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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66 Items found Print
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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)
$4.00
Adventures of Reddy Fox
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #5
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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by Aesop, edited by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
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by Aesop
from Wordsworth Classics
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Puffin Classics
by Aesop
Reprint from Puffin Books
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in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Puffin Classics
by Lewis Carroll
from Puffin Books
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in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
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An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
Humor/historical fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Blacky the Crow
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #30
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
for 1st-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.00
Buster Bear's Twins
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #32
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Days with Frog and Toad
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.99
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)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Five Chinese Brothers
by Claire Huchet Bishop & Kurt Wiese
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$7.99
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
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)
$5.99
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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
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$4.99 $3.00 (3 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)
$4.99
Grasshopper on the Road
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$5.99
Great Rescue Operation
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Margot Apple
from Puffin Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Day
by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Marc Simont
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.50 (2 in stock)
Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle #2
by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Hildilid's Night
by Cheli Duran Ryan, illustrated by Arnold Lobel
from Aladdin Paperbacks
1972 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
House at Pooh Corner
by A. A. Milne
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Invisible Dog
from Yearling
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$6.99
Light Princess
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Craig Yoe
from William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
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Littles
by John Peterson
from Scholastic Inc.
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$4.99 $3.00 (4 in stock)
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Wizard of Oz Book 13
by L. Frank Baum
Unabridged from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.95
Magic Tree House #45 (Merlin Mission #17)
Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne
FIRST SCHOLASTIC PRINTING from Scholastic Inc.
in Magic Tree House (Location: SER-MTH)
Magic Tree House #46 (Merlin Mission #18)
Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne
First Scholastic Edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Magic Tree House #46 (Merlin Mission #18)
Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne
from Random House
in Magic Tree House (Location: SER-MTH)
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Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne
from Random House
in Magic Tree House (Location: SER-MTH)
Magic Tree House #47 (Merlin Mission #19)
Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne
First Scholastic Edition from Random House
in Magic Tree House (Location: SER-MTH)
McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm
by Sid Fleischman
from Greenwillow Books
Fantasy for 2nd-5th Grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Miss Pickerell Goes to the Artic
by Ellen MacGregor
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
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by Beverly Cleary
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from HarperCollins
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in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
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by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
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from Little, Brown & Company
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$7.99
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by Robert Lawson
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Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle #1
by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
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$8.99
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Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle #4
by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
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by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
No Fighting, No Biting!
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in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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