Literature exists to explain the world. Not in the way that science explains things through numbers and measures and patterns, but in way that communicates identity, society, and other unquantifiable things. This is particularly true with regards to literature for children. They are also a way to reassure children, to show that even though there are scary parts to the world and bad things may happen, good will win in the end. One inescapable part of the world is hierarchy and authority, and it features heavily as a theme in children’s literature. I looked at how authority and figures of authority are portrayed in the Nancy Drew series, the works of Roald Dahl, and the Harry Potter series.