Where's the SCARY?

I was desperate to get some Christmas baking done without Bee being underfoot and (my greatest fear in the kitchen) reaching into the hot oven so I put her in her playpen with some toys and after her LOUDLY protesting the close quarters, put the TV on to "BabyTV, baby's first TV". She ignored it most of the time, but it served as a distraction when she would demand to be picked up. The "episode" that was playing was called "Baby's First Tales", which were basically the classic stories retold for a "younger generation", aka babies. Now, the TV station must have been worried about concerned parents storming in, worried that their child was going to be scarred for life with the normal classics so THEY CHANGED THE ENTIRE STORY! Goldilocks and the Three Bears had been retold so that Goldilocks was INVITED over, she made them lunch, told them a story in their perfectly fitting chairs, brought them brand new fluffy pillows for their nap time, and ended with them being BFFs. Where was the naughty Goldilocks we grew up with? What happened to the broken chair, the devoured porridge, the slept in bed, and the angry bears?

What happened to our old storybooks, to scaring your children into obedience with stories? Little Red Riding Hood taught us to follow our parental's guidance or we'd be eaten by a bad wolf, Hansel and Gretal taught us the dangers of eating too much candy, Beauty and the Beast taught us that it's inside beauty that counts, and Cinderella taught us that kindness will outlast cruelty. Of course, there are many other "lessons" that these stories taught, and still teach, but the main similarity that I've noticed is that the original stories were not fluffy or light. The authors didn't try to keep the "scary" out, instead they used the "scary" to teach morals and societal behaviours.

Now that Bee is REALLY into books, and not just interested in using them as chewing surface, I've started to pay attention to what her stories are. Most of them are just word books, but some have plots and its caused me to compare what I read as a child to what she's being read to now. My favourite of her books is called Waddle! and it happens to be a scanimation book. Bee loves how the pictures move and the black and white movement catches her delight each time. The story asks the child if he/she can move like each different animal and ends with: If you can waddle, stomp or hop, leap or flap or prance around...if you can scamper like a bear or slither on the ground...you'd better RUN! The alligator's GONNA GETCHA! and the picture is of an alligator's snapping mouth. She loves as I tickle her at the end and reaches for the beginning again.

There's a part of me that delights in books like this, books that leave some scary in. Sometimes I wonder if that's a part of me that I should be worried about, but most of the time I'm young enough that I think that part is funny. Do I want Bee to be a little girl scared that an alligator's going to catch her? No. Do I want her to know that there are bad things out there? In time, yes.
Future authors, please take note: I'm putting in my request now! In reference to the original classic fairytales and today's fairytales, I want a medium. Not so many graphic details but still some hope, and for those with a softer soul, lets keep those rainbows.