Editing Children's fantasy

{{short description|Children's literature with fantasy elements}}
[[Image:Dorothy and the Scarecrow 1900.jpg|right|thumb|Illustration from first edition of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'']]
{{fantasy}}
'''Children's fantasy''' is [[children's literature]] with fantasy elements: [[fantasy]] intended for young readers.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2012|p=50}} It may also mean fantasy read ''by'' children, regardless of the intended audience.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=6–7}}

The genre has roots in folk tales such as ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' that were not originally intended for children: before the [[Victorian era]], fairytales were perceived as immoral and ill-suited for children's minds.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=12}}{{sfn|Ashley|Grant|1997}} A market for children's fantasy was established in Britain in the 19th century,{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=28–29}} leading to works such as [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' and [[Edith Nesbit]]'s [[Five Children and It|''Five Children'' series]];{{sfn|Townsend|2001|p=253}} the genre also developed in America, exemplified by [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=59}} Of the authors of this period, Nesbit is commonly cited as the creator of modern children's fantasy.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2012|p=51}} 

The golden age of children's fantasy, in scholars' view, occurred in the mid-20th century when the genre was influenced by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=115}}{{sfn|Cecire|2019|pp=83–84}} In the vein of ''Narnia'', the post-war period  saw rising stakes and manifestations of evil in the works of [[Susan Cooper]] and [[Alan Garner]].{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=106, 111–13}} Tolkien's Middle-earth led to [[mythopoeia|mythopoeic]] fantasy in the 1970s, from authors such as [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] and [[Robin McKinley]].{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=138, 142}} Another influential writer of this period was [[Diana Wynne Jones]], who wrote both medievalist and realist fantasies.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=151, 154}} 

In the late 1990s, [[J. K. Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'' led to a commercial boom in the genre, reviving older authors' careers and spawning many imitators.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|p=135}}{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=167, 170}} A concurrent success is [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', a darker, realistic fantasy that led to a corresponding trend in a new young adult market.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|pp=117, 138}}{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=212–13}} 

== Children's fantasy books and series ==
{{Cleanup list|section|date=February 2022}}
The protagonists are usually children or teens who have unique abilities, gifts, possessions or even allies that allow them to face powerful adversaries. [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] is a powerful young wizard, one of the children of ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'' series is an immature Old One with magical abilities, and in the ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' series the children have magical items and animal allies.  The plot frequently incorporates a ''[[bildungsroman]]''. 

In the earlier part of the 20th century, [[C. S. Lewis]] noted that fantasy was more accepted in juvenile literature, and therefore a writer interested in fantasy often wrote in it to find an audience.{{sfn|Lewis|1975|p=41}}

=== Forerunners ===
* [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]]: ''[[The Nutcracker and the Mouse King]]''
* [[Charles Kingsley]]: ''[[The Water-Babies]]''
* [[George MacDonald]]: ''[[The Princess and the Goblin]], [[The Light Princess]], [[At the Back of the North Wind]]''
* [[Lewis Carroll]]: ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', ''[[Through the Looking-glass]]''
* [[Carlo Collodi]]: ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio]]''
* [[Kenneth Grahame]]: ''[[The Reluctant Dragon (short story)|The Reluctant Dragon]]''

=== 1900 to 1945 ===
* [[L. Frank Baum]]: ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' and its many sequels
* [[Beatrix Potter]]: ''[[The Tale of Peter Rabbit]]'' and rest of ''The 23 Tales''
* [[Kenneth Grahame]]: ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''
* [[J.M. Barrie]]: ''[[Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up]]''
* [[E. Nesbit]]: ''[[Five Children and It]]'', ''[[The Phoenix and the Carpet]]'', ''[[The Story of the Amulet]]'', ''[[The Enchanted Castle]]'', ''[[The Magic City (novel)|The Magic City]]''
* [[Rudyard Kipling]]: ''[[Puck of Pook's Hill]]'' and ''[[Rewards and Fairies]]''
* [[Selma Lagerlöf]]: ''[[The Wonderful Adventures of Nils]]''
* [[A. A. Milne]]: ''[[Winnie-the-Pooh (book)|Winnie-the-Pooh]]'', ''[[The House at Pooh Corner]]''
* [[Zofia Kossak-Szczucka]]: ''[[The Troubles of a Gnome]]''
* [[Erich Kästner]]: ''[[The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas]]''
* [[P. L. Travers]]: ''[[Mary Poppins (book series)|Mary Poppins]]'' series
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]: ''[[The Hobbit]]''
* [[Enid Blyton]]: ''[[The Faraway Tree]]'' series
* [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]: ''[[The Little Prince]]''
* [[Mary Norton (author)|Mary Norton]]: ''[[The Magic Bed Knob]]'', ''[[Bonfires and Broomsticks]]''

