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November's taste also leans toward the realistic she appreciates 'fantasy set in the real world, with a sense of possibility, where you don't have to go anywhere exotic to have it happen.' What I look for are writers who create more subtle, wonderful worlds that a reader can slip into easily.' What I try to avoid are the novels that in the first chapter introduce 12 different made-up animals with strange names. 'Perhaps because more authors who have written contemporary novels are now writing fantasies, I am seeing more fantasy in which the characters are real-they have realistic emotional reactions and motivations that make sense and that kids can relate to. 'Since there is so much fantasy out there, what I look for is fantasy that feels very real,' she says. Loehr mentions a move toward more realistic fantasy. It is not because the fantasy genre is 'hot.' ' Editors are looking for books that they are passionate about, books that are good literature. A lot of fantasy has recently become available, but what I believe is happening now is that publishers are bringing out great novels that happen to be fantasy. Fantasy is a well-established genre in children's literature and always has been.

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I think this is attributable to Harry Potter, but also to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and Brian Jacques's Redwall series and other successful fantasies of recent years. And I do think that more British authors are trying their hands at writing fantasy. 'I do believe that publishers were encouraged to try publishing fantasy who had not done so before. 'Of course it's tempting to say that Harry Potter raised the awareness of children's fantasy to a new level and I think that is true,' he remarks. Levine Books, publisher of the Harry Potter novels in this country, demurs on the question of the strength of Harry's spell. Though clearly aware of the magic Rowling works in her fiction, Arthur Levine, v-p and editorial director of Scholastic's Arthur A. The works of Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper have for many years been an important part of children's literature, yet fantasy seemed to get lost in the hubbub of paperback series publishing in the 1980s, so it's nice to have it in the forefront again.'

This is a return to the past in certain respects, given that a number of children's classics-like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz-were technically fantasies. It seems that many booksellers have used the Harry Potter phenomenon to bring fantasy titles to the front of their stores and make fantasy less ghettoized. 'I think Rowling's series has brought on a golden age of fantasy for middle grade and young adult readers. 'Some wonderful new fantasy has been published as a result of these books and some old fantasy has been rediscovered,' she observes. Mallory Loehr, v-p and editor-in-chief of the Random House/Golden Books for Young Readers Group, credits Harry Potter for giving the fantasy genre both a boost and a revival. 'It's obvious that Harry Potter and the recent renewed focus on Lord of the Rings have done a lot to widen the awareness of fantasy in general, as well as of trilogies and series.' 'I now see more and more publishers buying trilogies from American authors as well as from the U.K. 'It is difficult today to find a publishing house without a fantasy title on its list,' says Sharyn November, senior editor of Puffin Books and Viking Children's Books, who is also at the editorial helm of the Firebird imprint (which specializes in fantasy and science fiction).

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