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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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas
from HarperCollins
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$16.99
Adventures of Happy Jack
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #25
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
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by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
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Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #19
by Thornton W. Burgess
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$4.00
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by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
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$5.00
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by Aesop
Reprint from Puffin Books
Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade
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$7.99
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by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
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$14.99
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Reissue from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1970 Caldecott Honor Book
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$8.99
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by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Yesterday's Classics
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$10.95
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from Living Book Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$13.99
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from Yesterday's Classics
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$10.95
Among the Forest People
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
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in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
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by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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$11.99
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by Clara Dillingham Pierson
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$10.95
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by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
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from Square Fish Publishing
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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$9.99
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by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$7.99
Arthur's Honey Bear
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
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in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
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by Marjorie Flack
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
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by Jean De Brunhoff
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
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by Jean De Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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by Russell Hoban
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by Thornton W. Burgess
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$19.99
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by Thornton W. Burgess
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in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
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by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Atheneum
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
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in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$6.99
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by George Selden
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from Houghton Mifflin
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$39.99
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
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Reprint from HarperCollins
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from Chronicle Books
for 1st-2nd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
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by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Random House
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Eli
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Ella
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from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
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My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
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Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package
Tales from Deckawoo Drive Book 4
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Fables
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Kate Douglas Wiggin
from Yesterday's Classics
$23.95
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by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 1st-6th grade
$7.99
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from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
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Finn Family Moomintroll
Moomintrolls Book #2
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from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 1st-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
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An I Can Read Book Level 1
by Esther Averill
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for Preschool-1st grade
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$4.99
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by Helen Palmer
from Random House
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
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by David Wiesner
from Clarion Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
by Arthur Ransome
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1969 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$24.99
Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon
Tales from Deckawoo Drive Book 2
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Franklin Endicott and the Third Key
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by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Frederick
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from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Frederick
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from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
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from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1989 Caldecott Honor Book
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$7.99
Frog and Toad All Year
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by Arnold Lobel
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.99
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An I Can Read Book Level 2 (Reading with Help)
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Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
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from HarperCollins
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$17.97
Frog and Toad Together
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1973 Newbery Honor Book
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
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Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
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Gregory's Shadow
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
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