This study examines children's imagination of the unknown within a story-telling context. In total 40 children (20 girls and 20 boys) participated, distributed over three groups, as follows: 10 6-year-olds, 12 9-year-olds, and 18 14-year-olds. One chapter from the English children's book Winnie- the-Pooh (written by A.A. Milne in 1926) was read aloud by the respective teacher to each group, after which the children in the two youngest groups were each given the task of making a drawing of a `heffalump', which they subsequently were interviewed individually about. Each child in the oldest group was given the task of writing their own story on the theme of the `heffalump'. Phenomenological analysis of the material, with regard to meaning-content of `what' and `how' was performed. The results consisted of eight qualitatively different categories providing an image-analysis of the concept of the `unknown' structured as `something-otherwise' (the `other'), i.e. an absence of constancy arising from colour, form, time, place, reality. Differences pertaining to age and gender are discussed.
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