Fantasy Fiction

The "fantasy=escapism" equation is older than the genre as we know it. People in the old days boycotted the Theater, not just because it was a potential hotbed of wickedness, but because it was something other than Real Life and therefore odious to Sensible People. Some radical Christian sects have prohibited the reading of fiction on grounds that only the Bible has any literary value (....even though Jesus clearly told fictional stories).

In our day, fantasy as a fiction genre is more narrowly defined than simply "that which is not established fact." It encompasses stories of dragons, elves, dark and mysterious woods, magic (or majyck, or whatever the kids are calling it these days), unicorns, gnomes, etc. High fantasy usually takes place in a world or realm other than our own; low fantasy imports fantastic elements into the-world-as-we-know-it.

Certainly, there is plenty of fantasy fiction that can be defended on no grounds. The flood of worthless literary drivel with images of buxom maidens and swarthy sword-wielding savages with pointy ears on their paperback covers began sometime in the 1960s and has only increased as its putrid waters have swelled. But there's plenty of good fantasy, too, some of it among the best fiction ever written.

Because good fantasy, of course, has something to say about the human condition. Sometimes taking characters out of the humdrum of Earth-bound existence allows authors more artistic freedom to create the situations necessary to tell the narrative they have burning a hole in their imagination. Or sometimes they just make the story a bit more fun. Sometimes they make it darker, or scarier, or just plain more weird.

If you're J.R.R. Tolkien, the fantasy element plays a different role (mythmaking) than that of the story it frames (the sinfulness of sin and the cost of redemption). The point is, good fantasy isn't just about the fantastical. In most cases (Ursula K. LeGuin comes to mind), the unfamiliar is used to show how even it is ultimately familiar, and if we can see ourselves in the Edmund Pevensies and Gurney Hallecks we read about, the fantasy has done its job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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89 Items found Print
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Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #19
by Thornton W. Burgess
Unabridged from Dover Publications
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00
Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock
by Eric A. Kimmel
Reprint from Holiday House
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Arthur's Honey Bear
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Big Bad Bruce
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Black Horse
by Marianna Mayer
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Buford the Little Bighorn
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Chester the Worldly Pig
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Chester's Way
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Word Books for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (8 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes
by Dubose Heyward
from Sandpiper Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cowardly Clyde
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Curious George
by H. A. Rey
36th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Curious George Flies a Kite
by Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Curious George Gets a Medal
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Curious George Goes to the Hospital
by H. A. & Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Curious George Learns the Alphabet
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Curious George Rides a Bike
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Curious George Takes a Job
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
by Trinka Hakes Noble, Steven Kellogg (Illustrator)
from Puffin Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Day the Goose Got Loose
by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
First Scholastic Printing April 1993 from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Days of the Blackbird
by Tomie dePaola
from Puffin Books
for Prescool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Eli
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Ella
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Enchanted Wood
by Ruth Sanderson
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Encore for Eleanor
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Farewell to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Fish is Fish
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Frog and Toad Collection
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$17.97
Gingerbread Baby
by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Gnats of Knotty Pine
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Gregory's Shadow
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Happy Birthday, Moon
by Frank Asch
Revised from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Hardest Word
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Harold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Harold's Circus (Purple Crayon Books)
by Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Harold's Fairy Tale
by Crockett Johnson
Reissue from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Harold's Trip to the Sky
by Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse: Starring Harry
by Thea Feldman
from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
How Much is a Million?
by David M. Schwartz, Steven Kellogg
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Huge Harold
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Humble Pie
by Jennifer Donnelly
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$13.99
Jamberry
by Bruce Degen
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Bruce Degen
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Katy No-Pocket
by Emmy Payne, illustrated by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Kermit the Hermit
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Lavender's Blue
by Kathleen Lines
New from Oxford University
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Letters from Father Christmas
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Revised from Mariner Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$25.00
Lightfoot the Deer
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #29
by Thornton W. Burgess
Unabridged from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00
Little Bear Collection
by Else Minarik
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper, Cristina Ong (Illustrator)
1st edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
by Audrey Wood
from Clarion Books
Fantasy for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Many Moons
by James Thurber
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
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by Robert Munsch
from Annick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
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from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
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by Steven Kellogg
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for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Mitten, The
by Alvin Tresselt
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
by Charlotte Zolotow
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
1963 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.95
My World
by Margaret Wise Brown
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Norman the Doorman
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Oliver
by Syd Hoff
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
Pecos Bill
by Steven Kellogg
from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Picture for Harold's Room
I Can Read Level 1
by Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Piggies
by Audrey Wood, Don Wood
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00
Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Brown & Clement Hurd
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Sheep in a Jeep
by Nancy E. Shaw
English Language from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Sheila Rae, the Brave
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Tacky the Penguin
by Helen Lester
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
Book 6
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$7.99
Teddy Bears' Picnic
by Jimmy Kennedy
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Tomten
by Astrid Lindgren
from Sandcastle Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Twelve Dancing Princesses
by Ruth Sanderson
Reprint from Crocodile Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.95
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Elizabeth Miles
from Cartwheel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Very Special House
by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Reprint from HarperTrophy
for Preschool-2nd grade
1954 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Whingdingdilly
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99