Quests and Kingdoms

This is a book that does exactly what it says on the tin - and then more...Tolkien is seen as so pivotal in the development of the genre that he gets a thoughtful and well researched chapter all to himself...a helpful guide to content... Her book could be a real help to the adults seeking to guide [children] into this marvellous world. -Amon Hen, (Bulletin of the Tolkien Society), Issue 196. In an engaging and highly readable style, Johansen's enthusiasm and knowledge for her subject captivates her reader... Quests and Kingdoms is an informed and informative work highly recommended for reader's advisory, teachers of language arts and fantasy collections. -CM Magazine (Volume XII Number 2, Sept 16 2005) Here is a magical thing, a reference book with a heart and soul. Brimming over with ideas, as well as facts and figures, the writing is elegant and the author's enthusiasm contagious. Here, too, a noble defence of fantasy and its literary value. - O.R. Melling Johansen brings a scholar's erudition and a child's delight to the field of children's fantasy. Her thoughtful survey elevates fantasy from guilty pleasure to moral education, and reveals it to be not a recent marketing-driven fad, but an ancient and unbreakable strand of human creativity. If you know nothing about the genre, this book will turn you into an aficionado; if you think you've read everything, you'll find new gems here, and old ones glowing with a new light. For teachers, parents, anyone who wants to uncover the wonder of reading, Quests and Kingdoms is a pirate's treasure map. - Tristanne J. Connolly, St. Jerome's University

K.V. Johansen has Master's Degrees in Medieval Studies (Toronto) and English (McMaster). The author of a number of children's books, she held the 2001 Eileen Wallace Research Fellowship in Children's Literature from the Eileen Wallace Collection at the University of New Brunswick. She also received the 2004 Frances E. Russell Award for research in children's literature from the Canadian section of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People.