Our primary concern, therefore, in judging any literary work should not be its genre but its moral tone. The answers to these questions can help us determine whether the instruction provided by the work is Biblically sound. To this point we have concentrated on the potential negative effects of fantasy. Let us look now at the positive side. It is, therefore, particularly effective for broadening a child's world and helping him to take an objective look at universal problems.
Fantasy can also help the child develop valuable literary skills.
The sensory images, extended beyond metaphors, personifications, symbols, and allusions that fill fanciful stories can develop a child's ability to discern the difference between the literal and the figurative use of language. Such skill is essential for a full understanding of God's Word. An inability to understand figurative language may, therefore, result in a misappropriation of truth. His disciples took the work leaven literally and assumed that Christ was rebuking them for forgetting bread. The disciples' failure to grasp the Lord's figurative use of language caused them to miss the point completely.