Now you see him, now you do not! In many of the children’s stories he might appear in the first pages only to disappear till the very end or not return at all.

In my research to discover how the father is represented in children’s literature I have found him mostly an illusive, absent or impotent figure. Not many children have survived childhood without trials or loss of family members. Instead books often portray abandoned or orphaned children having to make their own way in the world.

In the majority of children’s literature a family does not consist of a mother, a father and a child or children. Over the ages, childhood must have been difficult for most children. A mother is not enough, just as a father is not enough children need to grow up with both parents to learn how to be good fathers and mothers themselves. Some youngsters in children’s literature have mothers, stepmothers, or even surrogate parents, but it just does not seem to fulfill their need for a father. Children need both parents for guidance, protection and love they not only need to feel secure physically, but also emotionally and spiritually, as well. Therefore, the best-no, the greatest-gift to a child is a loving, secure relationship with its father and mother.Ī child who is left on his or her own is a pitiful, defenseless creature.

Mankind was created with the need to have a relationship with his heavenly Father who had first created him, just like the little child who is conceived has the need for love from his biological father. God made a beautiful Garden for His children to enjoy, and God said it was very good (Genesis 1:31). The origin of this desire and longing goes back to the Garden of Eden where the first Father and child relationship began. Within each of us there is an innate desire to love and to be loved by a father.

A Handful of Time by Kit Pearson