Harry Who? What an SFR Novelist Can Learn from Children's Fantasy Literature
AUTHOR: Jody Wallace

[note: a reader's reply, printed in the August issue of SFR, follows this article. Also note: many links are now outdated.]

As many of you probably did, growing up I devoured every fantasy or science fiction book for children I could get my grubby little hands on. Tales of alternate or magical worlds were my absolute favorites. C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, Lloyd Alexander, Frank L. Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edward Eager, Ursula Le Guin, Andre Norton, Roald Dahl, and J.R.R. Tolkien -- these authors were significant influences during my formative solo reading years.

My love for fantasy even extended to the games I played. My Barbie dolls could cast spells, conjure spirits or pilot starships, not to mention kick Ken's butt. With that background it is no wonder I grew into an adult who favors fantasy, science fiction and SF/F romances as reading material -- and the occasional immersion in children's fiction.

In the Harry Potter books and others like it, the world of the imagination resides alongside the world of the everyday (the "Muggle" world). In fact, the world of the imagination, while not without pitfalls, is considered superior to the Muggle world (reminiscent of the attitude towards Mundania in Piers Anthony's Xanth series). While some children's fantasy literature exists entirely in the alternate or future universe, the majority features a main character with no idea that the paranormal realm exists. He or she has sadly ceased to believe in fairies, and the discovery of the magical realm gives both the main character, and the reader, a reason to rejoice.

How many SFRs have you read which embody this same "plot"? The main character is a person who does not believe in magic, space aliens, time travel, vampires, etc. until confronted by them and then must learn to deal with the new reality at the same time he or she is dealing with the central relationship. Far fewer SFRs take place solely in the imaginary world, just as with children's paranormal fiction, although this in no way detracts from the books' quality.

It is interesting to note that in mainstream fantasy and science fiction (not romance), the reverse is true -- most narratives are placed completely in the alternate universe instead of having the main character's discovery be part of the story. Perhaps this is because both SFRs and children's fiction are especially concerned that the reader be able to identify with the main character, and so try to make that character as similar to the reader as possible.

A difference between SFRs and children's fantastical literature is that the "rational" adult in an SFR has more problems adjusting to the new world than the child does. As in the Harry Potter books, the child generally finds the transformation of his or her worldview a wondrous and exciting thing. However, adult characters do not usually welcome the change. Our heroine, when confronted by the fact that the man she is falling in love with is a vampire, is usually pretty freaked out. Our hero, confronted by the fact that he has been transported to the planet Venus by the Queen to be her love slave, insists he must be dreaming. This difficulty adults have suspending disbelief is the same in mainstream SF/F.

Another difference is the fact that children's fantastical stories are not automatically eliminated as "serious" literature. Revisions of fairy tales regularly win Caldecott Awards, and among the Newberry Prizes there is a remarkable concentration of winners in this genre. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is up for this year's Hugo Award. But there are no parallels of fantasy, science fiction or SFRs achieving adult "mainstream" awards like the Pulitzer or the Nobel. These awards are given to literature of an entirely different flavor, although special awards to honor books in every genre have been created.

As Staci Ann Dumoski observes in her editorial for the 1998 edition of Phantastes, the public has a certain attitude towards authors of science fiction or fantasy (and we all know about their attitude towards writers of romance!). These types of literature are "make-believe, and make-believe is for children. No serious writer should want to spend their time telling stories about elves, dragons, unicorns and other fanciful creatures; stories set in made-up worlds with funny-sounding names; stories that have no apparent relevance to the real world. 'Kid stuff! When are you going to write something important?'"

In an interview with Amazon.com, this condescension is echoed by leading children's novelist Philip Pullman, ironically one of the authors recommended to children who enjoy Harry Potter. He comments that, "I would always much rather read realistic fiction [because] most fantasy doesn't nourish in the way that good realistic fiction does. Whenever I'm asked about His Dark Materials I like to refer to it not as fantasy at all but as stark realism."

While it is true that fantasy, science fiction, the occasional SFR and romances continue to appear on the best seller lists around the country, the idea that fantasy (romance being a type of fantasy) is an escapist literature of little value remains. "Commercial success is wonderful, but some [writers] still yearn for a different kind of validation. For decades -- perhaps since its coalescence as a publishing category -- the world of science fiction and fantasy has chafed at its failure to capture widespread respect in the wider world of literature. Despite the success of individual books or writers in crossing over to a general readership -- some, like George Orwell's 1984, even attaining the status of "classic" -- SF as a category still labors under some narrow preconceptions." (Publishers Weekly, 1/17/00) The same certainly applies to SFRs or romance in general.

Why does children's fantastical literature more often receive public acclaim than adult fantastical literature? Part of this phenomenon goes back to the trouble that rational adults have accepting a changing worldview. Youthful imaginations more readily accept paranormal elements as reasonable; thus fantasy and science fiction are more acceptable topics for serious literature.

Indeed, as J.K. Rowling responded to her critics in a 1999 interview, "If you ban all books with witchcraft and supernatural, you'll ban three-quarters of children's literature." (Washington Post, 10/20/99). Beyond the "talking animal" tales of early childhood, young people seem drawn to envision worlds where amazing things are possible, where the customary is suddenly transformed into the extraordinary. This is not to say that children do not realize the difference between make-believe and reality or that they are in need of escapism -- children just love exercising the farthest stretches of the imagination.

So what can we, as SFR enthusiasts, take away from these comparisons? Is there something about children's fantasy, some element, which could be identified and put to use in our own writing? For one thing, there is admittedly a wealth of good writing in children's fantastical literature. If nothing else, checking out some of the authors for the first, or tenth, time might be entertaining or inspiring. At the end of the article is a list of author's names and a website link to a truly excellent children's fantasy and science fiction database.

Jennifer Lavonier, manager and buyer for Books of Wonder on West 18th Street in Manhattan, suspects that part of the buying boom in children's literature is not just children but adults seeking the novels for themselves. Lavonier explains that, "there's a lot of imagination in children's books ? There's a lot of scenery and detail that's not in some adult books ? To be honest, I don't really even read adult books anymore." Not that SFRs are lacking in detail, but perhaps the judicious reading of children's literature might inspire an author to describe things with more awe while avoiding "the hokey factor", particularly when dealing with a brand new alternate reality.

Children's literature, while sometimes sublimely ridiculous (Roald Dahl, Frank L. Baum, Lemony Snicket), strives to create a consistent world so that it will be trusted. A strong element of fantasy has to be believability. Lloyd Alexander once said, "The muse of fantasy wears sensible shoes." In a well-written fantasy, the reader is asked to swallow a departure from reality, but put in too many such swallows and the reader is no longer engaged. (click here for more)

Again, I am not suggesting that this quality is lacking in SFRs, but examining how children's authors create and maintain fantasy elements might lead to better construction of the new rules we choose for our own paranormal works. (On a side note, I also notice that fewer main characters in children's books versus SFRs or romances are "TSTL," an acronym meaning "Too Stupid Too Live." You all know what kind of not-so- charmingly bumbling or headstrong heroines I'm talking about.)

John O'Neill, the editor of www.sfsite.com, explains what is grand -- and worth incorporating in your own work -- about children's fantastic literature very succinctly. "I'm skirting a fat, slobbering clich? to say that there's something magical about children's books. But no, really, there is. Maybe it's more accurate to say that there's something pure about children's books. With the adult fantasy market today, who knows what risks you run when you crack open a new book -- inadvertent exposure to volume one of a bloated ten-part epic; Lord of the Rings cast with punk elves; a Star Trek rerun in medieval costume. But just try and pull a stunt like that on an audience of eight-year-olds. While the rest of the world may pay lip service to plotting, there's no getting around it in this market. With children's books it's all about the tale, and no special effects or sleight-of-hand can disguise a plot hole from an eight-year-old."

For more information:

Short list of authors who write Children's Fantasy & SF:

Lloyd Alexander, Katharine A. Applegate, Avi, Bill Basso, Frank L. Baum, Peter S Beagle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Susan Cooper, Bruce Coville, Roald Dahl, Diane Duane, Edward Eager, Julie Andrews Edwards, Ruth Stiles Gannett, Brian Jacques, Diana Wynne Jones, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ursula Le Guin, A. C. Lemieux, Madeleine L'Engle, Gail Carson Levine, C.S. Lewis, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, E. Nesbit, Garth Nix, Andre Norton, Mary Norton, Tamora Pierce, Philip Pullman, Dian Curtis Regan, Lemony Snicket, Mary Stanton, J.R.R. Tolkien, T.H. White, Patricia Wrede, Laurence Yep, and Jane Yolen.
Other Articles or Sites About SF/F in the Literary Community:

Linda Day's online database of science fiction and fantasy for children
An article about the medieval aspects of fantasy worlds which mentions Harry Potter
The Online Journal of Fantasy Criticism
Quote - "The fantasy response has often been labeled escape, frequently with negative connotations. In many sectors it is left thus defined with a degree of smugness: patted on the head and left to idle play."
Quote - "The role of science fiction in literature has a long and interesting history. Early contributors were scorned for their lack of contribution to "serious" writing, and thus were required to pursue writing in the mold made by the academic community."
Quote - "I believe that those of us who write SF-as-romance (as opposed to "romantic SF" and "SF romances," which have their own problems both with the mainstream and within SF, but which aren't what we're talking about right here) need to stop thinking of ourselves as throwbacks to a more primitive era, or as the sleazy lower class of an increasingly respectable genre, and own up to being the countervailing literary force that we are and that I believe the field itself needs us to be."
As a follow up, we received the following additional children's fantasy/science fiction book list from subscriber S. Garfinkle:

Many of Joan Aiken's juvenile and young adult books fall more into the horror category, but she has a loose series of fantasy novels. Charles Sheffield has put out four books (one co-authored by J. Pournelle) specifically targeted for older children. And Heinlein wrote some as well; "Have Space Suit, Will Travel" comes to mind. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series (dated, but apparently still fun; the eight-year-old Garfinkle boy has read them all) and the Norby series (with his wife).