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 Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by ??
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from David McKay Company
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Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
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Adventures of Pinocchio
Travel and Adventure Library for Young Folks
by Carlo Collodi, translated and adapted by Angelo Patri and illustrated by Mary Liddell
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Aesop's Fables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Aesop, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fables for 2nd-6th grade
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, Arthur Rackham, Walter Crane, and Alexander Calder
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Aesop's Fables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Aesop, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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$14.99
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
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Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by A. E. Jackson
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Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Ralph Steadman
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Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by June Goulding
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Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
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Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Chartwell Books
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Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Windermere Readers #5
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 edition from Rand McNally
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Windermere Series 1
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
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Windermere Series 2
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
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Windermere Series 3
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
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Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Windermere Series 4
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
1938 printing from Rand McNally
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Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
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Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
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Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
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Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Roberta Paflin
from Whitman Publishing Company
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Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Sterling Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Gwynedd M. Hudson
from Crown Publishers
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
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Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Peter Weevers
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Children's Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel and Bessie Pease Gutman
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Michael Hague
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Nick Hewetson
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All the Mowgli Stories
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Animal Stories
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Animal Stories
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Annotated Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie
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Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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Annotated Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum, edited and annotated by Michael Hearn
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Arazan's Wolves
Royal Ranger #6
by John A. Flanagan
from Viking Press
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$18.99
Armstrong
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
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Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael Morpurgo
from Harcourt
for 2nd-6th grade
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At the Back of the North Wind
Books of Wonder
by George Macdonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
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At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Colleen Browning
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
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At the Back of the North Wind
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by George MacDonald, illustrated by Harvey Dinnerstein
from Macmillan
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At the Back of the North Wind
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by George MacDonald, illustrated by George & Doris Hauman
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At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Charles Mozley
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At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maria Kirk
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by George MacDonald, illustrated by Frank C. Pape
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At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from David McKay Company
Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
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Austere Academy
Series of Unfortunate Events #5
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
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Bad Beginning
Series of Unfortunate Events #1
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Bambi
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Felix Salten, illustrated by Girard Goodenow
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Bark of the Bog Owl (May 2024)
Wilderking #1
by Jonathan Rogers
2nd edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 4th-8th grade
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$14.95
Bellmaker
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
for 3rd-7th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Pawpaw Trees
by Palmer Brown
from New York Review of Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Valley of Thorns
The Land of Elyon #2
by Patrick Carman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Beyonders #1: A World Without Heroes
by Brandon Mull
from Aladdin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
BFG
by Roald Dahl
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 2nd-6th grade
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
Revise Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Book of Three
Prydain Chronicles #1
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 printing from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Box of Delights
by John Masefield
from New York Review of Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Box of Delights (abridged)
by John Masefield
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Boxen
by C. S. Lewis, Major Warren Hamilton Lewis
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Boy Who Was
by Grace Taber Hallock, illustrated by Harrie Wood
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
1929 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Boys of Blur
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
2nd edition from Atheneum
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Burgess Animal Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Canterbury Tales
by A. Kent & Constance Hieatt, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Press
for 5th-9th grade
Castaways in Lilliput
by Henry Winterfeld
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Castaways in Lilliput
by Henry Winterfeld
from Children's Book Club
Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Castle of Llyr
Prydain Chronicles #3
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Lynd Ward
First Edition from Simon and Schuster
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator set
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.50 (1 in stock)
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
by Roald Dahl
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Charlie McTwiddle and the Wobbly-Wheeled Sputter Putter Popper
by Jerry Warner, illustrated by Jim Conlin
1st edition from Windsor Medallion
for 3rd-6th grade
in Humor & Comedy (Location: FIC-COM)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from The Folio Society
for 2nd-5th grade
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Cheshire Cheese Cat
by Carmen Agra Deedy, Randall Wright
1st edition from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Children of the Soil
by Nora Burglon, illustrations by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
1936 Printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
1933 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
by Ian Fleming
from Random House
for 3rd-7th grade
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Chronicles of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg
1st edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
Chronicles of Prydain
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
City in Winter
Swan Lake Trilogy #2
by Mark Helprin, illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Collected Poems of Freddy the Pig
by Walter R. Brooks
from Overlook Press
for 4th-8th grade
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Colonel Meacham's Giant Cheese
by Rosemary S. Nesbitt
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1961 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$22.95
Danny the Champion of the World
by Roald Dahl
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dinotopia
by James Gurney
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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