Aug 19
He was standing by the edge of a small pool—not more than ten feet from side to side—in a wood. The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves: but there must have been a …
Jul 12
Mr. Tumnus pauses near the lamppost in this pen and ink illustration by Masianus Andrzej, which resembles a Victorian engraving.
Jun 21
Not all depictions of Narnia are positive. It is a scary place in a lot of ways — there’s an evil witch who turns innocent creatures to stone, a trusted friend betrays a child, and another child betrays his siblings, out of spite no less. The know-it-all hero — the Gandalf, if you will — …
Jun 14
Portal Fantasy: A subgenre of fantasy literature where inhabitants from our world enter a secondary one through a magical portal door or gate, or in some cases a magical object like a tree or mirror. Usually used in children’s fantasy but not always. The portal trope is a particularly robust one in speculative literature. Its …
Apr 12
Mar 08
A hopeful Atompunk depiction of the Space Age from the early 1960s complete with revolving space station and a family of astronauts with jetpacks. Now the early 1960s were likely as sexist as America ever got, and very very firmly into gender roles — boy child has a blue spacesuit, and girl child a pink …
Feb 19
Kriss: The Gift of Wrath by Ted Naifeh Art by Warren Wucinich Oni Press, 2019 This graphic novel is the perfect gift for a middle school child of 11 – 12 who is getting into experiencing adolescent angst, heavy metal, Goth culture, and fantasy fiction. The story is a time-worn one: a young orphan and …
Feb 10
Fairy tales were not intended for children. I repeat that, fairy tales were NOT intended for children. Just take a look at the Kay Nielson illustration for Cinderella above. Despite the name, Kay is a he, a classically trained Danish artist who worked heavily during the first half of the 20th century. The moment depicts …
Feb 08
And other body parts as well, apparently. Artwork by the great Ed Emshweller.
