Favorite magical/whimsical elements in kid's books

Has no one answer, or can I not see the responses?

As a parent who reads to my child, my favorite fantastical beings are helpful witches and silly dragons. My kid likes these, too.

I'm writing a PB about a dragon now. I have written a witchy MG short story I don't where to send. (I usually write for adults.) Because I'm new to writing for kids, I wonder if the popularity of character types moves in trends.

All the magical foods, from Hogwarts feasts to magical food that's avaliable on demand at the top of the faraway tree, toffee shocks and pop cakes, fae foods that need to be salted before humans can eat it.

The horse without a head...

(different generation )

MaeZe said:

The horse without a head...

(different generation )

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Paul Berna's 'The Horse Without A Head'? Loved that story!
Kid detectives!

I also have a fondness for dolls and toys that live their own little lives in dollhouses, etc.
And talking cats. Not talking dogs, or talking horses, just cats.

Paul Berna's 'The Horse Without A Head'?

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That's the one.

Amazon: with the 1964 cover and all.

MaeZe said:

That's the one.

Amazon: with the 1964 cover and all.

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Yes, that's the one, only my edition has a different cover!

SciSarahTops said:

fae foods that need to be salted before humans can eat it

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There's a trick to eating fae foods? That's valuable info!

Someone once suggested that Hogwarts students with food allergies would have only safe foods appear in front of their seats. I love that idea.

That's different than eating from an unsalted fairy buffet only to be trapped forever for the act. It's just that your post reminded me.

frimble3 said:

I also have a fondness for dolls and toys that live their own little lives in dollhouses, etc.
And talking cats. Not talking dogs, or talking horses, just cats.

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I used to devour mysteries involving dollhouses. And talking cats. That's a classic that feels as if it will always be better than any other talking animal.

Favorite magical elements are

Secret magical people or societies (not in power, but hiding from those in power), such as Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children (though I guess maybe is more YA than kidlit maybe?)
Talking animals (Particularly animals who behave as humans and wear clothes etc., or non-humanish animal dirived species, like lizard-folk), such as Wind in the Willows, Narnia, mouseguard (Again, maybe that's not kidlit, I don't remember if it's a tad too violent or not)

I'm a sucker for "wise beasts" and other smart animals that can talk with people. Actually, any kind of animal story or sympathetic animal characters appeal to me now as an adult and in adult stories, let alone when I was a kid. But I'm very fond of fantasy and SF in general.

aspirit said:

Someone once suggested that Hogwarts students with food allergies would have only safe foods appear in front of their seats. I love that idea.

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Would Hogwarts students have allergies to normal foods? I got the impression that the wizard-born were immune to the kinds of maladies that afflict muggles (though there were references to students having colds, so eh, Rowling wasn't always consistent). Though, hmm, if a werewolf child could attend Hogwarts, maybe a vampire kid could too, and then anything with garlic in it would have to be avoided, right?

I used to devour mysteries involving dollhouses. And talking cats. That's a classic that feels as if it will always be better than any other talking animal.

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True, though I wish we had more talking dogs in stories too

Yes to talking animals. Love portals to other worlds. One of my favorites was the world between worlds in Narnia where you could jump into any of many little ponds and end up somewhere else. Hallways lined with mysterious doors. Objects that transport you somewhere else like the coin in Half Magic, adults who look like your old Granny but are really powerful magicians or Goddesses...

Here's a way to put magical elements into your writing. Read Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces.

Joe, as he preferred, basically talked of the monomyth where all cultures seem to have common elements in all of their stories.

My WIP has what is called the donor character. It's the point in the hero's journey where an old man or woman gives him or her a magical gift to help in their story.

So one of my favorite magical parts is the donor character exchange.

This since yesterday...this is the core of some stories...think of Tolkien. How many donor characters are there in The Hobbit and tLoTR? Even the trolls in the hobbit are donors, unwilling donors. Bilbo and company find their treasure hoard at the end of their encounter.