What a Beautiful Giant...

Dear Readers...

Fantasy and Science Fiction literature has captivated the hearts and minds of children and adults around the world. For many years, books written in these genres have caused its readers to think about the unknown, the what-ifs, and what it would be if imagination were possible. Greenlaw (1982) differentiates modern fantasy and science fiction this way: “Fantasy never could be. Science fiction has the possibility of being—maybe not in our time or on our planet, but the possibility of happening within some time and in some place” (p. 64). In other words, an impossible story is called fantasy; a story with aspects of the improbable is called science fiction (Temple, 2014).

Science Fiction and Fantasy literature tend to get confused at times because they are similar in many ways. Temple (2014) even states how “At times, it is difficult to make a clear distinction between science fiction and fantasy because certain books have characteristics of both genres. These hybrid books may present details purported to have a scientific basis, yet they also include elements that make the story impossible.” This is important to know because when students are learning about fantasy and science fiction books, they need to know the difference between the two. The need to categorize books in its unique genre, but since books can be mixed with the two, it is suitable for students to know that, especially when it comes to explaining the stories in standardized testing.

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), written by Roald Dahl, is a 1982 children’s fantasy chapter book. The BFG is an excellent example of a fantasy book that “extends reality into the unknown. It gives readers a way of understanding the world they live in by going beyond it a wider, imaginative vision” (Temple, 2014). This book is about a ten-year-old girl named Sophie, who recently became an orphan due to her parents passing away in a car accident. While at the orphanage, Sophie sees a giant who, when noticing that Sophie sees him, takes her away to her cave. While at the cave, Sophie learns the giant does not intend to eat her, but that he is a nice, gentle giant who helps give sweet, beautiful dreams to children. As can be seen, this book provides characteristics of a fantasy novel because of how it is written in an “extraordinary world, with the usage of magical powers, and a way to escape real life” (Temple, 2014). When Sophie goes off with the giant, she leaves London’s “real life” and goes off the caves where the giants live, where it would be considered to the readers a “fantasy/not real” life. In the book, it is real, but in real life, it would not be considered accurate. Overall, the books offer much creativity and imagination when students are exposed to it when reading. Readers can notice how BFG would not be considered science fiction because of how the book is written. Overall, BFG is a beautiful read for students, especially those wanting to read a fantasy book.

Growing up, I was more into science fiction books than fantasy books because I liked the idea of seeing a world in the future. Knowing about a story that could be real, that it could happen, and was exciting to read, caught my attention. Some series books I enjoyed reading were The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Prydain, and The Shadow Children. Reading these books caught my attention, and I wanted to learn more. It also kept my mind wandering and asking many questions of “what if?” As an elementary school teacher, I would like to incorporate more reading of science fiction and fantasy into my classroom. I feel like many educators focus more on other genres, and sometimes students are deprived of reading these types of books. I want my students to also think critically about the topics mentioned in the books. Of course, this could happen in any genre of books, but I want to think about some topics science fiction and fantasy books give. By having these type of books out for students to see, it inspires them to try them out and read them. Hopefully, this interests students to learn more about the unknown future and what it is like when we read books that in real life are not possible.

Thank you for reading! See you next week!

Melissa :)