• Children's stories are captured in books.Lisa Stirling/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Children's stories are fictional and often include a fantastic element such as magic or extraordinary creatures. Though stories can be set in modern day, many authors use some fantastical element, such as talking animals, to engage their readers. Meant for a young audience, genres of children's stories can span multiple formats, including stories told orally, picture books, and chapter books. Children's stories usually have happy endings.
  
  

Traditional Literature

• Cinderella's slippers are found in stories throughout the world.Cut glass image by Yuriy Rozanov from Fotolia.com
  
  Traditional stories are passed down over generations and include folktales, fairy tales, fables, legends and myths. These stories usually offer a lesson or teaching purpose, such as good will conquer evil. Full of magic and wondrous places, traditional literature feels as if it comes from another time with lessons that are applicable to modern life. Often similar stories and themes will appear in different languages and cultures. For example, the Cinderella story can be found in many cultures. Aesop's fables and the Brothers Grimm collection of fairy tales are still popularly known.
  
  

Historical Fiction

• Young characters in historical fiction help draw in readers.costume de bretagne 2 image by daniel sainthorant from Fotolia.com
  
  Characters in historical stories may be real, based on a real person, or fictional, but the activities occur in the past. These stories instruct the reader on a specific time period or a significant historical event. Many characters in children's historical fiction are young to encourage young readers to identify with the story despite the difference in setting.
  
  

Modern or Realistic Fiction

• Modern fiction models how kids can solve problems.kids playing football image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
  
  Modern fiction is set in the present day and includes settings and situations familiar to young readers. These stories can present real-world challenges and examples of how young characters overcome those challenges. Generally, these stories have happy endings when written for younger children, though young adult fiction may have darker themes and outcomes.
  
  

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

• Unicorns are popular in fantasy stories.unicorn image by NataV from Fotolia.com
  
  Aspects of these genres often blend together, especially in children's stories. These stories contain an element that is not true in the real world, forcing young readers to suspend disbelief to enjoy the story. Science fiction stories involve science, real or imagined, such as time travel, space travel, or other mutation of the physical world. Fantasy stories focus on imaginary characters and places such as unicorns, fairies or magical kingdoms. Fantasy differs from fairy tales in the complexity of the story, and the idea that fantasy does not always offer a lesson. Horror or supernatural stories have scary creatures and situations such as vampires, werewolves or zombies.
  
  

Modern Fantasy

• Charlotte's Web is an example of a modern fantasy tale.garden spider web image by susie peek-swint from Fotolia.com
  
  Modern fantasy stories are set in the present day, but contain a fantastical element. In many cases animals are the main characters and talk and act as humans, such as in "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. In other stories the setting is modern and familiar, but one character or place is fantastic, such as in "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl.