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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217 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Used Books & Materials
Abiyoyo
by Pete Seeger
from Scholastic Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Grandfather Frog
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #12
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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Adventures of Prickly Porky
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #17
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Heidi Holder
1st edition from Viking Press
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, retold by Anna Milbourne and illustrated by Linda Edwards
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Alice in Wonderland
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Lewis Carroll
from Dover Publications
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$5.94 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Puffin Classics
by Lewis Carroll
from Puffin Books
Fantasy for 2nd-7th grade
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$6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Annotated Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Deluxe from Random House
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for 2nd-4th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
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$14.44 $6.80 (1 in stock)
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Bedtime for Francis
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
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$1.60 (1 in stock)
Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense
by Jan Berenstain, Stan Berenstain
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$5.09 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Pawpaw Trees
by Palmer Brown
from New York Review of Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Birthday for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$1.60 (1 in stock)
Book of Boy
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
from Greenwillow Books
for 3rd-7th grade
2019 Newbery Honor Book
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$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Book of Giant Stories
by David L. Harrison
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Borrowers
Borrowers Series #1
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1952 Carnegie Medal
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$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Borrowers
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Borrowers Avenged
Borrowers Series #5
by Mary Norton
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Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
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Bread and Jam for Frances
I Can Read! Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
1st edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
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$7.64 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
2nd edition from Atheneum
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Candymakers
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
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Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (adapted)
by Marianna Mayer (translator and adapter), illustrated by Gerald McDermott
from Four Winds Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$2.00 (3 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$5.94 $3.20 (4 in stock)
Champion of the Titan Games
Dragonwatch #4
by Brandon Mull
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator set
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$14.80 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Collectors from HarperCollins
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$11.20 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
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1953 Newbery Honor Book
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$4.80 (2 in stock)
Charlotte's Web - Full Color Edition
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
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Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Don Daily
from Running Press
for 2nd-4th grade
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Dancing Man
by Ruth Bornstein
from Weekly Reader
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Delver's Danger
Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection
by Susan Thompson-Hoffman, illustrated by Eileen Major Buzzanco
from Trudy Corporation
for 1st-4th grade
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Discovery of Dragons
by Graeme Base
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Doctor Dolittle: The Complete Collection Volume 1
by Hugh Lofting
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-7th grade
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Doll People
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brian Selznick
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
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Dragons of Blueland
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #3
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
from Random House
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Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Edward, Hoppy and Joe
by Robert Lawson
1972 Printing from Dell Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Egypt Game
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Alton Raible
from Atheneum
for 3rd-6th grade
1968 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Elephant's Child
by Rudyard Kipling
2nd Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Ella Enchanted - Special Read-Aloud Edition
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
from Random House
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Yearling
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
from Random House
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Esio Trot
by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
2016 ed. from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.60 (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
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Fables of Aesop
by Aesop, selected & illustrated by David Levine, translated by Patrick & Justina Gregory
from Gambit
for 2nd-4th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Kay Nielsen
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Farthest Shore
by Ursula K. Le Guin
11th Printing from Bantam Books
for 1st-4th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flat Stanley
by Jeff Brown
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Flora & Ulysses
by Kate DiCamillo
Reprint from Scholastic Book Services
for 3rd-6th grade
2014 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Franklin Endicott and the Third Key
Tales from Deckawoo Drive Book 6
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$5.94 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Fridays with the Wizards
Tuesdays at the Tower #4
by Jessica Day George
Reprint from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Frog and Toad All Year
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Frog and Toad Are Friends
An I Can Read Book Level 2 (Reading with Help)
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Frog and Toad Are Friends
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1971 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Golden Goose
by Dick King-Smith
from Yearling
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$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Good American Witch
by Peggy Bacon
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$52.00 (1 in stock)
Great Rescue Operation
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Puffin Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Green Smoke
by Rosemary Manning, illustrated by Constance Marshall
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Happy Birthday Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle #5
by Betty MacDonald and Anne MacDonald Canham
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
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$9.34 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Happy Day
by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Marc Simont
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.20 (2 in stock)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter Book 1
by J. K. Rowling
Canadian edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald
52nd Printing from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Herodia the Lovely Puppet
by Katherine Milhous
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
High in the Clouds
by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar, Philip Ardagh
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: Picture Books (Location: ZCLE-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 3
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34 $3.60 (2 in stock)
Horse and His Boy
by C. S. Lewis
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-9th grade
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$8.00 (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)
House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
from Trumpet Club
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.20 (1 in stock)
House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
1999 edition from Weekly Reader
for 1st-3rd grade
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
from Blue Sky press
for 1st-5th grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
If You Made a Million
by David M. Schwartz
from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Incredible Detectives
by Don & Joan Caufield, illustrated by Kiyo Komoda
from Harper & Row
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
Infamous Ratsos: Project Fluffy
by Kara LaReau, Illustrated by Matt Myers
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Jazz Man
by Mary Hays Weik
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book 1967
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.94 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Jumanji
by Chris Van Allsburg
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1982 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Jumanji
by Chris Van Allsburg, Robin Williams (Narrator)
30th Anniversary Edition from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1982 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Just So Stories
Puffin Classics
by Rudyard Kipling
from Puffin Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-6th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$6.79 $3.60 (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 of the Hummingbirds
by John Gardner, illustrated by Michael Sporn
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
King Who Rained
by Fred Gwynne
from Prentice Hall
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
King's Equal
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
$5.94 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Kingdom Tales
by David & Karen Mains
from My Father's World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$34.95 $21.00 (3 in stock)
Knee-Knock Rise
by Natalie Babbitt
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperTrophy
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.40 (2 in stock)
Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.20 (2 in stock)
Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Library Lion
by Michelle Knudsen
1 Reprint from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Life Story
by Virginia Lee Burton
Updated from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Chronicles of Narnia Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34 $4.40 (1 in stock)
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