=== Post-War and 1950s ===
* [[Jan Brzechwa]]: ''[[Pan Kleks]]'' trilogy
* [[C. S. Lewis]]: ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''
* [[Astrid Lindgren]]: ''[[Pippi Longstocking]]'' series, ''[[Mio, My Son]]'', ''[[Karlsson-on-the-Roof]]'' series
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]: the [[Heinlein juveniles]], a set of 12 books that includes ''[[Starship Troopers]]''
* [[T. H. White]], ''[[The Sword in the Stone (novel)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' and ''[[Mistress Masham's Repose]]''
* [[Tove Jansson]]: the ''[[Moomin]]'' series
* [[Mary Norton (author)|Mary Norton]]: ''[[The Borrowers]]'' series

=== Late 20th Century ===
* [[Maurice Sendak]]: ''[[Where the Wild Things Are]]''
* [[Joan Aiken]]: ''[[The Wolves of Willoughby Chase|Wolves Chronicles]]''
* [[Astrid Lindgren]]: ''[[Ronia, the Robber's Daughter]]'', ''[[The Brothers Lionheart]]''
* [[Michael Ende]]: ''[[Momo (novel)|Momo]]'', ''[[The Neverending Story]]''
* [[Susan Cooper]]: ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]''
* [[Roald Dahl]]: ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'', ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'', ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'', ''[[The BFG]]'' and others
* [[Diana Wynne Jones]]: ''[[The Lives of Christopher Chant]]'', ''[[Charmed Life (novel)|Charmed Life]]''
* [[Alan Garner]]: ''[[The Weirdstone of Brisingamen]]'', ''[[The Owl Service]]''
* [[Andre Norton]]: the ''[[Witch World]]'' series
* [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]: ''[[A Wizard of Earthsea]]'' and its sequels
* [[Jill Murphy]]: ''[[The Worst Witch]]'' series
* [[Brian Jacques]]: the ''[[Redwall]]'' series
* [[Anne McCaffrey]]: the ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' Harper Hall trilogy
* [[Madeleine L'Engle]]: the ''[[Time Quartet]]''
* [[Lloyd Alexander]]: ''[[The Chronicles of Prydain]]''
* [[Chris Van Allsburg]]: ''[[The Garden of Abdul Gasazi]]'', ''[[Jumanji (picture book)|Jumanji]]'' and ''[[Zathura]]'', ''[[The Polar Express]]''
* [[Dorota Terakowska]]: ''Lustro pana Grymsa'' (''The Mirror of mister Gryms''), ''Babci Brygidy szalona podróż po Krakowie'' (''Grandma Brygida’s Mad Journey through Cracow''), ''Władca Lewawu'' (''The Ruler of Lewaw''), ''Córka czarownic'' (''Witches' Daughter''), ''W krainie Kota'' (''In The Land of the Cat''), ''Samotność Bogów'' (''The Loneliness of the Gods''), ''Tam gdzie spadają anioły'' (''Where the Angels Fall'')
* [[Norton Juster]]: ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]''
* [[Shannon Messenger]]: "[[Keeper of the Lost Cities]]"

