The Possible and the Impossible, by Elizabeth Kay
This is part of a paper I gave at the Harry Potter Conference in 2005. It’s a bit more technical than the things I usually post, but what the hell. I think children’s writers have a duty not to disseminate false or misleading information, and an obligation to present the world as something to be cherished, explored, and enjoyed. A fantasy world is always a metaphor for the real world, as we have nothing else to plunder for subject matter. A big change in authorial responsibility occurred during the second half of the last century in a close relative of fantasy, science fiction. We stopped wondering what effect the aliens would have on us , and started to worry about what effect we would have on them . We began to observe ourselves a little more objectively, and we didn’t like what we saw. Neither do children, on the whole – they worry about what we’re doing to the planet; they have ideals and integrity, and they want to do what’s...