Oh how wonderful. So many old favourites, and two newies to go look for - I’ve not read Diane Duane or Edgar Eager. Thank you all.
Fenris, for completeness, what about “A Barnstormer in Oz” by Phil Jose Farmer? (I have a spare copy if you don’t have one). I’ve got the canon plus the Thompson’s, but it’s not a favourite series. I find Baum too stilted - he was trying to deliberately create an American fairytaleworld and I think the deliberation comes through.
Delphica, Joan Aitken also wrote one for much younger children called ‘The Kitchen Warriors’, with no dark edge.
Ones unmentioned as yet:
[ital]Marianne Dreams[/ital] by Catherine Storr is, as far as I know, a one off - never seen anything else by the same author. It is about a child who finds a magic pencil and whatever she draws (or erases) happens. Excellent fantasy with ethical overtones aimed at a young child - what is her responsibility to the creatures/people she has created?
The [ital]Mary Poppins[/ital] series by PL Travers is excellent. I think there are 5 books in it. British eccentricity for children.
From memory Alan Garner stuff is also good, particularly [ital]The Wierdstone of Brisingamen[/ital], but it’s been a long time since I re-read it.
For younger kids, what about Enid Blyton’s [ital]Faraway Tree[/ital] and [ital]Wishing Chair[/ital] series? I always loved the Faraway Tree - a new land each week would be such a wonderful experience.
Tove Jansson’s [ital]Moomintroll[/ital] series is an all-time favourite, very otherworldly, like you’re suspended in the calm before a storm breaks and the Moomintroll family life happens around you - very comforting.
Don’t know if they are available in the US, but the [ital]Plum Rain Scroll[/ital] trilogy by Ruth Manley is just simply compulsive reading if you appreciate children’s fantasy. She retells old Japanese fairy tales in a magic-heroic style accessible to Westerners. Worth scouring the internet for copies. The third in the series is the least, as it was completed after her death, and misses her light humour.
But no-one has mentioned Nicholas Stuart Gray. Fantasy with humour, some books for younger kids like the ones about [ital]Grimbold[/ital], others like [ital]The Seventh Swan[/ital] and [ital]The Stone Cage[/ital], probably for older kids. [ital]The Stone Cage[/ital] is the retelling of the story of Rapunzel from the point of view of the witch’s familiars. Very nicely crafted.
TH White’s [ital]The Once and Future King[/ital] is a brilliant version of the Merlin legend, with one of the books in the series, [ital]The Sword in the Stone[/ital] familar to many children via Disney. And the Disney cartoon isn’t half-bad either!
Ummm, sorry about that - I seem to have gotten carried away…
I didn’t think the blend of fantasy and reality was handled very well, and I got bored with the endless mundane details about Janet’s class schedule, etc., that had no bearing on the plot. And I agree with tomndebb that it’s not really a book for kids, it’s more for teenagers and up.