The War to End All Wars -- That is the way writers and many people talked about WW1. However, despite the good intentions of many, we have not been able to live in peace. A major war, caused by Vladimir Putin, thunders on as I write this. Continue reading

" 'Goodnight noises everywhere' is the last sentence of a book that has lulled millions of children to sleep since it was published in 1947. Continue reading

Throughout history, the central struggle of civilization has been against brutality by the powerful. The state of nature is a continuous war in which only the fittest survive – where lives are “nasty, brutish, and short.” -- English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Continue reading

By entering the world of fantasy and imagination, children and adults secure for themselves a safe space where fears can be confronted, mastered, and banished. Beyond that the real magic of the fairy tale lies in its ability to extract pleasure from pain. Marie Tatar Continue reading

These tales are zestful because they initiate “crossing over” into new realms for her female protagonists, exploring dangerous territory, and returning home fully confident in their abilities. Carter combined the simple folk style, baroque elements of the literary fairy tale, and contemporary jargon to create unorthodox narratives that suggest the potential of women and men to change their destinies and to take full control of their lives. Jack Zipes Continue reading

The most incandescent work to arise from the feminist explosion is undoubtedly The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, a stretch of virtuoso imaginative writing and potent critique. Marina Warner Continue reading

“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.” (Or a movie) — Philip Pullman Continue reading

"A great writer of fiction both creates — through acts of imagination, through language that feels inevitable, through vivid forms — a new world, a world that is unique, individual; and responds to a world, the world the writer shares with other people but is unknown or mis-known by still more people, confined in their worlds: call that history, society, what you will."--Susan Sontag Continue reading

Charles Dickens started it all with his wonder tale about a crippled boy, a greedy old man, and three ghosts. Continue reading

Why is it that early modern Europe had such a fervor for witch hunting? Between 1400 to 1782, when Switzerland tried and executed Europe’s last supposed witch, between 40,000 and 60,000 people were put to death for witchcraft, according to historical consensus. Continue reading

"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality. . . . Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe." Ursula K. Le Guin Continue reading

Most of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another: they express ideas and emotions not generally approved of or even recognized at the time; they make fun of honored figures and piously held beliefs; and they view social pretenses with clear-eyed directness, remarking - as in Andersen's famous tale - that the emperor has no clothes. Alison Lurie Continue reading

“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.” -- Phillip Pullman Continue reading

“Inevitably they find their way into the forest. It is there that they lose and find themselves. It is there that they gain a sense of what is to be done. The forest is always large, immense, great and mysterious. No one ever gains power over the forest, but the forest posses the power to change lives and alter destinies.” Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World Continue reading

Long, long ago, when the first fairy tales were being dreamed up, mothers were always on the verge disappearing. To be an adult woman was to live a precarious existence at best. . . In those days, you had to create something you could leave behind to light the path, to keep throwing those bread crumbs, to clear the thorns from the thicket. A tree or a ghost or a bear or a good fairy—but something, something to outlast you. . .A mother had to bequeath a gift, a story. And a daughter had to be ready. For her mother’s disappearance—and for her own, too. -- Amber Sparks Lit Hub Continue reading

Survival has been an an issue for much of humanity. So fairy tales, folk tales, stories from the oral tradition, are all of them the most vital connection we have with the imaginations of the ordinary men and women whose labor created our world.” ― Angela Carter Continue reading

The Brothers Grimm appear to have helped motivate a large number of nineteenth century writers and scholars -- in several countries -- to record and save wonder tales, folktales, and local mythology -- to save the culture of the past. Aside from overcoming lethargy. religious beliefs, and political hubris, there were issues of language and tumultuous events to overcome. In Ireland, the issues also involved the Gaelic language and became very political. Continue reading

"Many of us today have no kith. . .no ancestral place. Or we had one once, but lost it long ago. Or we've been transplanted into new soil, our roots still shallow, our claim still tenuous. Or we are homesick for a home we never actually had; for the idea of home, and of truly belonging." quote from Terri Windling Continue reading

"When I was small it was believed in high-minded progressive circles that fairy tales were unsuitable for children." Continue reading

Before and after the printing Press in Europe (1452), people passed on spoken tales that told in a direct, imaginative, and often entertaining way about the outrages, cruelties, and inequities of everyday life. These stories (wonder tales), told in a tavern, a market place, or a farm house could satirize directly, or by analogy, those in power -- their greed, cruelty, and incompetence, without persecution of the story teller. For example; Continue reading

Joy to The World. . . The conservative British oligarchy was influenced by Tiny Tim and the three Ghosts of Christmas. And ordinary people took the message of charity to heart. The Christmas season has continued to evolve. In our era, it has become a time of celebration, charity and gift giving. And, a profitable marketplace. Continue reading

Creating stories with animals behaving like people with human traits, personalities, and behaviors has a long tradition going back to Aesop. Good stories, like Aesop's Fables capture the imagination and teach. Children's literature is filled with wonderful anthropomorphic animals from Carroll's Mad Hatter and Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit to Milne's Pooh Bear and Grahame's Toad. From Kipling's jungle to powerful bears under a spell, the literature of the young has also become literature for YA and adults. Continue reading

Amidst eons of uncertainty, tales were passed on that reflected many facets of the world, from the adventures of poor peasants, to the dilemmas of Royal ladies of the Court. They were fueled by imagination. They dealt with poverty, fear, and brutality. They satirized the powerful, amused listeners, and usually gave hope. Continue reading

Actually, adult readers had been finding and reading wonder tales and fantasy since Gulliver landed in the land of the Lilliputians -- if not before. Continue reading