Fantasy stories allow children to stretch their imaginations and slip into a make-believe world. Several books that are unusual but credible are described. (DF)

Comments on the ability of fantasy to evoke images, the validity of fantasy, and influence of fantasy. (DD)

Describes a method aimed at teaching students to trust their imaginations and channel their fantasies toward purposeful ends. (RB)

Discusses David Wiesner, the 2002 Caldecott Medal Winner, and includes excerpts of an interview with him. Notes that Wiesner's books appeal to the imagination and often use art elements such as scale. Details the winning book, "The Three Pigs." (PM)

Encouraging children to create imaginary worlds through writing provides them with ways of coping with the world in which they live, gives them the satisfaction of creating order and experiencing success, and prompts their natural inclinations to plan for a better future. In addition, such planning for utopias can both improve the quality of…

Examines the possibly factual origins of several elements of fantasy literature, including giants, dwarfs and goblins, fairies, talking animals, and the ability to transform beings into other shapes. (HTH)

Notes that many reports on children's books employ the word "imaginative" or "imagination," but few relate it to fantasy, suggesting that it was not the genre that determined this label, but rather the talent, insight, and craft with which the author shaped the material. (HOD)

Uses summaries and excerpts from ERIC documents to define fantasy, examine its attraction for children, and describe how fantasy may be selected and used in the elementary school classroom. (DD)

Notes negative responses of contemporary Americans to fantasy literature. Notes that as the prejudice against fantasy literature diminished, more American children's authors began working in this area. Suggests that perhaps the real reason so many Americans have attempted to suppress fantasy literature for children is because they fear the…

Suggestions are made to teachers for using daydreaming, guided as fantasy, to prepare students to concentrate, to enrich the curriculum, and to increase self-knowledge. (Author/SJL)

Horse drawings by female children are analyzed. The construction of meaning in children's drawing frequently remains as much in the child's mind as it is graphically expressed. Educators must develop an appreciation for children's fantasy worlds and the ways these worlds both mirror and transform their lives. (RM)

Presents the value of stories, especially fairy tales, as ways of both tutoring and expressing the imaginative and intuitive side of the personality. (DD)

Contains an essay by Catherine G. Beaham on the importance of fantasy books as an escape from the restrictive logic which confines society. (DD)

A variety of classroom activities are offered in this paper as ways of exercising children's imaginations. Following a discussion of the need for developing creative thinking in children, some ways to establish the freedom or atmosphere to begin fantasies are offered and a guided fantasy technique for classroom use is outlined. The second half of…