Fantasy/Science Fiction Reflection

Fantasy and science fiction are two genres with endless possibilities. These books create

windows into worlds that have elements beyond the physical boundaries of our world. Fantasy

books feature elements of fairy tales and traditional literature, talking animals and toys, ghosts,

magic, alternative worlds, big adventures, time travel, and heroes. Science fiction is similar in

that it is fiction beyond our current world but it is different in that it features space travel and

future worlds in relation to predictions of society, technology, government. Although the

concepts of mythical creatures, talking animals, magic, and extensive space travel do not exist

in the real world, authors make it possible for children to escape into a new world in their

imagination.

The job of a fantasy or science fiction author is to immerse the reader in a world that

they are the expert on and that the reader has no experience with. The author has to make

readers “suspend disbelief (i.e. forget that this isn’t real)” (McClure et al., 2015, p. 214). To

create a story that suspends disbelief, the author must create a believable and internally

consistent story. Especially in teaching fantasy and science fiction books, students need

patterns and rules to follow within the imaginary world. I have taught Tuck Everlasting, by

Natalie Babbitt, to fifth graders for two years now. The fantasy element to this book that the

Tuck family drank magic water and will live forever. The Tucks have run into situations where

normal people would have died but they did not. This always brings out a stream of questions

from students in book discussions. The students tend to rapid-fire ask me, “What if ___

happened to them?” and they come up with all sorts of scenarios that could happen to the

Tucks. My favorite has been, “What if global warming causes the earth to burn and go away
forever… would the Tucks be floating in space?” These questions prove that the students’

disbelief is suspended; they are thinking in terms of the fantastic world and forgetting that none

of it is real. Natalie Babbitt made the story believable because everything else in the story is

humble and ordinary. This element of magic water causing immortality is the only concept that

goes beyond the real world. Additionally, Natalie Babbitt makes the story internally consistent

because her main rule for the magic water: anyone or anything who drinks it will survive

anything. This is consistent throughout the story including when Winnie places a drop of water

on a toad’s back. The epilogue ends with the same toad hopping across the road, decades after

Winnie has died. The story is incredibly engaging for students because it transports them to a

world they have never thought of before.

Fantasy and science fiction are critical genres to support children’s hungry imaginations.

Lukens (2007) wrote that the genre of fantasy “creates another world for characters and

readers, asking readers believe this other world could and does exist within the framework of

the book” (p. 20). As teachers respond to the administration’s desire for data and testing, it is

more and more important to keep children’s imaginations alive. A great way to do so is to hand

them a great fantasy or science fiction book, thus allowing them to escape the real world and

join an adventure in a world that expands their minds.

 References

Babbitt, N. (1975). Tuck everlasting. New York, NY: First Square.

Lukens, R. J. (2007). Chapter 2: Genre in children's literature. In A critical handbook of

children's literature (8th ed., pp. 13-37). Boston, MA: Pearson.

McClure, A. A., Garthwait, A., & Kristo, J. V. (2014). Teaching children's literature in an era of

standards (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.