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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"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth
by Eric Carle
from World of Eric Carle
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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
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Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #19
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$5.10
Adventures of Raggedy Ann
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Aesop's Fables
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Aesop's Fables
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Aesop's Fables
Puffin Classics
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$6.79
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
by Leo Lionni
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1970 Caldecott Honor Book
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Among the Farmyard People
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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$12.95
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Among the Night People
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Among the Pond People
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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$11.99
Amos and Boris
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$8.49
Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
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Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes
Book 22
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$7.64
Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
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$2.00 (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
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$4.24
Ask Mr. Bear
by Marjorie Flack
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Babar and Father Christmas
by Jean De Brunhoff
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$16.14
Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Benjamin)
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Babar and His Children OSI
by Jean De Brunhoff
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar) and Beatrix Potter (Squirrel Nutkin)
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Babar the King
by Jean de Brunhoff
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$13.56
Babar's Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
from Random House
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$25.60 (1 in stock)
Bargain for Frances
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense
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Big Bad Bruce
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Bill Peet Collection
by Bill Peet
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$191.77
Blah Blah Black Sheep
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Book for Bramble
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Book of Giant Stories
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$1.20 (1 in stock)
Buford the Little Bighorn
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Nursery-1st grade
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$8.49
Catwings Return
A Catwings Tale Book 2
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.94
Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes
Book 23
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
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$5.94
Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
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Chester the Worldly Pig
by Bill Peet
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Chester's Way
by Kevin Henkes
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$5.94
Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
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Word Books for Nursery-Kindergarten
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Christmas Trolls
by Jan Brett
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Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.79
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$7.64
Come and Have Fun
by Edith Thacher Hurd, illustrated by Clement Hurd
1990 Reprint from HarperCrest
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Complete Book of Flower Fairies
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
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$25.50
Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
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$38.25
Cowardly Clyde
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Curious George
by H. A. Rey
36th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$9.34
Curious George - Hardcover Boxed Set
by H. A. & Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$36.54
Curious George Flies a Kite
by Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.49
Curious George Gets a Medal
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.49
Curious George Goes to the Hospital
by H. A. & Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.49
Curious George Learns the Alphabet
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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$10.19
Curious George Rides a Bike
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$7.64
Curious George Takes a Job
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.49
Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Dancing Man
by Ruth Bornstein
from Weekly Reader
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Dandelion
by Don Freeman
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Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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David and the Ice Elf
by Winifred Morris, illustrated by Maureen Hyde
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Day with Whisker Wickles
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Days of the Blackbird OSI
by Tomie dePaola
from Puffin Books
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$5.94
Days with Frog and Toad
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$5.09
Dear Peter Rabbit
by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie Tryon
from Macmillan
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Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
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Digging-est Dog
by Al Perkins
from Random House
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$8.49
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
by Barbara Kerley
from Scholastic Inc.
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2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$16.99
Doctor De Soto
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1983 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.34
Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa
by William Steig
Reprint from HarperCollins
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Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
by Eric Carle
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Dooryard Stories
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Eli
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Ella
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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$8.49
Ellison the Elephant with Dramatized Audio CD
by Eric Drachman, illustrated by James Muscarello
from Kidwick Books
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
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$7.50 (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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Fables
by Arnold Lobel
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
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Farewell to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
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Farfallina & Marcel
by Holly Keller
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
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Father Bear Comes Home
An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Else Minarik & Maurice Sendak
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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$5.09
Fire Cat
An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Esther Averill
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$5.09
Fish Out of Water
by Helen Palmer
from Random House
Animal Fantasy/Rhyming Stories for Nursery-1st grade
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$8.49
Five Chinese Brothers OSI
by Claire Huchet Bishop & Kurt Wiese
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$6.79
Flotsam
by David Wiesner
from Clarion Books
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2007 Caldecott Medal winner
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$16.99
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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$7.64
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
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$7.64
Free Fall
by David Wiesner
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1989 Caldecott Honor Book
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