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Worlds Within: Children's Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today
Contents include: The matter of Fantasy / The Fairies Underground: Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Victorian Times / The Golden Key: Fantasy of the Victorian Era / Dream Days: The Edwardian Age and After / A Box of Delights: Fantasy of the 1920s and 1930s / Playing In the Shadows of War: Fantasy of the 1940s / There and Back Again: Fantasy of the 1950s / Extensions of Reality: Fantasy of the 1960s / Games of Dark: Fantasy of the 1970s / Possibilities and Plausibilities: Fantasy of the 1980s.
339 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1988
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About the author
Sheila A. Egoff
16 booksSheila Agnes Egoff was a Canadian librarian, literary critic, and historian who was Canada's first professor of children's literature. A recipient of the Order of Canada, she was known for her studies of children's fiction including The Republic of Childhood (1967), Thursday's Child (1981) and Worlds Within (1988). The Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize is named after her.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 23, 2024
3.5 stars. An overview of children’s fantasy from its earliest inceptions in myths, folklore, and legends all the way into the 1980s.
The sheer amount of children’s literature that Ms. Egoff could speak to and analyze is staggering. She absolutely touched on the obvious stories of any given period, along with many other authors I had no knowledge of (not that I would have any illusions about my knowledge base here). I now have a gigantic list of authors and books to look into.
Many books were compared to others with some sort of similarity, and she spent significant time on certain authors who would not be surprising - George MacDonald, E. Nesbit, Lewis, Tolkien, and LeGuin all received much attention and continued comparisons to authors who come after them. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander also receive more than average attention, considering their position later in the timeline.
With the books that are discussed, the synopsis is complete, spoilers are given, and Egoff doesn’t hold back from pointing out strengths and particularly weaknesses of plot points or storylines. She seems to lament the change in the 60s and beyond that saw more realistic starting points for stories, “real life” situations, and troubled teens. These stories seem less plausible to her. When the action primarily takes place in this world, the lack of Secondary World requires more of a suspension of disbelief. She also states that more of a focus on “paranormal” or psychic plot points miss the wonder and enchantment of older stories that engaged a reader’s imagination.
The more I think about Egoff’s conclusions, the more intrigued I am about those changes she pointed out. I would love to look into that further, as well as just wishing someone would pick up where Egoff left off and look into children’s fantasy stories from the last 40 years.
The sheer amount of children’s literature that Ms. Egoff could speak to and analyze is staggering. She absolutely touched on the obvious stories of any given period, along with many other authors I had no knowledge of (not that I would have any illusions about my knowledge base here). I now have a gigantic list of authors and books to look into.
Many books were compared to others with some sort of similarity, and she spent significant time on certain authors who would not be surprising - George MacDonald, E. Nesbit, Lewis, Tolkien, and LeGuin all received much attention and continued comparisons to authors who come after them. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander also receive more than average attention, considering their position later in the timeline.
With the books that are discussed, the synopsis is complete, spoilers are given, and Egoff doesn’t hold back from pointing out strengths and particularly weaknesses of plot points or storylines. She seems to lament the change in the 60s and beyond that saw more realistic starting points for stories, “real life” situations, and troubled teens. These stories seem less plausible to her. When the action primarily takes place in this world, the lack of Secondary World requires more of a suspension of disbelief. She also states that more of a focus on “paranormal” or psychic plot points miss the wonder and enchantment of older stories that engaged a reader’s imagination.
The more I think about Egoff’s conclusions, the more intrigued I am about those changes she pointed out. I would love to look into that further, as well as just wishing someone would pick up where Egoff left off and look into children’s fantasy stories from the last 40 years.
Displaying 1 of 1 review