Lying in Childrenʹs Fiction: Morality and the Imagination: “It is true!” cried the lying Nutcracker. “And what is true is not a lie.”

The telling of lies is significant in fiction written for children, and is often (though not in all cases) performed by child protagonists. Lying can be examined from at least three perspectives: philosophical, moral and aesthetic. The moral and the aesthetic are the most significant for childrenʹs literature. Morality has been subtly dealt with in Anne Fineʹs A Pack of Liars and Nina Bawdenʹs Humbug. The aesthetic dimension involves consideration of lyingʹs relation to imagination, fantasy and creativity; Richmal Cromptonʹs William: the Showman and Geraldine McCaughreanʹs A Pack of Lies show this at a complex, metafictional, level.