=== More recent titles and series ===
* [[James Gurney]]: ''[[Dinotopia]]'' series
* [[Philip Pullman]]: ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', ''[[Clockwork (novel)|Clockwork]]'' and ''[[The Firework-Maker's Daughter]]''
* [[J. K. Rowling]]: ''[[Harry Potter]]''
* [[Holly Black]] and [[Tony DiTerlizzi]]: ''[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]''
* [[Cornelia Funke]]: ''[[The Thief Lord]]'', [[Inkheart series|''Inkheart'' series]], ''[[Dragon Rider (novel)|Dragon Rider]]'' 
* [[Mary Pope Osborne]]: The ''[[Magic Tree House]]'' series
* [[Tamora Pierce]]: ''[[The Song of the Lioness]]'', ''[[Circle of Magic]]'', and sequels
*[[Jonathan Stroud]]: ''[[Bartimaeus Sequence]]'' and ''[[Lockwood & Co.]]''
* [[Rick Riordan]]: ''[[Camp Half-Blood Chronicles]]'', ''[[The Kane Chronicles]]'', and ''[[Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard]]''
* [[Christopher Paolini]]: ''[[Eragon]]''
* [[Angie Sage]]: ''[[Septimus Heap]]''
* [[Erin Hunter]]: ''[[Warriors (novel series)|Warriors]]'', ''[[Seekers (novel series)|Seekers]]'', and ''[[Survivors by Erin Hunter|Survivors]]'' series
*[[Brandon Mull]]: ''[[Fablehaven (novel)|Fablehaven]], [[Beyonders: A World Without Heroes|Beyonders]]'', and [[Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders|''Five Kingdoms'']] series
* [[Jennifer A. Nielsen]]: ''[[Ascendance Trilogy|The False Prince]]'' trilogy
* [[Chris Colfer]]: ''[[The Land of Stories]]''
* [[Tui T. Sutherland]]: ''[[Wings of Fire (novel series)|Wings of Fire]]'' series
*[[Shannon Hale]]: [[The Goose Girl (novel)|''The Goose Girl'']] and sequels, ''[[Princess Academy]]''

==References==
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==Sources==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Ashley |first1=Mike |author1-link=Mike Ashley (writer) |last2=Grant |first2=John |author2-link=John Grant (author) |title=Children's fantasy |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/fe/childrens_fantasy |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Grant |editor2-first=John |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]] |year=1997 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Beckett |first=Sandra L. |title=Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |doi=10.4324/9780203893135 |isbn=978-0-203-89313-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cecire |first=Maria Sachiko |title=Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children's Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century |date=2019 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]] |isbn=978-1-4529-5943-6 |oclc=1097419657}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Levy |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael M. Levy |last2=Mendlesohn |first2=Farah |author2-link=Farah Mendlesohn |title=[[Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction]] |date=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-139-08742-1 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139087421}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=C. S. |author-link=C. S. Lewis |title=Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories |url=https://archive.org/details/ofotherworldsess0000lewi_o2e7 |url-access=registration |date=1975 |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0-15-667897-1 |oclc=1132332944}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Nikolajeva |first=Maria |author-link=Maria Nikolajeva |title=The development of children's fantasy |editor1-last=James |editor1-first=Edward |editor1-link=Edward James (historian) |editor2-last=Mendlesohn |editor2-first=Farah |editor2-link=Farah Mendlesohn |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature |year=2012 |pages=50–61 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521429597.006 |isbn=978-0-521-42959-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Townsend |first=John Rowe |author-link=John Rowe Townsend |chapter=Fantasy |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeguideto0000unse_o6b3/page/252/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |editor-last=Watson |editor-first=Victor |editor-link=Victor Watson (author) |title=The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English |year=2001 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-511-07410-3 |oclc=436845497}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Charles |author-link=Catherine Butler |title= Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper |url= https://archive.org/details/fourbritishfanta0000butl/ |url-access=registration |date=2006 |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-5242-6 |oclc=470504975}}
* {{Cite book |last=Egoff |first=Sheila A. |author-link=Sheila Egoff |title=Worlds Within: Children's Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today |url=https://archive.org/details/worldswithin00egof/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |date=1988 |isbn=978-0-8389-0494-7}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Louisa |title=Real gardens with imaginary toads: domestic fantasy |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalcom00hunt_0/page/294/mode/2up |url-access=registration |editor-last=Hunt |editor-first=Peter |editor-link=Peter Hunt (literary critic) |encyclopedia=International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature |year=1996 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-08856-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Townsend |first=John Rowe |author-link=John Rowe Townsend |url= https://archive.org/details/writtenforchildr0000town |url-access=registration |title=Written for Children: An Outline of English-language Children's Literature |date=1992 |publisher=[[HarperTrophy]] |isbn=978-0-06-446125-2 |edition=25th anniversary}}
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{{Fantasy fiction}}

[[Category:Fantasy genres]]
[[Category:Children's literature|Fantasy]]