LETTER OF THE WEEK

Our children are reading again. Isn’t this fantastic? Isn’t this what

we’ve wanted to happen? With the distractions of television, video games

and after-school activities that can take up so much time, our children

are sitting down to read -- not just one book, but a series of three --

with more promised to come. Harry Potter is on the bestseller list and

well he should be. The “Harry Potter” books are well-written, inventive

and clever, appealing to youthful imagination and intelligence. Harry is

a role model who not only appeals to young people, but is actually a good

role model. Rather than being beaten down, Harry rises to become a young

hero, battling the forces of evil. Is there something wrong with that?

But wait. Some parents are displeased. In the Potter series, Harry has

been mistreated by his awful aunt and uncle and leaves to attend a school

for witchcraft and wizardry. According to a Daily Pilot article, some

parents are concerned about the issues of child abuse and sorcery (“Not

so wild about Harry,” Oct. 16). Please. Perhaps these parents should take

a refresher course in children’s literature. Either that or they’d better

be prepared to toss out just about every fairy tale and folk tale.

“Cinderella” -- aha! -- child abuse and sorcery. Watch out for that fairy

godmother. “Hansel and Gretel” -- child abuse and sorcery, again. I could

go on and on, but it’s pretty clear. Children’s literature was created to

help children deal with the world, to show them that they need not be

victims, but could stand up for themselves and succeed. That is what

“Cinderella” is about, that is what “Hansel and Gretel” is about and that

is what the “Harry Potter” books are about. And one more word about magic

-- the very word is magical. Do these parents remember seeing Peter Pan

and clapping to show that they believed in fairies? Do they remember

waiting for Santa Claus (a jolly old elf) and looking for the basket that

the Easter Bunny had left? All of this is part of the magical -- yes,

magical -- world of childhood. How dare they sully this wondrous and all

too brief time in a child’s life.

In this day, when we have, and have to have, people come into the

classrooms to lecture children on the very evils that exist in our

society, what could possibly be wrong with these children reading a bit

of constructive, escapist literature?

ELIZABETH EDWARDS

Newport Beach