Children's Literature-through the eyes of an adult

When i was a child, every night before i went to bed my mom and dad would read me children's stories from my favorite story books. To me these stories were just fun to listen to before i went to sleep. When my parents read them they used funny voices and movements to make the stories even more enjoyable. As a child we are all innocents and do not look into the depth of anything, everything is very surface. As we grow and mature we begin to analyze more and see the deeper side to things, such as children's literature. For example, when i was younger i was familiar with the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood". In my eyes this was a story about a little girl who went to visit her grandma while she was sick, but instead encounters a wolf who eats LRRH but then she is saved by a woodsmen. When i went back and read LRRH as a more mature adult i began to analyze it more, and see the more perverse side of the tale. In my eyes the wolve symoblizes a male predator, out to attack a young girl. He invites her into bed with him, showing his hormonal male instincts. He ties a rope to her ankle when she has to use the restroom, showing his need to control someone weaker than him. Also, he stalks her in the woods, showing his need to seek out his prey before he "attacks". As a child, one would never notice the perverse side to the innocent tale of LRRH. Reading childrens literature as an adult shines a bright light on the many different depths of childrens readings.