previous studies, the punishment of evil characters is well tolerated and does not seem to have a pathological effect upon children (Trousdale 1989). Fairy tales deal constantly with the struggle between good and evil. The victory of good is of great importance so that children can eventually deal with their own fears (Trousdale 1989). Finally, concerning the sympathy that several children show towards the villains, this is probably because of the fact that for many children those characters work as symbolic representations of parts of their selves and represent the internal struggle between good and evil (Noctor 2006). A limitation of this study is that the interview methodology used did not comprise a sample of children, in order to obtain detailed information on their thoughts and opinions. Thus, we assumed that parents opinions in relation to childrens habits, attitudes and preferences resonate with their childrens opinions. Another limitation is that results may have been biased by the fact that most parents that agreed to participate were likely to be well disposed towards fairy tales.

Key messages
Fairy tales and family bonding. Personality building and behavioral education through storytelling. Self-recognition prototypes in fairy tales. Values and principles nd, through storytelling, a safe conduct to childrens souls. Fairy tales are a timeless value.

Conict of interests
The authors state no conict of interests.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the help of clinic and school personnel and thank all the participating families.

References
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Conclusions
The ndings of this study emphasize the crucial role that storytelling plays in childrens life, touching upon sensitive chords of the temper of our times. Modern children must get their share of fairy tales in order to begin their self-discovery voyage. As Bettelheim (1976) excellently stated each fairy tale is a magic mirror which reects some aspects of our inner world, and of the steps required by our evolution from immaturity to maturity. This is one of the manifold truths revealed by fairy tales, which can guide our lives; it is a truth as valid today as it was once upon a time. Fundamental universal values and principles, such as courage, bravery, honesty and sincerity, can nd, through storytelling, a safe conduct to childrens souls, thus inuencing their future behaviour and their way of life.

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