Many Victorian and Edwardian fantasy stories began as extemporaneous oral tales told for the delight of children and, like "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wind in the Willows," were written down by chance. These fanciful stories, told with child-like spontaneity, are analyzed here to argue their role in the revolution not only of children's literature, but of the general conception of childhood. In contrast to the traditional moral tales of the 18th century that were written with the express purpose of instructing children how to become adults, this literature that Sandner identifies as the...