Magic Kingdoms

Discovering the Joys of Childhood Classics with Your Child

“From Wonderland and the Hundred Acre Wood, through the River Bank and Neverland, to Narnia and Middle-earth, our children discover magic kingdoms, complete with secret gardens and secret languages, where they can grow and learn by living out their hopes and facing down their fears,” writes Regina Higgins. Speaking directly to parents, drawing on her own childhood memories and her experiences reading to her daughter, Higgins offers a guide to our best-loved children’s books: Peter Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and many others.

In Magic Kingdoms, Higgins explores the vision of childhood that we find in our favorite classics and explains how these books empower our children through imagination. In all these stories, a child unlocks an unknown world – a magic kingdom – where he faces challenges; triumphs through courage, compassion, and intelligence; and then returns to our world to find the most exciting adventure of all – growing up.

“Now is the time for your child to imagine himself the ruler of a magic kingdom,” writes Ms. Higgins. “In reading together books that open the door to a world of challenge and growth, in exploring together the landscape of imagination in all its forms, you help your child to make the journey of the child-hero, where he will prove his natural strength, intelligence, and love through his triumph in the magic kingdom.”