Five Brilliant Fantasy Picturebooks

Fantasy: From Toddlers to Teens

Magic, adventures, monsters… There's nothing like fantasy to fire your child's imagination. Of course, it could easily argued that the majority of fiction is fantasy and wish fulfilment, (from The Tiger that Came to Tea to The Man With the Golden Gun) but for my second fantasy installment, I'm sticking with it as a genre. Whilst I could pick loads and loads, here are five excellent fantasy picturebooks that young boys and girls alike should enjoy.

 

The Kiss that Missed, by David Melling

 

When a busy king blows his son a hasty kiss goodnight, the kiss misses, and flies out of the window. And so it's up to the king's loyal knight, and the knight's loyal horse, to go and retrieve the royal kiss, which is busy zooming around the forest. On their quest, they face swoopy owls, dribbly wolves, and growly bears… and a gigantic DRAGON! They may have been searching for the royal kiss, but it's the kiss that saves them in the end. This story is great fun, and never waivers in being warm, cuddly, and entertaining. And Melling's illustrations are a real treat! Perfect bedtime reading!

And if you like this, don't miss its two sequels, Good Knight, Sleep Tight and The Three Wishes.

 

 

Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

 

"I am a dog as keen as can be, is there room on the broom for a dog like me?" A witch is riding her broom with her cat, but keeps dropping things! She makes friends with the animals who help her - a keen dog, a green bird, and a clean frog - and lets them accompany her on her broom. Which is just as well, because there's a dragon coming, who fancies witch and chips for tea…
Whilst this story isn't quite as ingenious as their mega-hit The Gruffalo, the rhyme, rhythm and illustrations are the real stars here, and they make the book a joy to read (yes, and re-read).

On the Way Home, by Jill Murphy

 

A young girl, Claire, has hurt her knee, so walks back home to her Mum. But on the way home, she keeps bumping into her friends who keep asking her how she hurt her knee. And so she tells them. But was it a crocodile attack that hurt her knee? Or being carried off by a flying saucer? What about the dragon or the giant or the witch that all tried to carry her off? The story of how Claire hurt her knee grows in the telling, and the punchline - that she simply fell off a swing - rounds it off perfectly. Claire's such a fun, imaginative, realistic child (by which I mean her stories are completely over the top!) that you can't help but overlook the fact that she's basically been lying to all her friends. It is, after all, a story about telling stories: it may not strictly speaking be 'fantasy', but the whole story is about fantasy. Jill Murphy may be better remembered for The Worst Witch, her Large Family books or Whatever Next!, but this is a classic story - fun, exciting, and just a little bit spooky - that I loved as a boy, and my children still enjoy.

 

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

 

Apart from Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, there probably isn't a picturebook with a higher, more ingrained place in children's picturebook literature. They're the books that children's parents had read to them as children. And whilst The Very Hungry Caterpillar now has a massive merchandising presence, Where the Wild Things Are now has a critically acclaimed feature length film and spin off adult novel.

You probably know the story. When Max acts like a wild thing, he is sent to bed without any supper. There he travels in and out of days, to the land where the Wild Things are. They make him King of the Wild Things. Let the wild rumpus start!

It's testament to this story how popular it still is (and how much has been written about it), despite the fact that it's only a few sentences long, and it doesn't waste a single word (very much unlike the film, which I wanted to love, but couldn't bring myself to). This is very possibly the perfect picturebook.

Also, two fun facts: 1. This is the only book on the list not to feature a dragon. 2. Whilst Maurice Sendak died last year, today would have been his 85th birthday, and Google are celebrating...

The Snow Dragon, by Vivian French and Chris Fisher

 

This story is the biggest step into epic fantasy for children, with a prologue, and everything! The north used to be ruled by the peaceful snow dragons, and the south by fierce, cruel fire dragons. In the middle lived the two-legs, humans. After hearing a doom-laden prophesy from the magical, living Book, the King of the Fire Dragons wages war on snow dragons and two-legs alike. Soon, the two-legs are left hiding in caves, and the snow dragons are little more than legend. But when a young boy discovers the long lost Book, they go on a quest together to find the last ever snow dragon, to get her to defeat the fire dragons.

Seeing that I've only just described the plot summary there, you can see that this is a big'un. It's two or three times the length of most picturebooks. It's not one for very little kids, but I know several boys who have really liked it from the age of three-ish. Make sure you've got time to actually read this before you start - I've got in trouble with the wifey before for reading it and sending the kids to bed late! But if you have enough time, enjoy it.

 

That's it for now - see you in a few days for a Father's Day post: Great dads from stories, and also a 'Dad' story of my very own. 2 bits of literary news: very sad to hear of the passing of the amazing author Iain Banks. But congrats to Malorie Blackman, the new Children's Laureate. She may not be Nick Sharratt, but she's an excellent choice!