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Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction
Fantasy has been an important and much-loved part of children's literature for hundreds of years, yet relatively little has been written about it. Children's Fantasy Literature traces the development of the tradition of the children's fantastic - fictions specifically written for children and fictions appropriated by them - from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, examining the work of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, C. S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling and others from across the English-speaking world. The volume considers changing views on both the nature of the child and on the appropriateness of fantasy for the child reader, the role of children's fantasy literature in helping to develop the imagination, and its complex interactions with issues of class, politics and gender. The text analyses hundreds of works of fiction, placing each in its appropriate context within the tradition of fantasy literature.
"Sadly Michael Levy died in April 2017, almost exactly a year after this book was published. The project was his idea, and it is a reflection of the passion for children's literature which he passed on to so many." Farah Mendlesohn
"Sadly Michael Levy died in April 2017, almost exactly a year after this book was published. The project was his idea, and it is a reflection of the passion for children's literature which he passed on to so many." Farah Mendlesohn
284 pages, Hardcover
Published May 25, 2016
5 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Michael M. Levy
6 books1 followerMichael Levy is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Stout. He is the author of Natalie Babbitt (1991) and Portrayal of Southeast Asian Refugees in Recent American Children's Books (2000), editor of The Moon Pool by A. Merritt (2004), and co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Extrapolation. Levy was awarded the Clareson Award for Distinguished Service to the fields of science fiction and fantasy in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 6, 2022
Commenting on my own book. Sorry but I can't see any other way of doing it.
One of the weaknesses of this book is the commentary on Australian and New Zealand fairy tale and early fantasy.
If you are interested at all, Michelle Smith has this interesting article: "How early Austhttps://theconversation.com/how-early...
One of the weaknesses of this book is the commentary on Australian and New Zealand fairy tale and early fantasy.
If you are interested at all, Michelle Smith has this interesting article: "How early Austhttps://theconversation.com/how-early...
January 17, 2017
A very enjoyable read.
Inevitably "an introduction" lacks space to do every writer justice. I would have liked more on Nesbit's time travel stories (a mention at least), more on Peter Dickinson than the "Changes" trilogy, at the start of a very long career, and Jan Mark and Cynthia Voigt both deserved mentions, I felt. That said, this book is bursting with suggestions of things I now want to find and read. There's an excellent section of further reading, tied to each chapter, both academic critical material and primary material. The writers bring an intelligent and experienced analysis as well as a great deal of experience. I wanted to argue back in places and felt they were extremely generous to Stephenie Meyer, but I suppose someone has to be!
Inevitably "an introduction" lacks space to do every writer justice. I would have liked more on Nesbit's time travel stories (a mention at least), more on Peter Dickinson than the "Changes" trilogy, at the start of a very long career, and Jan Mark and Cynthia Voigt both deserved mentions, I felt. That said, this book is bursting with suggestions of things I now want to find and read. There's an excellent section of further reading, tied to each chapter, both academic critical material and primary material. The writers bring an intelligent and experienced analysis as well as a great deal of experience. I wanted to argue back in places and felt they were extremely generous to Stephenie Meyer, but I suppose someone has to be!
May 7, 2018
A very good introduction to a fascinating area, Children's Fantasy Literature manages to hit two out of three important targets for a book of this type (coverage and comprehensibility) with ease, just falling short a little on the third (coherence). Levy and Mendelsohn cover a lot of texts, so many that their early disclaimer that "you will discover that a number of your favourite children's fantasies are not discussed or done justice to in this volume" is surely hardly necessary; and they write about them clearly, and in language that is refreshingly jargon-free, focusing mainly on historical developments in children's fantasy, but touching on individuals, themes, topics, and techniques where appropriate. The book is very good on the big movements - such as the influence of high fantasy, and the emergence of Young Adult fiction - but a little confusing when it comes to mapping the developments within them, particularly in sections dealing with folk and fairy tale elements in the pre-WW2 literature. This may be a result of joint authorship, as in many places the book feels like a series of independently-written paragraphs that have been slotted together, and don't quite cohere as they should. This is a relatively minor quibble, though. I finished this book both surprised at just how much children's fantasy literature there actually is, and motivated to read more of it, by myself, or with my own children.
October 16, 2018
An expert review of the history of fantasy literature as intended for children. Gives the writer of children’s fantasy (such as myself) a great deal more to read and think through, but also offers a freedom through vast knowledge and expertise on the part of the scholars who penned this work. Easy-to-read prose, uses titles as touchstones while also clarifying the significance of lesser known works.
NOTE: Harry Potter fans ought to steer clear of the chapter discussing our most beloved boy wizard. The reviewers, like so many critics before them, use lackluster slapstick arguments for the success of Harry Potter, neither rightly nor fairly judging the books by the merits of its many strengths as well as some of its weaknesses. It feels almost as if Harry Potter was added to the book simply because it’s influence is impossible to ignore but discussing it earnestly (the way they did with Narnia & LotR) was of no objective here, since their obviously harsh view of the series would taint a perceived majority of their audience. (Perhaps they were right: I turned all the way off once they practically maligned Potter!)
Overall, a very good book! Worth the read.
NOTE: Harry Potter fans ought to steer clear of the chapter discussing our most beloved boy wizard. The reviewers, like so many critics before them, use lackluster slapstick arguments for the success of Harry Potter, neither rightly nor fairly judging the books by the merits of its many strengths as well as some of its weaknesses. It feels almost as if Harry Potter was added to the book simply because it’s influence is impossible to ignore but discussing it earnestly (the way they did with Narnia & LotR) was of no objective here, since their obviously harsh view of the series would taint a perceived majority of their audience. (Perhaps they were right: I turned all the way off once they practically maligned Potter!)
Overall, a very good book! Worth the read.
Want to read
September 30, 2025This is referenced in The Hero and the Crown Wikipedia page as identifying The Hero and the Crown as one of the forerunners of female heroines in young adult adventure books. I'm interested in reading more about this subject. It seems academia will never leave me. lol But I'm okay with that.
I just noticed that the same Wikipedia page also cites my undergraduate academic advisor and professor from the Tolkien class I took. She teaches another class about the female hero, which, unfortunately, I didn't take, and probably would have covered this topic. (The book is A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy. For anyone interested, but also for myself, so I can remember it later.)
I just noticed that the same Wikipedia page also cites my undergraduate academic advisor and professor from the Tolkien class I took. She teaches another class about the female hero, which, unfortunately, I didn't take, and probably would have covered this topic. (The book is A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy. For anyone interested, but also for myself, so I can remember it later.)
December 16, 2017
I realized the other day that I have spent 46 years reading children's fantasy but have never thought about it in a critical or analytical way. I also wondered how much I had missed. This book is a good start on both those fronts. The number of fantasy titles mentioned is overwhelming, but I learned a lot and discovered that I have a lot of fantasy reading to do. I also appreciated their extensive list of additional scholarly sources.
Read
March 9, 20212020
July 6, 2022
I found this really interesting!
March 2, 2024
Nice overview though it focuses mainly on UK & US markets.
January 1, 2021
A very overwhelming yet thorough look at the history of the literature of the fantastic. If you are working on a giant project concerning the fantastic (I’m working on my thesis) or if you are simply interested in the history of children’s fantasy, then this is the perfect text. Easy to read, very informative. It’s one of those texts that makes you want to pick up fantasy books afterwards.
August 13, 2016
Comprehensive history to children's fantasy literature. Extremely informative and insightful. Really useful when trying to form basic understanding of children's fantasy literature. Absolutely loved it.
Read
August 26, 2016809.89282 L6687 2016
February 11, 2018
Useful introduction to the subject.
April 8, 2017
An engaging narrative history, Children’s Fantasy Literature (2016) illuminates and contextualizes the English-language tradition of children’s fantasy. Keep a notebook handy as you read this fascinating study, because you’ll want to head to the library when you’re done.
Authors Michael Levy and Farah Mendlesohn draw upon a range of critical traditions to classify children’s fantasy, distinguishing Tolkien-like high fantasy, for example, from what Brian Attebery calls the “indigenous fantasy” of everyday life. The authors frequently reference the categories of the fantastic (immersive, portal-quest, intrusive, and liminal) that Mendlesohn describes in her acclaimed study Rhetorics of Fantasy (2008). As the authors show, children’s fantasy literature runs the gamut from self-contained magical worlds to journeys through portals into magical realms. But children’s fantasy also includes stories in which magic intrudes suddenly into ordinary life, as well as indefinable flirtations with the surreal.
An impressive number of books are discussed in this study. Rather than focus solely on the greatest hits of the field, the authors have chosen individual works for their significance to the narrative trajectory. Thus you’ll find the usual warhorses—J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Ursula Le Guin—but also such lesser-known authors as Franny Billingsley, Nnedi Okorafor, and Hiromi Goto.
Levy and Mendlesohn use a textile metaphor to describe their approach, broadly covering the overall fabric of the field in early chapters, while tracing individual “strands in the weave” as they move chronologically toward the densely populated present.
What the authors are doing in this book is showing us how children’s literature has been shaped by the changing role of children in society, by historical shifts in values, and by the legacy of groundbreaking texts. In their own words, they have “traced changing ideas about who children are and how they grow to adulthood . . . [examining] the ways in which this evolution has shaped the genre of children’s literature.”
It goes without saying that as the experience of childhood has changed, so have children’s books. But Levy and Mendlesohn are able to illustrate this vividly. For example, they demonstrate how the disruptions of British childhood during and after WWII fostered a preoccupation with evil, agency, and consequences in the work of C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising).
Along with C.S. Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones is the most thoroughly discussed author in this text, in part because her work is so wide-ranging and impinges upon so many different threads in the tradition. Her book Fire and Hemlock is discussed in a section on “A sudden flowering of heroines”—which also includes Patricia McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown.
