A few years ago, before Thea Chops Books was even a twinkle in the eye, I used to write a blog. I published a post called “What do old fashioned stories teach our children? Answer: very little!” The idea for the post came about as I sat listening to someone singing the old nursery rhyme, Hot Cross Buns. After they finished singing I commented / joked, “What if you actually have daughters? If you have daughters then don’t your sons get any hot cross buns? Do the sons go hungry if you have daughters?” To which the singer replied, “Oh you always read far too much into these things, it’s just a nursery rhyme.”.
And it got me thinking about whether it really was just a nursery rhyme.
Or should we be more concerned with the messages contained within those songs that we sing to our children, from day one?
Nursery rhymes, fairytales and children’s stories, are some of the first words heard by babies. And we sing them and read them on repeat! “Don’t sing it again mummy, I can tell you’re tired from the broken sleep I forced you to endure last night.” said NO CHILD EVER.
But, words are powerful.
They have the power to make us laugh, cry, or fear. Poorly chosen words at the wrong moment is like gunpowder on a naked flame. And these words from rhymes and stories, the messages contained within, they have an impact on the young minds listening, and they help to shape a child’s view of the world, of their place in it, of their worth.
I started writing to see if I could create stories that give children more empowering messages, and teach boys and girls that they are each other’s equals. To teach them that accepting one another just as they are, is the best way to live happily.
So I was writing this old blog post, and I started to think about some of the old fashioned nursery rhymes that have been told to kids for centuries. Generations of children have been shaped by the tales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the big bad wolf. And the messages within these tales? They’re horrendous!! Don’t believe me? Let me give you my take on that much loved classic:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
A little girl (no older than about ten) goes for a walk in the woods. Why a young child is walking alone in a forest is anyone’s guess, and though we should encourage our children to be independent, and facilitate their sense of adventure, a stroll alone through the deep dark wood, is at best going to mean an encounter with a Gruffalo.
After stumbling upon a house, and getting no reply to a knock on the door, what does little Goldi do? She presumes they’re not in, turns around, and heads back through the woods to find her parents, who are worried sick that she’s wandered off alone. No. That’s not what Goldilocks does. She wanders into someone else’s home to have a nose around.
Not content with her amateur attempt at Through the Keyhole (who lives in a place like this? Three scary ass bears, that’s who, now run for your life), she tries three bowls of porridge, replacing the spoon back into each bowl. And after her germs have been suitably spread, and breaking a small chair, she then decides to have a lie down in each of the three beds, before snuggling in and going to sleep.
When Mr & Mrs Bear arrive home they find young Goldi napping away in their baby’s bed. And what does the rumbled miss do? She runs off never to be seen again. No apology. No, ‘I’m sorry I broke into your home, ate your food, smashed a chair and slept in your child’s bed.’ No consequences for someone who should at the very least be charged with unlawful intrusion.
It’s one version of the story anyway. And all joking aside, you can see how the messages we send to our kids might be at odds with the values we’re hoping to instil in them (at the very least, don’t eat from a stranger’s spoon).
And so Thea Chops Books was born.
And if you fancy hearing my version of Jack in the Beanstalk, tune in next week!
