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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"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth
by Eric Carle
from World of Eric Carle
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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
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Beyond the Circle #1
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Abiyoyo
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Adventures of Pinocchio
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Adventures of Prickly Porky
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by Johnny Gruelle
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, edited by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.00 (3 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop
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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
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Puffin Classics
by Lewis Carroll
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Fantasy for 2nd-7th grade
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Macmillan Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
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$14.40 (1 in stock)
Angelina's Baby Sister
by Katharine Holabird; illustrated by Helen Craig
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Annotated Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Deluxe from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Ask Mr. Bear
by Marjorie Flack
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-1st grade
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$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Atlantis Rising
by Robert Sullivan, drawings by Glenn Wolff
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-12th grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Babar and His Children / Tale of Benjamin Bunny
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Beatrix Potter (Benjamin)
from Grolier Society
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.80 (2 in stock)
Babar and His Children OSI
by Jean De Brunhoff
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$8.00 (1 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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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Babar's Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated by Merle Haas
from Random House
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$25.60 (1 in stock)
Bargain for Frances
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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Bartholomew and the Oobleck
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
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1950 Caldecott Honor Book
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Battle for Skandia
Ranger's Apprentice #04
by John A. Flanagan
Reprint from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$7.20 (2 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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Bedtime for Francis
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
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Beejum Book
by Alice O. Howell
Revised
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bellmaker
Redwall #7
by Brian Jacques
from ACE Publishing
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
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$10.19 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf the Warrior
by Ian Serraillier
from Bethlehem Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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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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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)
Black Horses for the King
by Anne McCaffrey
from Ballantine Books
for 5th-9th grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Black Horses for the King
by Anne McCaffrey
from Del Rey
for 5th-9th grade
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Book for Bramble
by Lynne Garner, illustrated by Gaby Hansen
from Orchard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.40 (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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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)
Book of Three
Prydain Chronicles #1
by Lloyd Alexander
from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Borrowers
Borrowers Series #1
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1952 Carnegie Medal
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Borrowers
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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Borrowers Avenged
Borrowers Series #5
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
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
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$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Bremen-town Musicians
by Ruth Belov Gross
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$1.20 (1 in stock)
Bridge, The
Bracken Trilogy #1
by Jeri Massi
from Bob Jones University Press
Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Bunnicula
Bunnicula #1
by James Howe
1st edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$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
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Caldera
Brotherband Chronicles #7
by John Flanagan
from Philomel Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Camelot
by Jane Yolen
First Edition from Philomel Books
for 6th-9th grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Candymakers
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.49 $4.00 (2 in stock)
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
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Castle in the Attic OSI
by Elizabeth Winthrop
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
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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
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Champion of the Titan Games
Dragonwatch #4
by Brandon Mull
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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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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Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
by Roald Dahl
Fifth Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Charlie at the Zoo
by Marcus Pfister
from North-South Books
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Collectors from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
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$11.20 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
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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Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Word Books for Nursery-Kindergarten
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Christmas Rat
by Avi
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Christmas Trolls
by Jan Brett
from Puffin Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Don Daily
from Running Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$11.04 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Come and Have Fun
by Edith Thacher Hurd, illustrated by Clement Hurd
1990 Reprint from HarperCrest
for Kindergarten-1st grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Crying for a Vision
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cunning Little Vixen
by Rudolf Tesnohlidek
First Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 9th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dancing Man
by Ruth Bornstein
from Weekly Reader
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Danny the Champion of the World
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Danny the Champion of the World
by Roald Dahl
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
David and the Ice Elf
by Winifred Morris, illustrated by Maureen Hyde
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Day with Whisker Wickles
by Cynthia Jameson, illustrated by James Marshall
from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$9.60 (1 in stock)
Dear Peter Rabbit
by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie Tryon
from Macmillan
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
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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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Discovery of Dragons
by Graeme Base
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Doctor Dolittle: The Complete Collection Volume 1
by Hugh Lofting
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
by Eric Carle
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Doll People
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brian Selznick
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.40 (2 in stock)
Dooryard Stories
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
from Living Book Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Dragons of Blueland
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #3
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
from Random House
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Dream Weaver
by Jane Yolen
First Revised Edition from Philomel Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
by Nancy Farmer
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.40 (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)
Ellison the Elephant with Dramatized Audio CD
by Eric Drachman, illustrated by James Muscarello
from Kidwick Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (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
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Elmer and the Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #2
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Yearling
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$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
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
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