prismaticbleed | wof: childhood books (Reply)

Generally I only enjoy children's fantasy, and never the traditional "wizards and elves" sort; even as a child I leaned hard towards "modern fantasy" with a fair dose of scifi mixed in, and enjoyed "creature"-oriented tales-- the more dragons, unicorns, and even aliens, the better. I admittedly was alienated myself by the typical "slice of life" books; my own life was markedly isolated, both privately & publicly, shot through with trauma and mental health issues, and I had only my own imagination to keep me company, so I could not relate whatsoever to anything BUT explicit fantasy.

So, growing up, I was profoundly influenced and inspired by several YA "fantasy" series, notably= "Young Wizards" by Diane Duane, "The Time Quintet" by Madeleine L'Engle, "Animorphs" by K.A. Applegate, and "The Seventh Tower" by Garth Nix-- as well as the standalone books "The Prince of Whales" by R.L. Fisher and "The Blue Cat of Castle Town" by Catherine Coblentz. (I mention them all in great gratitude; they are all still on my bookshelf and I plan to reread them all soon.)
Of all these, I must especially highlight the first three books of "Young Wizards" (the only ones my small school library had) which were absolutely formative for me. They deal with some very Christian themes, such as the drama of original sin & the Fall itself, the cosmic origin & unity of all creatures in The Divine Word, the sanctity of life & family, the offered hope of redemption for even the worst sinners, and the earthshaking power of sacrificial love.

For the record, I also dearly treasured the children's books "The Unicorn Who Had No Horn" by Margaret Holland, "The Baby Unicorn" by Jean & Claudio Marzollo, all the "Whisper the Winged Unicorn" stories, and every little gem I could find by Stephen Cosgrove (Serendipity, Flutterbyes, Earth Angels). You can tell what my favorite mythological creature is, I'm sure.
In general, I love children's fantasy because it seems to always have a pithy yet gentle "moral" to it. There is waiting within each tale, for those who sincerely seek, a gracious gem of virtuous wisdom, small & clear enough for a young mind to grasp and cherish, and keep close for life.