From: Rotem Moscovich <mollybdenim>
Date: Sat, 6 May 2006 13:27:25 -0700 (PDT)

I don't think that fantasy as a genre has to be so restricted as to only include high fantasy -- part of the beauty of it is just how wide the range of books can be. If you think about it, even Charlotte's Web is fantasy -- not only do the animals talk (which, I sometimes forget doesn't REALLY happen in our "real" world), but Charlotte can write -- and in ENGLISH! :) In my classes at Simmons we've always talked about the realism/fantasy spectrum and the genre-blurring possible. What marks something as pure fantasy vs. magical realism vs. straight realism? That seems to me to be part of the fun. If you ARE looking for categories (Toy fantasy, time-travel fantasy, etc), though, you could look at work by Sheila Egoff: Worlds Within: Children's Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today.

~Rotem Moscovich Simmons Children's Lit Grad

--- Melissa Henderson <mhenderson at wnpl.info> wrote:

> Whenever I think about the fantasy genre, I often
> become bogged down in
> trying to clearly define what books fall into this
> category. For
> example, what about books that are quite realistic,
> except that that
> main characters are talking animals? For example,
> Michael Hoeye's Hermux
> Tantamoq series seems more like a classic adventure
> story with Linka,
> the daring aviatrix; Tucka, the dangerous cosmetics
> tycoon; and Hermux,
> who just wants to focus on his timepieces (and
> Linka). Okay, so they're
> animals that live in a very human society, but
> that's the only
> fantastical element...does it still count as a
> fantasy?
>
> Similarly, there are the time travel books that are
> fantastical only in
> the method of transportation. Dan Gutman's baseball
> card adventures, Jon
> Scieszka's Time Warp Trio, and Maya Williams' "The
> Golden Hour" all
> focus heavily on the historical fiction, with a bit
> of fantasy thrown in
> to get the kids back in time. I have to admit that
> I've recommended all
> of these to kids who had to read fantasy and either
> didn't like the
> genre, only read sports books, or are looking for a
> short fantasy for
> their monthly genre book report. Was I stretching
> the genre too far?
>
> And what about the Alex Ryder series? This books
> seem quite fantastical,
> but they seem to be categorized more as adventure
> than fantasy.
>
> What are your thoughts on the titles above and where
> to lump them?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Melissa Henderson
> Children's Librarian
>
>

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Received on Sat 06 May 2006 03:27:25 PM CDT