Further to last night’s post on the de-monsterization of childhood, a lot of readers cite Chesterton to the effect that fairy tales don’t teach kids there are dragons. They already know that. Fairy tales provide a St. George to slay the dragon. Also C. S. Lewis:

By confining your child to blameless stories of child life in which nothing at all alarming ever happened, you would fail to banish the terrors, and would succeed in banishing all that can ennoble them or make them endurable.

That’s my overwhelming memory of first reading Lord of the Rings aged nine or so (a bit too young, but I’d read The Hobbit and wanted to plough on): At first I was overwhelmed by dread but, as I read on, eventually learned to endure it.