The Value of Children's Literature to Teach Productive Conflict Resolution Skills by Bill McGinley, professor of education, University of Colorado Literature is a part of our culture. It not only reflects our cultural norms, values and beliefs but it can also help shape them. Think for a moment about the stories in your life, whether they have been read or told. The stories from your grandparents, the children's stories you read over and over again. The stories of characters you once related to and even emulated.
Stories capture and convey the stuff of life.
We can learn valuable lessons from what we read or what is read to us as young children. Many educators and writers have written about the powerful effects that stories can have on our lives. Stories engage our sense of self as we explore a world full of dilemmas, choices and journeys. Stories help us to construct our own meaning about life as we watch how other characters react in certain situations. Reading literature is best described as an act of discovery through which individuals participate in the lives and experiences of others, explore possible selves and possible worlds, and acquire insights that make their own lives more meaningful and comprehensible.