Fantasy


"Any novel that is disengaged from reality. Often such novels are set in nonexistent worlds, such as under the earth, in a fairyland, on the moon, etc. The characters are often something other than human or include nonhuman characters." (A Glossary of Literary Terms).

What Kids Think
A place in which nothing real could happen.
A wonderful dream that could never happen in real life.

What Teachers Think
  • Daydreaming through another author's imagination.
  • Stories that have elements that are not, and cannot be, real. One example might be where animals talk. They are generally based in a far away place.
  • Narrative fiction that highlights the creative and imaginative elements of fanciful as opposed to realistic worlds, inviting its readers to enjoy and experience the characters' lives in a kaleidiscope of ways.

    History and Classics of the Genre

    Fantasy stories are as old as the human race. Most religions and cultures have stories that involve a far away time when animals could talk or when magic reigned on the earth. From 2500 years ago in ancient Greece, we have Aesop's Fables (the link is to a complete online version of the stories), which are wonderful stories in which we learn from the mistakes of animals how to behave better ourselves. Some of the best work in Children's Literature are works of fantasy, in which animals talk or magic powers affect the characters' destinies. Here is a collection of some timeless fantasy classics:

    Date of Publicaton Title Author Buy it at Amazon.com!
    6th Century B.C. Aesop's Fables
    Aesop's Fables (another site)    		 Aesop Buy It!
    1865 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Buy It!
    1894 The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling Buy It!
    1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum Buy It!
    1901 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame Buy It!
    1902 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter Buy It!
    1914 Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Burroughs Buy It!
    1926 Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne Buy It!
    1934 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis Buy It!
    1937 The Hobbit JRR Tolkien Buy It!
    1950 Peter Pan James Matthew Barrie Buy It!
    1976 Watership Down Richard Adams Buy It!

    Watership Down is especially recommended! Richness of stories, clever parallels with human cultures, wonderful diversity of engaging characters, edge-of-your-seat suspense -- it's got it all!

    The line between science fiction and fantasy can be hard to draw. The very popular DragonRider series by Anne McCaffrey, for example, can be considered either fantasy or science fiction. Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula K. LeGuin is a personal favorite of this "sci-fi like" strain of fantasy (Carmela Federico) .

    Resources for Fantasy

    Seized by a Tale (good Fantasy and Comics site)
    Reviews of Fantasy and Comics from Seized by a Tale
    Myth and Magic: A Guide to Fantasy Books
    The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
    The Linkoping (Sweden) collection of SF & F reviews
    Circle of Fantasy (multi-purpose fantasy site)
    Fantasy Book List (and Author Information)
    Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews Homepage
    SFF Net: Great site for all kinds of genre literature!
    Yahoo's VERY THOROUGH list of Sci Fi & Fantasy Reviews
    The Boundless Realm (GREAT sci-fi and fantasy resources!)

    If you know of any good Fantasy links, please visit our
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