A few other highlights in this study include Ursula Le Guin’s “rejection and reworking of Tolkien,” the questioning of “destiny” as a narrative construct, the decolonization of the imagination, and the increasingly visible role of LGBT writers and authors of color.
For this reader, the most fascinating chapter in Children’s Fantasy Literature is the final one. Addressing the “bitterness” of contemporary Young Adult fantasy, Levy and Mendlesohn show how far we have come from “consolatory” or escapist fantasies. In David Almond’s Skellig, readers encounter a fallen angel and a boy whose little sister is critically ill. Philip Pullman’s The Dark Materials trilogy takes young readers on a brutal journey with few consolations. Writing for increasingly sophisticated teen readers, Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels) references loss and isolation and sexual abuse, while Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games describes a world of inescapable violence and injustice. In reading these books, young readers are struggling to “find their own lives and gain agency in the world they live in.” Childhood is more difficult than adults remember, and the bitter fantasies of the current age allow children and teens to see their experience reflected in a truthful way, without coddling or deception.
To read this valuable study is to have a seat at the table while two of our most insightful scholars share their passion for children’s fantasy literature. Farah Mendlesohn is one of our most brilliant critics, and Michael Levy was a giant in the field of fantasy scholarship, a generous mentor, and an inspiration to a generation of scholars. This book is highly recommended.
Authors Michael Levy and Farah Mendlesohn draw upon a range of critical traditions to classify children’s fantasy, distinguishing Tolkien-like high fantasy, for example, from what Brian Attebery calls the “indigenous fantasy” of everyday life. The authors frequently reference the categories of the fantastic (immersive, portal-quest, intrusive, and liminal) that Mendlesohn describes in her acclaimed study Rhetorics of Fantasy (2008). As the authors show, children’s fantasy literature runs the gamut from self-contained magical worlds to journeys through portals into magical realms. But children’s fantasy also includes stories in which magic intrudes suddenly into ordinary life, as well as indefinable flirtations with the surreal.
An impressive number of books are discussed in this study. Rather than focus solely on the greatest hits of the field, the authors have chosen individual works for their significance to the narrative trajectory. Thus you’ll find the usual warhorses—J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Ursula Le Guin—but also such lesser-known authors as Franny Billingsley, Nnedi Okorafor, and Hiromi Goto.
Levy and Mendlesohn use a textile metaphor to describe their approach, broadly covering the overall fabric of the field in early chapters, while tracing individual “strands in the weave” as they move chronologically toward the densely populated present.
What the authors are doing in this book is showing us how children’s literature has been shaped by the changing role of children in society, by historical shifts in values, and by the legacy of groundbreaking texts. In their own words, they have “traced changing ideas about who children are and how they grow to adulthood . . . [examining] the ways in which this evolution has shaped the genre of children’s literature.”
It goes without saying that as the experience of childhood has changed, so have children’s books. But Levy and Mendlesohn are able to illustrate this vividly. For example, they demonstrate how the disruptions of British childhood during and after WWII fostered a preoccupation with evil, agency, and consequences in the work of C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising).
Along with C.S. Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones is the most thoroughly discussed author in this text, in part because her work is so wide-ranging and impinges upon so many different threads in the tradition. Her book Fire and Hemlock is discussed in a section on “A sudden flowering of heroines”—which also includes Patricia McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown.
A few other highlights in this study include Ursula Le Guin’s “rejection and reworking of Tolkien,” the questioning of “destiny” as a narrative construct, the decolonization of the imagination, and the increasingly visible role of LGBT writers and authors of color.
For this reader, the most fascinating chapter in Children’s Fantasy Literature is the final one. Addressing the “bitterness” of contemporary Young Adult fantasy, Levy and Mendlesohn show how far we have come from “consolatory” or escapist fantasies. In David Almond’s Skellig, readers encounter a fallen angel and a boy whose little sister is critically ill. Philip Pullman’s The Dark Materials trilogy takes young readers on a brutal journey with few consolations. Writing for increasingly sophisticated teen readers, Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels) references loss and isolation and sexual abuse, while Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games describes a world of inescapable violence and injustice. In reading these books, young readers are struggling to “find their own lives and gain agency in the world they live in.” Childhood is more difficult than adults remember, and the bitter fantasies of the current age allow children and teens to see their experience reflected in a truthful way, without coddling or deception.
To read this valuable study is to have a seat at the table while two of our most insightful scholars share their passion for children’s fantasy literature. Farah Mendlesohn is one of our most brilliant critics, and Michael Levy was a giant in the field of fantasy scholarship, a generous mentor, and an inspiration to a generation of scholars. This book is highly recommended.
April 9, 2017
This book is very detailed and well researched. I felt like I was walking down Memory Lane, revisiting the long lists for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature for the past 20 years. It was nice to read a scholarly book in which I've read most of what they are discussing. Sadly, Michael Levy just died a few days before this review.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews