Modern Fantasy

Modern Fantasy- Modern Fantasy is a genre that is getting more and more popular with students then it used to be.  I remember that when I was younger, this wasn’t a genre that I would tend to go towards.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like it but none of my teachers explained the genre to me so I always imagined it to be about stories of unicorns and butterflies.  As I grew older and went to high school I learned about it more.  Modern fantasy is stories that provide vivid descriptions of characters and settings.  This is to give the reader a clear visual of what is happening in the story.  In reading modern fantasy, the students might come across a variety of subjects such as magic, talking animals and talking toys.  As a teacher, this would be a good genre to use in the classroom because modern fantasy can be written in different ways.  If a student is really into science, they can read a science modern fantasy.  If a young student is into traditional literature and modern fantasy, a book of literacy folktales would be a good choice because they are very similar.  Modern fantasy can explore complex ideas that might be difficult to explain to a student or illustrate some metaphors.  

Here are some books on Modern Fantasy

 PICTURE BOOK

Munsch, Robert. Paper Bag Princess. Annick Press. 1981.

Princess Elizabeth plans on marrying Prince Ronald, who is practically perfect. However, a dragon arrives who destroys her kingdom, kidnaps Ronald, and burns all her clothes so that she has no choice but to wear a paper bag.

 

SHORT CHAPTER BOOK

Le Gall, Pierre. Constance and the Great Escape. Sterling Publishing. 2009. 

Constance is troublesome little girl who has a huge cat whose name is Tiny. When her parents decide to send her to boarding school, she recognizes it as an evil plan to separate her from her darling cat. She hatches a plan to get back to Tiny and away from the boarding school.

CHAPTER BOOK FOR YOUNG ADOLESCENTS

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Press. 2009

This book is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds hegemony over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death until only one person is left.