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Short Takes: Classic Fantasies for Older Children (and Adults)

(perfect for venturing to another world while you’re staying at home)

These light-hearted and humorous fantasies that are fun and full of laughs. The boundaries of middle grade, YA, and adult fantasies are quite permeable, as these reviews show.

See the reviews page on this website for some of my favorite classics in this category by E. Nesbit, L. Frank Baum, Diana Wynne Jones, and Terry Pratchett.

Half Magic and other books by Edward Eager (Magic by the Lake, Time Garden, Knight's Castle, Magic or Not, Well-Wishers, Seven-Day Magic):

Written in the late 1950s and early 1960s (the cover to the left is the original cover), these books hold up well, despite some unfortunate stereotypes of the time. They are imaginative, witty, and lots of fun. In Half Magic the children's wishes are only half granted, so they must phrase them very carefully.

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (five books, starting with The Book of Three, originally published in the 1960s):

This series is somewhat Hobbit-esque, featuring Taran (assistant pig-keeper), Dallben the wizard, Princess Eilonwy, bard Fflewddur, wildman/beast Gurgi, and Doli the dwarf. The stories draw on Welsh mythology. Though perhaps a bit derivative, the stories are engaging, with some endearing characters (and a heroine who plays an active part in their adventures).

British author Alan Garner's fantasies (The Weirdstone of Brisengamen, The Moon of Gomrath, Elidor, The Owl Service, and others, published in the late 1950s and 1960s):

Garner's tales are darker than some of the others, evoking the Old Magic and the threat of the Wild Hunt. These stories portray a folktale magic, threatening and strange and beautiful, but not excessively frightening.

Other books are hybrids (not pure fantasy) but still lots of fun, including the ones illustrated above:

Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (1962) and its sequels (part fantasy, part sci fi)

Joan Aiken's alternate-history stories, starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962)

Leon Garfield's hilarious, sometimes spooky Dickensian adventures (most written in the 1960s through 1980s: not fantasy per se and sometimes hard to find, but wonderful)

Finally, a modern classic: Neil Gaiman's Coraline: funny and strange, with a feisty heroine.

Happy reading and stay safe!