“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” — widely attributed to Albert Einstein
Research on emotional intelligence in children confirms what Einstein seemed to already know: imagination is not a detour from intelligence. It is the engine of it.
Yet in an era of measurable outcomes, standardized testing, and curated screen content, fantasy and fairytales are still the first things dismissed as frivolous. Parents wonder if their child should be reading something more “educational.” Educators feel pressure to prioritize texts that connect directly to curriculum. Librarians field requests for “practical” books.
And in the process, one of the most powerful tools for raising emotionally intelligent, resilient, creative children gets shelved.
Key Takeaways
- Fantasy and fairytales build emotional intelligence, empathy, and resilience in children
- Emotional rehearsal through fiction prepares children for real-world challenges
- The best fantasy aligns directly with CASEL social-emotional learning competencies
- Parents, educators, and librarians each play a distinct role in championing story-based learning
- Imagination is not a detour from intelligence. It is the foundation of it
How Fantasy Books Build Emotional Intelligence in Children
Fantasy and fairytales take the deepest human experiences—fear, loss, betrayal, belonging, courage—and place them at a safe distance. The child is not reading about their own life. They are reading about a dragon, a curse, and a school in a magical realm. But the emotions are identical.
That distance is a feature. It allows a child to feel something fully without being overwhelmed by it. To practice grief, fear, loneliness, and triumph in a container where the stakes feel real but the consequences are fictional. This is what developmental psychologists call emotional rehearsal, and it is one of the most important things a growing child can do.
Research consistently shows that children who read narrative fiction, particularly stories with complex emotional arcs, develop stronger empathy, greater emotional vocabulary, and more sophisticated social reasoning than those who do not. Fantasy, with its archetypal structures and emotionally intense stakes, is particularly effective at this.
How Fantasy Books Help Parents Connect With Their Child’s Emotional World
When your child finishes a chapter of a fantasy novel and comes to find you, they are carrying an emotion the story stirred loose, and they may need an ear to listen. The most powerful thing a parent can do in that moment is ask one question: How did you feel while reading about this?
That single question unlocks more about your child’s inner world than almost any direct inquiry. Because the feeling they name, or struggle to find words for, will almost always reflect something they are carrying themselves. A fear they have not named. A longing they have not expressed. A situation they are navigating at school or with friends.
Fantasy gives children a language for their interior life. And when parents know that language, connection deepens.
For Educators: The Best Fantasy Aligns Directly With SEL Competencies
Social-emotional learning is no longer a supplement to academic curriculum. It is recognized as foundational to it. The CASEL framework, the gold standard for SEL in schools, identifies five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
A well-chosen fantasy novel touches every single one of them.
Characters who must manage fear before they can act teach self-regulation. Stories centered on belonging and exclusion build social awareness. Plots that hinge on a character’s choice and its consequences model responsible decision-making in a way no worksheet can replicate.
Fantasy book series like The Bella Santini Chronicles, which follow a young girl navigating a magical world centered on emotional growth, are designed with these competencies in mind. They are not supplementary. They are curriculum, told through story.
When educators pair intentional fantasy reading with guided classroom discussion, the results show up not just in reading scores but in how students treat each other.
How Librarians Shape Children’s Emotional Development Through Story
Librarians are the architects of what children believe is worth reading. The books that get face-out placement, the ones recommended during a browsing visit, and the titles that appear on the summer reading list—these choices shape a child’s relationship with story for years.
Fantasy and fairy tales deserve prominent placement not despite their imaginative nature but because of it. A child who discovers at ten that a story can hold their biggest fear and hand it back to them transformed is a child who will return to books for the rest of their life.
The question worth asking when curating is not only “Is this well-written?” but also “Does this story take a child’s emotional life seriously?” Books that do both are the ones that last.
Why Fantasy Books Build Emotional Resilience and Intelligence in Children
Einstein understood something that gets lost in modern conversations about education and child development. Intelligence is not just the ability to process information. It is the capacity to imagine, to empathize, to navigate complexity, to hold multiple truths at once. Fairytales and fantasy build all of it.
The child who grows up reading stories about courage in the face of the unknown, about belonging earned through authenticity rather than performance, and about fear faced rather than fled—that child is not just more intelligent in the way Einstein meant.
They are more human. And that, in the end, is the whole point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age group benefits most from fantasy novels? Fantasy is particularly powerful for tweens between the ages of 8 and 14. This is the stage when identity is forming, friendships are shifting, and emotions are intensifying. A well-chosen fantasy novel meets children right where they are.
Aren’t fantasy books just entertainment? The best ones are both. Entertainment is the door. Emotional growth is what happens once a child walks through it. Stories allow children to rehearse emotional experiences, including fear, loss, betrayal, and belonging, in a safe container before those experiences arrive in real life.
How do I know if a fantasy book is actually good for my child’s emotional development? Ask whether the story takes a child’s emotional life seriously. Does the main character face real internal challenges, not just external ones? Do choices have genuine consequences? Does the child finish the book with more language for what they feel? Those are the markers.
How does fantasy connect to what my child’s school is teaching? The CASEL framework, which guides social-emotional learning in schools, identifies five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. A thoughtfully written fantasy novel addresses all five. It is not separate from academic learning. It supports it.
What should I say to my child after they finish a fantasy book? Ask one question: How did you feel while reading about this? The feeling they name, or struggle to find words for, will almost always reflect something they are carrying in their own life.
As a librarian, how do I identify fantasy worth recommending? Look for stories where emotional complexity is woven into the adventure rather than tacked on as a lesson. The child should encounter real fear, real courage, real belonging, and real loss through characters they care about. If the book takes a child’s inner life seriously, it belongs in your hands-on display.
Recommended Reading
From Angela Legh’s Blog
- What Librarians Need to Know About Middle Grade SEL Books — July 9, 2026
- I Know What Lives Beneath Behavior — July 7, 2026
- Conscious Parenting in the Tween Years — July 6, 2026
- The Body Never Lies: What Your Child’s Emotions Are Trying to Tell You — July 3, 2026
- Connect with Your Tween Without Forcing Conversation — July 1, 2026
- Emotional Safety and the Tween Brain: A Parent’s Guide — June 29, 2026
Further Reading
- The Uses of Enchantment — Bruno Bettelheim. The foundational text on why fairy tales matter for child development. Still the most authoritative argument for the psychological necessity of fantasy in childhood.
- The Whole-Brain Child — Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. Research-backed strategies for nurturing a child’s developing mind, with strong connections to the emotional intelligence themes in this post.
- Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child — John Gottman. The science behind emotion coaching and why it produces more resilient, empathetic kids.
- The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL — casel.org. The research framework behind the SEL competencies referenced throughout this article.
