Michael Rosen-Molina Rosen-Molina used
to work in a library, so he has an excuse for all this. Tell him
he’s a nerd at [email protected].
The most important news in the publishing world right now is the
return of children’s fantasy literature.
Everyone is reading Harry Potter, not just children. This sort
of cross-generational fan base is exactly what makes publishers
take notice and start looking around, eagerly, for some way to
duplicate the successful fluke.
Usually, this only leads to a string of substandard knock-off
products, hack jobs written for a quick buck and gone in an
instant.
In children’s fantasy literature, however, the past has
already produced a wealth of quality material that has sadly been
ignored in recent years. And I maintain high hopes for the
future.
Children’s fantasy is fantasy in the purest sense. Unable
to fall back on tired conventions that adults are familiar with,
these writers must produce truly exciting, original work.
Fantasy geared toward adults merely gives the impression of a
fantasy story by including the requisite elements, rather than by
producing a quality story with an involving plot, memorable
characters and exotic setting.
Children’s fantasy, on the other hand, frequently tells
the story of ordinary kids from our world suddenly involved in the
politics of an unearthly realm. And while the most complex issue
that a hero in a typical fantasy will have to deal with is whether
to hit a monster in the head or the gut, kids’ fantasy is
full of deeply personal choices about friendship, commitment and
loyalty.
There are a few kids’ books that have withstood the test
of time. These perennial favorites don’t need that extra
nudge from an astute publisher. “The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe” and the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia, for
instance, have never left the shelves. But in general, there
haven’t been any major advancements in the genre for quite
some time.
A visit to the bookstore will find the shelves of the
kids’ section filled with preteen horror stories by R.L.
Stine imitators, all of whom give their books such creative titles
as “The Cheerleader” or “The Prom Queen” or
any one of many
variations of “The High School Student who Kills
People.”
My sister, who devours these dime novels with gusto, informed me
that piano wire was the preferred modus operandi, apparently
because most authors labor under the assumption that kids like
decapitations. It’s good that they try to fire their
imaginations.
The closest thing to fantasy, recently, was the
“Animorphs” book series, a saga about kids who have the
power to transform into different animals to combat aliens.
Fantasy geared toward adults has never been lacking, but this
genre never seems to capture the same magic as kids’ books.
Half of them are about elves with unpronounceable names on a quest
to find some ridiculous magic sword. Villains are easily identified
by the fact that they always wear black robes and tend to rub their
hands in a very self-satisfied, evil manner.
Finally, when all else fails and the author is feeling
especially lazy, he can always trot out some old stand-by like
amazons in chain mail to divert the reader’s attention.
Writers can’t do that in children’s fantasy for
obvious reasons. Parents would object, and besides, kids
wouldn’t fall for it.
It’s no accident that children’s fantasy has the
best alternate worlds. While typical fantasy authors just throw in
a couple dragons and expect readers not to notice that there really
isn’t anything fantastic about these ideas, children’s
writers always create unique, new worlds.
“The Carpet People” is the perfect example of a
quality kids’ book universe. This fledgling effort from
acclaimed fantasy satirist Terry Pratchett was written when he was
a mere lad of 18. It has an entire microscopic fantasy world
““ heroes, villains, the obligatory assortment of impossible
beasts ““ existing within the threads of a carpet.
Other children’s books craft stranger worlds, like the
chilling alternative Manhattan City in Diane Duane’s
“So You Want to be a Wizard” ““ an urban wasteland
inhabited only by sentient taxi cabs and evil helicopters. Another
example is the mysterious night world of Nicholas Stewart
Grey’s “Grimbold’s Other World,” where
nocturnal cats grow to the size of tigers and domesticated dogs
shrink to the size of rats.
A resurgence of children’s fantasy literature would inject
some maturity into the fantasy market in general ““ a shock it
definitely needs to counteract all the stereotypes about its
obsessive role-playing geeks.
And things will only get better from there, because once the
Harry Potter movie comes out, they’ll bring back kids’
fantasy movies, too.