Thoughts on Chapter 7

I found the idea of childhood as an altered state of mind to be extremely fascinating as well. The power of a child's imagination astounds me. When I watch my nephew playing dinosaurs I am just in awe, because in his mind they really do exist. He doesn't need to know that they have been extinct for millions of years and he doesn't need to know why either. It makes me feel envious of children. They have these few fleeting years of innocence, until suddenly the world becomes much more complicated and complex. Who wouldn't want to have just a few more moments like that? I agree with the fact that imagination and fantasy have an enormous influence on a child's life. I did find the fact that some of the world's greatest children's book authors, such as Beatrix Potter and Edith Nesbit were believed to not be fond of children at all. It made me curious as to how someone who isn't particularly fond of something can be driven to create for it, maybe they were just trying to recreate those special, innocent feelings they experienced as children. On the other hand Lewis Carroll's fascination with little girls, though Hughes stated it probably wasn't sexual in nature, was still a little disturbing.