I watched my sister’s toddler on Wednesday so she could get yard work done. Don’t let the title of this post confuse you – he’s quite sweet. But where are little kids in fantasy?

Not many places, from what I can tell. They’re not exactly the target audience for novels. Sometimes they’re part of the plot – Katniss’s sister Prim in the Hunger Games, Perry’s nephew Talon in the Under the Never Sky series – but those characters are at least six years old. Even Renesmee from Twilight doesn’t spend much time as a baby. The concept of halflings like Finn – a person who is part human, part fairie – is deeply entrenched in mythology, but again, we don’t usually meet them until they’re older.

Almost every woman in her twenties and thirties has been bombarded by questions about when she’s going to have kids. Almost every parent has nightmare stories about being told the best way to parent (i.e. not the way they’re doing it). Kids aren’t for me, but plenty of my friends have them and I’ve got to wonder: where are the kiddos in the world of books like Hellhound Hunt? Some of them will show up in the sequel – Jess mentioned letting the ratches raise their little ones in the clinic when the Wild Hunt was in town. But that world is bigger than just Kit and Caddie. How are hellhound puppies raised? Where do the children of demons fit in up Above?

#hellhoundhunt #auntieadventures #hellpuppies #demontoddlers #halfling #hungergames