British vs. US kids' fiction

This is a really good analysis of the difference between British fiction for kids (which tends to be more imaginative and fantastic) and US kids' fiction (which is more moralistic, historical, and about heroic individuals, not fairy lands).  I don't know if I prefer one or the other, but thanks to this novel analysis, I feel that they really complement one another.  The free-wheeling, open fantasy worlds of the great British works provide an important outlet for readers' imaginations, but the US historical fiction provides orientation in values, fighting adversity, and injustice, as well as a real sense of place (think Huck's river, or Laura Wilder's woods and prairies) and the magic in the quotidian.