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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117 Items found Print
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"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth
by Eric Carle
from World of Eric Carle
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, edited by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
for Nursery-2nd grade
$2.00 (3 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Avenel Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop
from Wordsworth Classics
for Nursery-2nd grade
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Benjamin)
from Grolier Society
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Babar and His Children OSI
by Jean De Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Babar and Zephir / Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar) and Beatrix Potter (Squirrel Nutkin)
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Babar's Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
from Random House
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$25.60 (1 in stock)
Book for Bramble
by Lynne Garner, illustrated by Gaby Hansen
from Orchard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Book of Giant Stories
by David L. Harrison
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Bremen-town Musicians
by Ruth Belov Gross
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$1.20 (1 in stock)
Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Word Books for Nursery-Kindergarten
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Christmas Trolls
by Jan Brett
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Day with Whisker Wickles
by Cynthia Jameson, illustrated by James Marshall
from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$9.60 (1 in stock)
Dear Peter Rabbit
by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie Tryon
from Macmillan
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
by Eric Carle
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Dooryard Stories
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Ellison the Elephant with Dramatized Audio CD
by Eric Drachman, illustrated by James Muscarello
from Kidwick Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fables
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Fables
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Farfallina & Marcel
by Holly Keller
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
George and Martha Back in Town
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
George and Martha Encore
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
George and Martha Rise and Shine
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Giant John
by Arnold Lobel
Weekly Reader Book Club Ed. from Harper & Row
for Nursery-2nd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Good Knight for Dragons
by Roger Bradfield
from Young Scott Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$28.00 (1 in stock)
Good Night, Gorilla
by Peggy Rathmann
from Penguin Putnam
Picture Only Books for Preschool-Kindergarten
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Great Big Elephant & the Very Small Elephant
by Barbara Seuling
from Crown Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Great Fuzz Frenzy
by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Great Kettles
by Dean Morrissey
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Time-Traveling Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Grouchy Uncle Otto
by Alice Bach, illustrated by Steven Kellog
from HarperCrest
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Day
by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Marc Simont
from Scholastic Inc.
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$1.20 (2 in stock)
Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Four Winds Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Hat
by Jan Brett
from Penguin Putnam
Animal Stories: Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hedgie's Surprise
by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Nursery-1st grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hello, Red Fox
by Eric Carle
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
for Preschool-3rd grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How Much Is a Million?
by David M. Schwartz
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
If You Made a Million
by David M. Schwartz
from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Invisible Moose
by Dennis Haseley, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Jamberry
by Bruce Degen
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
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$1.60 (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)
$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Kenny's Window
by Maurice Sendak
Undated Reprint from HarperCrest
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$28.00 (1 in stock)
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub
by Audrey & Don Wood
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
King Who Rained
by Fred Gwynne
from Prentice Hall
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
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 Engine That Could
by Watty Piper, illustrated by Dan Santat
Imagination Library Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Rose of Sharon
by Nan Gurley
from Chariot Victor Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Little Whistle
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Tim Bowers
from Harcourt
for Preschool-1st grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Lost in the Woods
by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
from Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lyle at the Office
by Bernard Waber
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Magic Leaf
by Winifred Morris & Ju-Hong Chen
from Atheneum
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Many Moons
by James Thurber
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
McBroom's Ghost
by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Meet Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Al Perkins, illustrated by John Hanna
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Millicent and the Wind
by Robert Munsch
from Annick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Mirror
by Alexandra Day & Christina Darling
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mouse Tales
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.09 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Mr. Sipple and the Naughty Princess
by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler, illustrated by Richard E. Martin
from Follett
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Napping House
by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
New Shoes
from First Second
for Preschool-4th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Olivia - Board Book
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Olivia Saves the Circus
by Ian Falconer
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
One Monster After Another
by Mercer Mayer
1st edition from Golden Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
One Silver Second
by Daphne Doward Hogstrom, illustrated by Gordon Laite
Stated First Printing from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Peter Pan (adapted)
by J. M. Barrie (original text), illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt
from Unicorn Publishing House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Pinocchio / Adventures of Robin Hood
by C. Collodi, retold by Allen Chaffee and illustrated by Lois Lenski; Robin Hood retold by Eleanor Graham Vance and illustrated by Jay Hyde Barnum
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Poky Little Puppy
by Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Little Golden Books (Location: PIC-GOLD)
$5.09 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Poppleton and Friends
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Poppy's Puppet
by Patricia Lee Gauch, Illustrated by David Christiana
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Prancer
by Stephen Cosgrove
from Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
Quick Chick
Puffin Easy-To-Read Level 1
by Julia Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rainbow Rhino
by Peter Sis
from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Red Book
by Barbara Lehman
from Scholastic Inc.
for Nursery-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Rooster, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen
by Nova Nestrick (editor), illustrated by Bonnie & Bill Rutherford and Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Nursery-2nd grade
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$7.64 $3.60 (5 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Macmillan
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
by Robert L. May, Barbara Shook Hazen (Adapter), illustrated by Richard Scarry
"I" Printing from Golden Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Brown & Clement Hurd
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Seventh Door
by Norman Leach
from Child's Play Ltd.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Houghton Mifflin
for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sheep in a Shop
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Trumpet Club
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Sheep Out to Eat
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Trumpet Club
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Shrewbettina's Birthday
by John S. Goodall
1973 Printing from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for Preschool-Adult
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$15.20 (1 in stock)
Story of Babar / Heidi
by Jean de Brunhoff, translated by Merle S. Haas, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, adapted by Florence Hayes and illustrated by Erika Weihs
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Tailor of Gloucester
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Tailor of Gloucester/ How the Leopard Got His Spots and Other Stories
by Beatrix Potter (Tailor); Rudyard Kipling (Leopard)
from Grolier Society
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Book 4
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Book 2
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Tales from a Poultry Farm
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Tales of Peter Rabbit and the Flopsy Bunnies
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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