Classic stories have stood the test of time, they provide insight about how the world works and how children and their parents can survive and thrive in good times and those not so pleasant. Universal themes about the human condition are at play in them. For 99% of the time humans have spent on this earth the oral means of communication was the dominant style of our species. Around the camp fires of hunters and gatherers stories have served to bundle knowledge in metaphoric packages to prepare children for their coming roles in their community. They encapsulated the wisdom of the tribe and the nuances of the natural world in which they were intricately connected

Anthropologist Gregory Bateson explains that all living creatures use stories to understand and operate in their world. They continually scan their environment for the differences that make a difference to them, placing their perceptions of the environment into the context of the stories they know to make "sense" of experience.  When our children listen to classic stories they are rekindling an ancient rite that served us well for eons.