Wonderland is of course the actual most obvious answer and I can't believe it slipped my mind, other than 1) everything does, let's be honest and 2) the Wonderland books are something I didn't really discover (outside of popular culture/Disney) until young adulthood, and I grew up alongside them into adulthood, particularly as a productive internal narrative for being crazy, so I don't have the cognitive dissonance of rediscovering them as an adult or in a different context.
But your wife's view is fascinating and confirms what I expected. This also makes me think about the differences between MG and YA, which I think we've talked about before--particularly the way the genres treat magic, both in the sense of magic systems/fantasy worlds, and in the tone of each genre. I feel like there's a sort of spectrum where like...
kidlit = intuitive/illogical magic systems that align with character arcs (and maybe reader experiences?); evocative but in a bonkers way
MG = more logical plots and magic systems, but there's magic in character arcs (discovering how to operate within the magic system often is the character arc?) and in tone--conveys an atmosphere of wonder
YA = equally or even more logical magic systems, but character arcs are more complex and generally involve interpersonal/relationship elements, so magic isn't innately tied to character arc, therefore not innately present in atmosphere/reader experience
making huge generalizations that point to my personal biases, obviously. I like the intuitive elements of kidlit, but I do think the illogical elements can be harder to engage with as an adult; I also think the boundary between intuitive and illogical is super personal.
no subject
But your wife's view is fascinating and confirms what I expected. This also makes me think about the differences between MG and YA, which I think we've talked about before--particularly the way the genres treat magic, both in the sense of magic systems/fantasy worlds, and in the tone of each genre. I feel like there's a sort of spectrum where like...
kidlit = intuitive/illogical magic systems that align with character arcs (and maybe reader experiences?); evocative but in a bonkers way
MG = more logical plots and magic systems, but there's magic in character arcs (discovering how to operate within the magic system often is the character arc?) and in tone--conveys an atmosphere of wonder
YA = equally or even more logical magic systems, but character arcs are more complex and generally involve interpersonal/relationship elements, so magic isn't innately tied to character arc, therefore not innately present in atmosphere/reader experience
making huge generalizations that point to my personal biases, obviously. I like the intuitive elements of kidlit, but I do think the illogical elements can be harder to engage with as an adult; I also think the boundary between intuitive and illogical is super personal.