Living: In All Seasons, Toys Are Us

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Even Sendak admits that "children are such voracious animals that they gain sustenance from the ugliest thing. We can never be sure how." But they rarely manage to get that sustenance without the involvement of parents. The lap is a better gift than any Transformer. Again, Bettelheim says it best: "When the father and mother tell the stories they can stop and explain the stories, tell them over and over, remold them, shape them for the child." The issue, he believes, "is not the programs, although one would wish them to be more intelligent and artistic. The issue is that the child is exposed to this without guidance, and in a technical rather than a human context. You see, the human dimension, the human relation, mitigates everything."

These warnings are priceless, pertinent -- and as old as the tales themselves. It may be of some value to ponder words attributed to a great complainer: "From the day your baby is born, you must teach him to do without things. Children today love luxury too much. They have execrable manners . . . What kind of awful creatures will they be when they grow up?" The questioner was Socrates, and the creatures grew up to create a civilization that shaped the history of Western man.

So, as the set blares its temptations and the Yule log begins to burn, fear not. These may be the worst of toys, these may be the best of toys. Today the roles of Hansel and Gretel may be played by parents, and the mysterious wood may be the toy store. But remember: in the best tales, the good and innocent hearts always triumph.

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