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An Animal Gets Into Trouble And Out Again
Dogs (and wolves and foxes) are popular choices for protagonists in this sort of story, I suppose because dogs are inclined to get themselves into trouble. (Our own border collie is no exception.) But here we have a wide selection of animal spanning the categories of birds, insects and lesser-known mammals. This kind of story […]
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Who Wants To Be A Poodle I Don’t by Lauren Child Analysis
Who Wants To Be A Poodle I Don’t is my favourite Lauren Child picture book. I can see it being used in the classroom to teach the concept of the leitmotif, among other things.
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Composition In Film and In Picture books
Ah, composition. How things are arranged on the page… or on the screen. I have written before about how picture books have a lot in common with film, and that study of one equals study of the other.
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Swine Lake by James Marshall and Maurice Sendak
Swine Lake is a 1999 picture book by James Marshall, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. The humour is an example of ‘hero wears a mask‘ transgression comedy. About the Author and Illustrator If you’re American, perhaps you’re familiar with the following series: The author and illustrator of the George and Martha series also wrote other books, and […]
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The Three Little Wolves And The Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury Analysis
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pigs is not only an inversion on the classic tale, but also a subversion of the message. Basically, this is a fable for a rape culture world. PARATEXT Back in 1993, this book was a best seller and did well in a number of big prizes. Most of […]
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Inversion Does Not Equal Subversion: The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt And Oliver Jeffers
Daniel Craig says “why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?” “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour.” DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 21, 2021 The Day The Crayons Quit is a bestseller made by two picture book […]
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The Story Of The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business by Holzwarth and Erlbruch Analysis
Whoever said ‘it’s impossible to rub a mole the wrong way’ had never met this little mole, who gets very salty and vengeful. Mind you, can’t say I’d be happy if someone pooped on my head, either. The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business is a very popular picture […]
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This Moose Belongs To Me by Oliver Jeffers Analysis
This Moose Belongs To Me is a 2012 picture book written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.
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Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood Analysis
Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood is a sobering Australian picture book about farming during drought. I have a special interest in stories about drought (due to the fact I’ve written one myself). Perhaps because of this, I’ve given thought to ‘subject matter for young readers’ and ‘picturebook endings‘ and ‘juvenile capacity for […]
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Thirteen O’Clock by Enid Blyton Analysis
I have conflicted views about Enid Blyton, but Thirteen O’Clock story is relatively free of the problems I (and many others) have taken issue with in these slightly more enlightened times. We still have a story in which a young patriarch-in-training helps an older female character out by tending to her minor injury and finding a lost cat, […]
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Aaron’s Hair by Robert Munsch Analysis
Aaron’s Hair is not Munsch’s most popular book. That would be Love You Forever, which Munsch wrote just as a family story for a long time, after two of their babies were born dead. That book has sold 20 million copies, even though the publisher only hoped for 30,000 to break even. This book hits the […]
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How To Write A Tall Story
The ‘Tall Tale’ is a legitimate genre of story – not necessarily an insult. Maybe it sounds like one because as kids we were told to stop telling ‘tall tales’, when in fact we just thought we were ’embellishing’ real-life happenings. (If you’ve always been a writer than I expect you might identify with that!) […]
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Harry and Hopper by Margaret Wild and Freya Blackwood Analysis
Dogs commonly feature in pet-death stories. Probably because goldfish are bastards. WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STORY A boy’s best dog friend dies while he is at school. Harry comes to terms with Hopper’s absence gradually, first by trying to distract himself and not think about Hopper at all, then by imagining his reappearance, and finally by imagining […]
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It’s The Bear! by Jez Alborough Analysis
It’s The Bear! by Jez Albrough is one of our daughter’s favourite picture books. She loved it when she was three, and still loves it even though she is now seven. It’s The Bear! is the second of Jez Alborough’s three hugely successful bear books from the 1990s. Published in 1996, It’s The Bear came […]
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The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards and Hannah Shaw Analysis
My 7-year-old kid expressed disgust at The Disgusting Sandwich and said she didn’t want to read it again, but she brought it to me again a few days later. This time, she knew what to expect, and managed to enjoy it. Most kids I know love to be grossed out. There’s a narrow window in childhood in […]