I think that is why the magic works so well in Lord of the Rings, it is not named as such, and the book doesn't rest on it as such. Tolkien himself called the 'magic' of the elves enchantment.
Providentially, the G.K. Chesterton quote about the world not starving for want of wonders but for want of wonder just showed up again for me. I feel it very lacking in much of what's put out now, specifically wonder as it pertains to reality. Everything is cynical, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, or it's nostalgia or otherwise set in the past, or it's a complete fantasy world. I love all those and they have their place. But either the real world is an undesirable place in general or at least the present is, a place to escape rather than something beautiful that inspires wonder. A children's story where even the magic (of fairies or whatever else) is something that is a part of the children's reality rather than a wholly separate place to which they escape, magic that they are helping bring in to their reality rather than it taking them out of it. This is the children's world, and children are naturally full of wonder; they deserve good stories about their childhood world too.
I very much agree with you, and you’ve made a brilliant observation. There's a quiet assumption running through so much of existing children’s stories, that wonder lives elsewhere, in the past or a wholly invented world, and that the present is the dull thing you have to leave in order to find it. You could argue that building wonder from scratch is the easier option. The harder and far more worthwhile thing is to put magic/wonder into a real place on an ordinary Tuesday and allow the story to persuade a child that the world they already half-ignore has beauty in it - they just have take the time to look.
And you're right that this is the children's own country. When they are still young enough, the child hasn’t yet lost the faculty to stop noticing and appreciating beauty, and I firmly believe it is our duty to cultivate that sensibility in them and turn it into a lifelong habit before it’s too late.
I homeschool my 13 yr old twin daughters and they enjoyed answering this survey with me. Question #1 I chose past with magic/fantasy and they were undecided between past with fantasy & present with fantasy. They said they felt that there is a lot of potential for present day with magic/fantasy. They read about 1-2 books each week for independent reading. I can see that, middle grade novels seem to be shrinking in length, depth, topics and variety.
Hi Eleanor. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and it's really insightful to see what your twin daugthers would like to see in new regarding magic and fantasy. Regarding length, depth, topics and variety. Would your daugthers prefer longer books they could reallyget their teeth into? Thanks again. Vincent
We need books set in our present day, in our real world, that still leans into the magic and wonder and beauty.
Magic more as the mysterious things we can't really explain, that lead us to wonder!
I think that is why the magic works so well in Lord of the Rings, it is not named as such, and the book doesn't rest on it as such. Tolkien himself called the 'magic' of the elves enchantment.
Yes, I agree with the magic wonder and beauty, rather than another wizard hero kind of story.
Providentially, the G.K. Chesterton quote about the world not starving for want of wonders but for want of wonder just showed up again for me. I feel it very lacking in much of what's put out now, specifically wonder as it pertains to reality. Everything is cynical, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, or it's nostalgia or otherwise set in the past, or it's a complete fantasy world. I love all those and they have their place. But either the real world is an undesirable place in general or at least the present is, a place to escape rather than something beautiful that inspires wonder. A children's story where even the magic (of fairies or whatever else) is something that is a part of the children's reality rather than a wholly separate place to which they escape, magic that they are helping bring in to their reality rather than it taking them out of it. This is the children's world, and children are naturally full of wonder; they deserve good stories about their childhood world too.
I very much agree with you, and you’ve made a brilliant observation. There's a quiet assumption running through so much of existing children’s stories, that wonder lives elsewhere, in the past or a wholly invented world, and that the present is the dull thing you have to leave in order to find it. You could argue that building wonder from scratch is the easier option. The harder and far more worthwhile thing is to put magic/wonder into a real place on an ordinary Tuesday and allow the story to persuade a child that the world they already half-ignore has beauty in it - they just have take the time to look.
And you're right that this is the children's own country. When they are still young enough, the child hasn’t yet lost the faculty to stop noticing and appreciating beauty, and I firmly believe it is our duty to cultivate that sensibility in them and turn it into a lifelong habit before it’s too late.
I homeschool my 13 yr old twin daughters and they enjoyed answering this survey with me. Question #1 I chose past with magic/fantasy and they were undecided between past with fantasy & present with fantasy. They said they felt that there is a lot of potential for present day with magic/fantasy. They read about 1-2 books each week for independent reading. I can see that, middle grade novels seem to be shrinking in length, depth, topics and variety.
Hi Eleanor. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and it's really insightful to see what your twin daugthers would like to see in new regarding magic and fantasy. Regarding length, depth, topics and variety. Would your daugthers prefer longer books they could reallyget their teeth into? Thanks again. Vincent