Fantastic in Children's Literature
In children's literature, people fly. They grow into giants. They talk to animals. They cast spells and transform into magical beings.
This emphasis on the fantastic, of course, reflects the imagination of children. After all, when we're little, we live in a world of fantasy. We don't know what's real from what's not, and we believe that there may actually be a monster hiding under our bed. (Spoiler alert: there's not…we looked.)
For children, the line between the real and the fantastic is a pretty thin one, and in children's literature, we'll find that this line is also very thin. Be careful, or you might trip over it without even realizing.
Chew on This
C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third book in the Narnia chronicles, is full of magic and fantastic creatures.
In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, Alice decides to walk through a mirror. No biggie. Check out this quotation (Quote #6) for a taste.