Overview Fantasy Literature for Children

Lesson Overview

If you look at any of the classic children's literature textbooks, such as Zena Sutherland's Children and Books, Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature in the Elementary School, or Donna Norton's Through the Eyes of a Child, you'll notice that the chapters on fantasy have something that the chapters on realistic and historical fiction don't have: a rationale for the creation and existence of fantasy literature. Fantasy is a genre that raises suspicion and therefore generates arguments in its defense. If we see a child thoroughly engrossed in fantasy literature, we may become concerned that the child is escaping from reality -- a mild kind of mental disease. This is why advocates of fantasy tend to be a little defensive and make arguments about the benefits of fantasy. In the readings for this lesson you'll take a look at four different justifications for fantasy literature put forth by Auden, Britton, Pierce, and Hunt.

Lesson Objectives

In this lesson you will:

Consider the act of creating an imaginary world as a vital human activity.
Learn a brief history of fantasy literature.
Learn some of the conventional criticisms of fantasy and the rebuttals of these criticisms.

To continue to the next page, click on next at the top or bottom of the page (on the right side.)