Presented at the A Contemplation of Glory Conference 2021.

Children’s literature, especially nursery rhymes and fairy tales, has an appeal for children that transcends mere curiosity, and an influence on their souls that goes beyond the limitations of conventional education. Writers like G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Thomas Howard understood that the portrayal of the world as a place of wonder and enchantment was not a flight from reality, but a way of helping us to see the world as it really is.