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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Abiyoyo
by Pete Seeger
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Adventures of Prickly Porky
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #17
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Ask Mr. Bear
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Beowulf the Warrior
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Birthday for Frances
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Black Horses for the King
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Black Horses for the King
by Anne McCaffrey
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Book of Boy
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
from Greenwillow Books
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2019 Newbery Honor Book
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by Lloyd Alexander
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Borrowers
Borrowers Series #1
by Mary Norton
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Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1952 Carnegie Medal
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$8.49 $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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I Can Read! Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
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Bracken Trilogy #1
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Candymakers
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Castle in the Attic OSI
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Champion of the Titan Games
Dragonwatch #4
by Brandon Mull
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Charlotte's Web - Full Color Edition
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Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
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Christmas Rat
by Avi
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Christmas Trolls
by Jan Brett
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Danny the Champion of the World
by Roald Dahl
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Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
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Doctor Dolittle: The Complete Collection Volume 1
by Hugh Lofting
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Animal Fantasy for 3rd-7th grade
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Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
by Eric Carle
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Dragons of Blueland
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #3
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
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Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
by Nancy Farmer
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Egypt Game
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Alton Raible
from Atheneum
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1968 Newbery Honor Book
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$4.00 (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
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Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
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Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Enchantress Returns
Land of Stories Book 2
by Chris Colfer, illustrated by Brandon Dorman
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Enormous Egg
by Oliver Butterworth
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
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Eragon
Inheritance Series #1
by Christopher Paolini
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Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
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Esio Trot
by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
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Eternity's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #2
by Bryan Davis
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Flora & Ulysses
by Kate DiCamillo
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2014 Newbery Medal winner
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Fridays with the Wizards
Tuesdays at the Tower #4
by Jessica Day George
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Gaal the Conqueror
Archives of Anthropos #2
by John White
from InterVarsity Press
Christian Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
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Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
by Roald Dahl
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Glittering Plain
by William Morris
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Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
by Lloyd Alexander
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Golden Goose
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Greenglass House
by Kate Milford, illustrated by Jaime Zollars
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Grimm Warning
Land of Stories Book 3
by Chris Colfer, illustrated by Brandon Dorman
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter Book 1
by J. K. Rowling
Canadian edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Harvey
by Mary Chase
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Harvey
by Mary Chase
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Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald
52nd Printing from Scholastic Inc.
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High King
Prydain Chronicles #5
by Lloyd Alexander
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Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1969 Newbery Medal winner
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House on East 88th Street
by Bernard Waber
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How Much Is a Million?
by David M. Schwartz
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I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade
by Diane Wilson
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Jamberry
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Jazz Man
by Mary Hays Weik
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Newbery Honor Book 1967
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Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
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Keys to the Demon Prison
Fablehaven Book #5
by Brandon Mull
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King's Equal
by Katherine Paterson
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade
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Knee-Knock Rise
by Natalie Babbitt
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Knights of the Kitchen Table
Time Warp Trio
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Koala Lou
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Lamb And The Butterfly
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Legend of the Dagger Prince
by Tim Gallant
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Library Lion
by Michelle Knudsen
1 Reprint from Candlewick Press
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Life Story
by Virginia Lee Burton
Updated from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1
by Rick Riordan
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Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper, Cristina Ong (Illustrator)
1st edition from Philomel Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper, illustrated by Dan Santat
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Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Lost and Found Journal of a Miner 49er Vol. 1
by Jack Dublin
1st edition from J. Dublin Media
for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Magic Finger
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
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Many Moons
by James Thurber
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Mary Poppins Opens the Door
Mary Poppins Series #3
by P. L. Travers
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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$3.50 (3 in stock)
Matilda
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Medallion
by Dawn L. Watkins
from Bob Jones University Press
for 3rd-5th grade
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$7.64 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Millicent and the Wind
by Robert Munsch
from Annick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo
from Candlewick Press
Personification for 4th-6th grade
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Miss Bianca
by Margery Sharp
from Yearling
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$1.20 (4 in stock)
Miss Bianca in the Orient
by Margery Sharp
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Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines
by Margery Sharp
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Mother West Wind's Children
by Thornton Burgess
from Little, Brown & Company
Animal Fantasy for 2nd-4th grade
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Mouse and the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary
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Mouse of Amherst
by Elizabeth Spires, Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
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Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
Limoncello's Library #2
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Mr. Revere and I
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
Humor/historical fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm
by Betty MacDonald
Stated First Scholastic Printing from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Nightmare's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #3
by Bryan Davis
from Zondervan
for 7th-9th grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
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Once a Mouse
by Marcia Brown
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1962 Caldecott Medal Winner
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One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
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One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
Thursday Next Book 6
by Jasper Fforde
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$17.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Patchwork Girl of Oz
Wizard of Oz Book 7
by L. Frank Baum
Reissue from Dover Publications
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Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Answers in Genesis
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Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English
by John Bunyan
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Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
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$11.04 $4.80 (2 in stock)
Poppleton and Friends
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Quick Chick
Puffin Easy-To-Read Level 1
by Julia Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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