Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

All hooked to fantasy

Though there are a variety of books for children, they still prefer fantasies. What's it that attracts them to the supernatural world?

UNDER A SPELL A young boy lost in Harry Potter's world PHOTO: Murali Kumar K.

Eoin Colfer wrote about a boy in an underground fairyland and then about children who survived the tsunami. The boy in the fairyland got read more than the children who survived the disaster closer home. Perhaps it is fantasy that sells.

J. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer, C.S. Lewis and Christopher Paolini are some of the best-selling children's authors. Why? They bring to life our imagination — the wizards, the daemons and the Gobblers, an underground fairyland, the land of talking animals and walking trees and a dragon. Did they work the ancient charm of fantasy or did they chance upon popularity? Did they create masterpieces or did they reach out to adolescent readers when the rest overlooked them?

Beyond reality

Fantasy makes everything possible. For Anjana, a Standard IX student, these books open the doors to a world "beyond humdrum reality". "You can experience somebody else's life too, something different from your own," says Mithula Naik, a Standard XI student. "It is fun to `be' characters who (or perhaps `which') can do things you can't," says Varsha of Standard IX.

Christopher Paolini, who penned Eragon when he was 15, said in one of his interviews: "It (fantasy) allows me to visit lands that have never existed, to see things that never could exist, to experience daring adventures with interesting characters, and, most importantly, to feel the sense of magic in the world."

But if magic has cast its spell, then why doesn't Suniti Namjoshi's fantasy series or Anuradha Majumdar's Island of Infinity get the same fan following? "Though with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fantasy books got readership, publicity and merchandising help," says Rangashree Srinivas. Ashwini Bhatt agrees, but cannot think of an Indian alternative. Says Mithula, "In the little time I get to read, I read what the rest are reading — what's popular." While Akhila, a mother of a 16-year-old and a senior secondary teacher, thinks the genre of fantasy should be encouraged, she is concerned about what motivates many children to choose them. "They should enjoy books for the pleasure of reading and not because it is the in-thing," she says.

"That children love magic is good news," says Padma Sreenath, a retired English teacher who conducts reading sessions for children. "Imagination should be allowed to take wing at a young age. Fantasy in books enables them to develop their skill to create images and explore things beyond reality. These skills help them in problem-solving later in life. When they are deprived of imagery, it could lead to literalism. Imagery helps develop the right side of the brain, the side that kindles creative thinking. With a vibrant right hemisphere, they are open to creative solutions. Imagination and reasoning can co-exist beautifully."

What about the role of publicity in selling a book? "Publicity alone does not sell a book," says Madhu, Product Head, Books, Landmark. "Though initially people may come to buy popular books, a book as a product has to sell itself. And this happens only through word-of-mouth," he says. This would mean there are adolescent readers who are discerning and choose the best of what's available. Akhila agrees the choice is limited for adolescent readers.

"They are caught between two worlds — that of children and adults — even as readers." The popular Western fantasies can crossover from a teenage to an adult reader, says Hemu Ramiah of Landmark. Such books are hard to come by. In India, though we have publishers promoting reading that helps children relate to their surroundings and situations, there is a dearth of good writers for adolescents, says Hemu.

Anuradha's Island of Infinity targets readers aged 11 and above.

In it, a trio tries to get to a golden island about which they learn through a disappearing stone and a messenger turtle. Though the book has spirituality in it, religion has been kept away, says the author.

On translating the intricacies of a fantasy set in India into English, she says, "I did not find it difficult at all." She has used Indian fantasy elements such as the vimana, a talking owl that transforms itself into a rishi and a crystal.

Despite her love for Rowling's books and the Artemis Fowl series for their freshness, adventure and humour, she believes some of these sell because they are easily available.

Track record

What puts the books on the shelves? Besides abracadabra, an author's track record helps. "In publishing, authors are the brand," says Madhu. If your earlier books have sold well and you have a following, then be assured of comfortable shelf space.

A paper titled Helping Children Cope with Fear: Using Children's Literature in Classroom Guidance (by Janice L. Nicholson and Quinn M. Pearson) says a good book helps children identify with the main character and his or her struggles. This will later help them resolve their own, it says. Reality has its readers too. "Witchcraft does not help in life," says Sharon, a Standard XI student.

She loves adventure stories for she learns more about the places the characters travel to and sci-fi as they keep you abreast of what's new in the world of science.

But Akhila feels books such as the Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series, though set in an imaginary world, connect to very human emotions and are, therefore, good literature.

ASHA MENON

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail