One thing to keep in mind about children, which seems to get lost on a lot of authors, is that they're people just like adults. Their personalities can be just about anything, but they often have less empathy and the like because they simply haven't learnt that much yet.
Oh, I'm well aware of that. That's why I'm saying children shouldn't be held up as the ultimate paragon of good.
Again, to use Twilight as an example, only Bella and her vampire and werewolf friends matter; the ordinary people around her can be killed without due comment.
Oh, I'm not arguing about that. Harry Potter seemed like a poor example to use though, mainly because of the way Harry was raised. To quote from what I said on LJ:
"The reason Harry doesn't focus much on the Muggle world? A. Third-person limited, so we only see what Harry sees and thinks about. B. There's nothing for him there. Dursleys aside, he had no friends at school and was constantly bullied. My memories about the first book are fuzzy, but aside from magic and Quidditch, Harry was terrible at sports and not much good at anything. He's either treated like crap or everyone pretends he doesn't exist. Of course he's not going to think much about the Muggle world while he's at Hogwarts, especially with more pressing matters like, oh, VOLDEMORT and trying to keep the people who DO care about him safe and alive.
That said, have you read Coraline by Neil Gaiman? Now there's one example where the fantasy world isn't as glorious as one expects, and that there's plenty of amazing non-magical things in the "real" world if you kept an open mind.
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Oh, I'm well aware of that. That's why I'm saying children shouldn't be held up as the ultimate paragon of good.
Again, to use Twilight as an example, only Bella and her vampire and werewolf friends matter; the ordinary people around her can be killed without due comment.
Oh, I'm not arguing about that. Harry Potter seemed like a poor example to use though, mainly because of the way Harry was raised. To quote from what I said on LJ:
"The reason Harry doesn't focus much on the Muggle world? A. Third-person limited, so we only see what Harry sees and thinks about. B. There's nothing for him there. Dursleys aside, he had no friends at school and was constantly bullied. My memories about the first book are fuzzy, but aside from magic and Quidditch, Harry was terrible at sports and not much good at anything. He's either treated like crap or everyone pretends he doesn't exist. Of course he's not going to think much about the Muggle world while he's at Hogwarts, especially with more pressing matters like, oh, VOLDEMORT and trying to keep the people who DO care about him safe and alive.
That said, have you read Coraline by Neil Gaiman? Now there's one example where the fantasy world isn't as glorious as one expects, and that there's plenty of amazing non-magical things in the "real" world if you kept an open mind.