The enduring power of childhood stories

Books like The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by British author Frances Hodgson Burnett continue to be fan favorites for young children. That’s because children in books like these are empowered to figure things out for themselves and exist in worlds that are magical.

That kind of storybook magic attaches to children, which is why it can have lasting echoes into adulthood, said Emily Harrington, Department of English associate professor, who has taught a course on children’s literature.

While Hodgson Burnett held some questionable beliefs, including colonialist ideology from the early 20th century, and her works had undertones of racism, Harrington said people can take the best parts of those books and reject the parts of the books’ legacy that they don’t want.