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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Adventures of Jimmy Skunk
by Thornton W. Burgess, illustrated by Harrison Cady
1920 Printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Raggedy Ann
from Avenel Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Aesop
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by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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by Aesop, illustrated by Heidi Holder
1st edition from Viking Press
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by Aesop, retold by Anna Milbourne and illustrated by Linda Edwards
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by Adapted by David Blair and illustrated by John Bradley, Original by Lewis Carroll
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by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Benjamin)
from Grolier Society
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$4.50 (2 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
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
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by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
from Random House
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$24.00 (1 in stock)
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by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
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by Michael Bond
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
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by William Pene du Bois
from Viking Press
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by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root
1st edition from Sun Dial Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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by David L. Harrison
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
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by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
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$28.99 $17.50 (1 in stock)
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by Marianna Mayer (translator and adapter), illustrated by Gerald McDermott
from Four Winds Press
for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
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Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Collectors from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
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by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
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1953 Newbery Honor Book
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
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by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
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by Susan Thompson-Hoffman, illustrated by Eileen Major Buzzanco
from Trudy Corporation
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
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for 2nd-3rd grade
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from Kidwick Books
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1981 Caldecott Medal winner
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in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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