The following article is a thorough literature review, discussing the impact of media technology on brain development in the context of magical thinking. This systematic literature review discusses the impact of video gaming on magical thinking in early childhood. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how media technology, especially video…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to a growing body of work (re)imagining the future for Black girls by calling Western notions of time into question. At its core, this paper argues that all Black girls are imaginative beings and that it is essential that Black girlhood imagination as a mode of future-making praxis be considered an integral…

With many of the Catholic student population disengaged from regular ritual experiences their working vocabulary of the prayers and knowledge of the Church is limited. A beneficial bridge for many of these disconnected students, specifically male adolescents has been the use of storytelling in connection to Catholic themes to lay the foundations…

Game-based learning is getting popular in both K-12 schools and colleges. Research is needed to understand how engagement can influence learning and what specific factors of game-based learning that affect learners. In this study, we reviewed a total of 20 empirical studies from refereed journals that examined student engagement in game-based…

Dissociation is typically defined as the lack of normal integration of thoughts, feelings, and experiences into consciousness and memory. The present article critically evaluates the research literature on cognitive processes in dissociation. The authors' review indicates that dissociation is characterized by subtle deficits in neuropsychological…

The secondary worlds created in fantasy encourage the reader to compare and contrast the real world with the imaginary. In this way, fantasy as a genre can be transformative. In this article, the dystopia created in "The Giver" (1993) by Lois Lowry is examined as a metaphor for racism. After exploring the young adult novel as mystical fantasy in…

In the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, Pullman reworks the fall of humanity into an ascent and suggests that ascent into adulthood through sexual experience is the desired goal for children. Although this ascent is accompanied by a radical reconceptualization of life and death, Pullman fails to offer any genuinely new ideas of the world with respect…

This article examines the historical fantasy world created by Joan Aiken in the eleven volumes of her "Wolves of Willoughby Chase" series. In particular it looks at her subversion of historical reality by the creation of an alternative yet recognisable representation of our own world, using a wide range of events, and the remoulding of aspects of…

Recommends a book on fiction writing to those interested in the art of storytelling. (AEA)

Looks at several examples of children's literature involving fantasy to discover how various authors handle "inmost secrets," such as characters conversing with ghosts and animals. (FL)

This article claims that J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, with its use of magic, frightening storylines, and character ambiguity is beneficial to children who are dealing with issues related to terror and terrorism. The author explains that the scenarios presented in Rowling's series teach children strategies for coping with both physical…

In "The Haunting," "The Changeover," and "The Tricksters," Margaret Mahy fuses supernatural iconography of witchcraft and magic with images of ordinary and domestic adolescence. This article argues that Mahy's "fantastic realism" illuminates aspects of female teenage experience through a blend of myth, fairy tale, folklore and history, as well as…

The Harry Potter series focuses upon the toilet as a site for heroic action and a threshold between worlds as well as a more traditional place for boys to be bullied and girls to weep. This article offers a Kristevan reading of the toilets as abject in Harry Potter, and shows how this concept helps us make sense of wider issues within the series,…

An Australian author of children's literature discusses her discovery of the folklore of the Aboriginal Australians. (FL)

Reviews "Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak. Includes excerpts from the speech Sendak gave when he accepted the Caldecott Medal for "Wild Things" and commentaries by child development professionals. Briefly reviews other books written by Sendak. (RJC)