Transcript No Slide Title

You can’t fly.
You’re
a TOY!
The Question
People always say to my
“What do you think you’d like to be
When you grow up?”
And I say
“Why, I think I’d like to be the sky
Or be a plane or train or mouse
Or maybe be a haunted house
Or something furry, rough
and wild...
Or maybe I will stay a child.”
Karla Kuskin
Modern fantasy refers to the body
of literature in which the events,
the settings, or the characters are
outside the realm of possibility.
A fantasy is a story that cannot
happen in the real world.
Types of Fantasy
• Animal - animals talk and have other human
characteristics, Charlotte’s Web, White
• Toys and Objects - Toys that talk and have
other human characteristics, Winnie the
Pooh, A.A.Milne
• Extraordinary Worlds, reality but taken to
the ridiculous or exaggerated, Alice In
Wonderland, Carroll
• World of Little People, miniature people are
threatened by “real” humans, Gullivar’s
Travels, Swift. Or in the movie, Honey, I
Shrunk the Kids
• Supernatural Events, most common in
children’s books is the ghost story, The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving
• Tricks with Time/science fiction, usually a
present-day protagonist goes back in time to
a different era, A Wrinkle in Time,
L’Engle________
Values of Fantasy
children….
•
•
•
•
develop imagination
become divergent thinkers
take a vacation from everyday life
are entertained
are inspired!
The author’s main job is to make
the reader “suspend” reality for a
while and “believe” the
“unbelievable”.
to do that, the author must...
• firmly ground the story on reality,
• pay careful attention to detail,
• use appropriate language and real objects.
Many authors will….
• write in the first person, and
• have one character mirror the disbelief of
the reader.
• or have a major character “believe” the
fantasy.
Discussion
Read or watch the video of the
Polar Express. Van Allsburg
uses many of the techniques
describe to make this fantasy
believable. Can you identify
them? How do his illustrations
help make the book more
believable? Many parents
today, feel that telling their
children about Santa Claus is
lying to them and will
ultimately lead to distrust.
What do you feel about this?
The primary concern in
evaluating fantasy is the way the
author makes the fantasy
believable.
One of the best known and best
respected pieces of children’s
literature is Charlotte’s Web, by
E.B.White.
Differences between fantasy and realistic fiction
Fantasy
Creating believable
stories
Plot development
Characters
Setting
Realistic Fiction
Authors must encourage
readers to suspend disbelief
Authors may rely on everyday
occurrences
Conflict may be against
supernatural powers; problems
may be solved through magical
powers
Conflict develops as
characters cope with real
problems; antagonists may be
self, family members, society
or nature
Characters act like real
people; animals always
behave like animals
Personified toys, little people,
supernatural beings, real
people who have imaginary
experiences, animals
Past, present, or future,
imaginary world, may travel
through time and space
Contemporary world as we
know it.
People to know...
Natalie Babbitt
author of Tuck Everlasting, a book about immortality; read in
many classrooms.
Roald Dahl
British author of many popular fantasies known for humor and
exaggerated characters. James and the Giant Peach; Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory
author of the Wind in the Willows; the British classic about
animal life on a riverbank.
Kenneth Grahame
Robert Lawson
author of animal fantasies & fictionalized biographies. Rabbit
Hill; Ben and Me
Madeleine L’Engle
noted for a popular science fiction milestone book, A Wrinkle
in Time, and its sequels
continued….
C.S Lewis
Astrid Lindgren
British author of the Chronicles of Narnia, a series of
adventure quest stories. The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe.
Swedish creator of the irrepressible Pippi of Pippi
Longstocking.
Anne McCaffrey
science fiction author who writes of Menolly, a young
woman with special musical talents in Dragonsong.
A.A Milne
British author of the classic, Winnie-the-Pooh
George Selden
author of humorous animal fantasies; The Cricket in Times
Square
J.R. Tolkien
British author of the Hobbit, a fantasy set in Middle-earth,
an imaginary world
E.B. White
author of classic animal fantasy, Charlotte’s Web
Milestones in Modern Fantasy
1726
1864
1865
1900
1908
1926
1937
1945
1950
1952
1962
Gulliver’s Travels, Swift
Journey to the Center of the Earth, Verne
Alices’ Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum
Wind in the Willows, Grahame
Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne
The Hobbit, Tolkien
Pippi Longstocking, Lindgren
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis
Charlotte’ Web, White
A Wrinkle in Time, L’Engle
The Mirror of the Mind
“Come with me, readers,”
said the creator,
“together
we will explore unknown
worlds, unusual
creatures,
and fanciful objects.
Come with me readers,
I will be at your side.”