Juvenile fantasy facts for kids

Illustration from first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Juvenile fantasy is a super fun type of children's literature. It's all about amazing stories with magic, mythical creatures, and impossible adventures, made especially for young readers like you! Think of it as fantasy stories that are perfect for kids and teens.

The main characters, called protagonists, are usually children or teens. They often have special powers, unique gifts, magical items, or even helpful animal friends. These special things help them face powerful bad guys, known as adversaries. For example, Harry Potter is a strong young wizard. In The Dark Is Rising series, one of the children has magical abilities. And in the His Dark Materials books, the kids have magical tools and animal companions. These stories often show how a character grows up and learns important lessons, which is sometimes called a bildungsroman.

Years ago, a famous writer named C. S. Lewis noticed something interesting. He saw that fantasy stories were more easily accepted in books for young people. So, writers who loved fantasy often wrote for kids to find an audience for their magical tales.

A Journey Through Time: Popular Fantasy Books

Many amazing juvenile fantasy books have been written over the years. Here are some of the most famous ones, grouped by when they were first published.

Early Fantasy Adventures

These stories helped shape what juvenile fantasy would become.

• E. T. A. Hoffmann: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
• Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies
• George MacDonald: The Princess and the Goblin, The Light Princess, At the Back of the North Wind
• Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-glass
• Carlo Collodi: The Adventures of Pinocchio
• Kenneth Grahame: The Reluctant Dragon

Magic from 1900 to 1945

This period brought many classic fantasy stories that are still loved today.

• L. Frank Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its many follow-up books
• Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows
• J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
• E. Nesbit: Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet, The Enchanted Castle, The Magic City
• Rudyard Kipling: Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies
• Selma Lagerlöf: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
• A. A. Milne: Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner
• Zofia Kossak-Szczucka: The Troubles of a Gnome
• Erich Kästner: The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas
• P. L. Travers: Mary Poppins series
• J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince

Post-War and 1950s Fantasy Worlds

After World War II, more incredible fantasy worlds were created for young readers.

• Jan Brzechwa: Pan Kleks trilogy
• C. S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia
• Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking series, Mio, My Son, Karlsson-on-the-Roof series
• Robert A. Heinlein: the Heinlein juveniles, a set of 12 books including Starship Troopers
• T. H. White: The Sword in the Stone and Mistress Masham's Repose
• Tove Jansson: the Moomin series
• Mary Norton: The Borrowers series

Late 20th Century Adventures

The end of the 20th century brought many beloved and imaginative fantasy series.

• Astrid Lindgren: Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, The Brothers Lionheart
• Michael Ende: Momo, The Neverending Story
• Susan Cooper: The Dark Is Rising
• Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG and many others
• Diana Wynne Jones: The Lives of Christopher Chant, Charmed Life
• Alan Garner: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Owl Service
• Andre Norton: the Witch World series
• Ursula K. Le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea and its follow-up books
• Brian Jacques: the Redwall series
• Anne McCaffrey: the Dragonriders of Pern Harper Hall trilogy
• Madeleine L'Engle: the Time Quartet
• Lloyd Alexander: The Prydain Chronicles
• Chris Van Allsburg: The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Jumanji and Zathura, The Polar Express

More Recent Titles and Series

In recent years, new authors have continued to create exciting fantasy worlds for young readers.

• James Gurney: Dinotopia series
• Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials, Clockwork and The Firework-Maker's Daughter
• J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter
• Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: The Spiderwick Chronicles
• Cornelia Funke: The Thief Lord, Inkheart trilogy, Dragon Rider
• Mary Pope Osborne: The Magic Tree House series
• Tamora Pierce: The Song of the Lioness, Circle of Magic, and their follow-up books
• Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson & the Olympians and other series in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
• Christopher Paolini: Eragon
• Angie Sage: Septimus Heap
• Erin Hunter: Warriors, Seekers, and Survivors series
• Jennifer A. Nielsen: The False Prince trilogy
• Chris Colfer: The Land of Stories
• Tui T. Sutherland: Wings of Fire series
• Maricar Banguis: Otuna's Flute