ABSTRACT

Parents use narratives in socialising and educating their children, and children love to hear stories. Interestingly, parents are more prone to encourage beliefs in imaginary beings associated with particular events, like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, than in witches, fairies and monsters which are associated with a range of occasions; and children are more prone to believe in entities of the former type (Rosengren and Hickling, 1994).