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City Kids, Country Kids in Children’s Literature
Read enough children’s literature and you’ll be left in no doubt: The city is bad for children. Take them out to the country, which is utopian, pristine and a veritable fantasy landscape. There was once an old woman who left the city to get away from all the noise and confusion. Out in the country […]
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Things To Know About Chekhov
Anton Chekhov was a Russian writer who lived 1860-1904. He financially supported his extended family and initially started writing to support them. But he considered himself mainly a doctor. He treated people experiencing financial hardship for free. He died at the age of 44 from tuberculosis. 1. CHEKHOV DID NOT OVERWRITE You’ll hear Chekhov related advice […]
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Intertextuality of Into The Forest by Anthony Browne
Into The Forest by Anthony Browne is story book, part ‘toy book’. Young readers learn to look at pictures and search for intertextuality, as each illustration links to a well-known fairy tale. This makes the book popular for classroom use, along with the Shrek films and modern stories with fairy tales as ur-texts.
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Walter The Farting Dog Picture Book Analysis
I have a love-hate relationship with Walter the Farting Dog. My home country of New Zealand produces a disproportionate number of bum, poo and fart picture books, which I think speaks to our national enjoyment at free and cheap entertainment. I love books which make my kid laugh out loud, but I do have an […]
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Tips and Tricks from Muriel Spark
In The Finishing School, Muriel Spark takes a swipe at hack writers and aspiring novelists. All of the characters are cliches and stereotypes, working well as a comedic ensemble to convey Spark’s own ideas on writing. We are to read most of this book as irony. Rowland marvelled as he read her essay. How slick […]
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How Teaching School Is Different From The Movies
An English teacher I had at school couldn’t stand that Robin Williams movie, Dead Poet’s Society. The ideal of the enthusiastic teacher jumping about on all the desks, monologuing center stage gave him the shits, I was surprised to learn. Then, when I was at teachers’ college myself, I remember the tutor saying a few times, […]
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The American School System: A guide for those from Down Under
Down Under, we grow up reading American books and watching American TV, so the following words are familiar even if we don’t use them ourselves. That said, our language and culture is borrowing more and more from North America. High schools often have faculties now instead of departments, and I’ve heard teenagers start to say […]
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The Symbolism Of Cardinal Direction
The cardinal directions — north, east, south and west — have quite different associations in each culture around the world. This article focuses on the Western literary tradition, which is heavily influenced by the Bible. One commonality across ancient traditions: cardinal directions are in some way sacred. Many traditions have rules and guidelines around which […]
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Drawing Development And Children
The above picture was drawn by my eight-year-old. According to Gaston Bachelard, who quotes psychologists of his era, door knobs are a good sign. The Psychology Behind Drawings By Children Asking a child to draw his house is asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness. If he is happy, […]
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“Gypsies” In Classic Children’s Literature
As always, the term Gypsy is a source of massive debate within the Romany community. Many Romani have reclaimed the term and use it to fight back against oppression. As is their right! Many Romani cannot stand the sight or sound of it, for valid reasons! Roma Unraveled What did Enid Blyton and E. Nesbit […]
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Enid Blyton, Food and Ginger Beer
I’m no Enid Blyton apologist when it comes to word echo and other matters of style, but Enid Blyton never wrote the phrase ‘lashings of ginger beer’. This phrase was used in a popular parody called Five Go Mad In Dorset, and is now often mistakenly attributed to the author herself. Enid Blyton did use the […]
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Absent Parents In Children’s Literature
One job for children’s authors is to get adults out of the way so child characters can solve their own problems. “There are an awful lot of books about ‘I love you mummy’. ‘Yes, I love you, too, darling little bear!’ I’m not saying there’s not a place for those, but there’s so many books […]
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Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 1941 Analysis
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1941) is an American classic which serves as an excellent example of unreliable narration as it presents in picture books. NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATION IN MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS LIFELIKE DUCKS McCloskey’s devotion to mimesis reminds me of the lengths the Hayao Miyazaki studio goes to when animating […]
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Oliver by Birgitta Sif Analysis
Birgitta Sif is a picture book illustrator originally from Iceland, now living in England. So far she has produced four books. Oliver was first published by Walker Books 2012. A nice touch is that the opening page says ‘This adventure belongs to’, where most books say ‘This book belongs to’, leaving space for the child […]
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Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd Picture Book Analysis
Slinky Malinki is a picture book by New Zealand author illustrator Lynley Dodd. A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays. Old proverb A BRIEF HISTORY OF CATS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Sometimes it is difficult not to resent their apparent success, and they […]