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opinion, these parents always stay at home and which it represents a safe place
where they can be safely childlike (Nodelman, P. The Hidden Adult. p. 78)
In both books, innocence plays a central role, as well as imagination. In the
case of The Snowy Day, it clearly shows when Peter puts a snowball in his pocket
thinking it was going to stay like that. Later, he feels really sad when he looks into
his pocket to find nothing. This scene also invites the readers to think what it feels
to be nave and to possess that lack of knowledge only kids have. Theres also an
example of imagination, when Maxs mother punished him for misbehaving and
called him wild thing. This wild world he created in his bedroom was a way of
escaping the reality his mother had put him into. Nodelman talks about how
protagonists in fairy tales seem to create a space where they can get what they
want and be happy with it (Nodelman, P. The Hidden Adult. p. 81)
Personally, we think the children are not the same at the end of the stories
although the narrator says nothing about it. Theres a change as regards the things
they had experienced, like the adventures of Peter, or Max realizing the importance
of coming home after being away for so long, he started to miss the love of his
mother and her protection, two things he didnt find in his imagine world.