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Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel Analysis
Owl At Home is a 1975 picture book written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The book comprises five very short early reader stories about a kind, anxious and lonely owl. These owl stories, along with the frog and toad stories come from the second phase of Lobel’s creative career, in which he tapped into his […]
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Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg Analysis
Burglar Bill is a picture book by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, first published in 1977. There are a number of picture books about burglars who break into houses at night, one of a child’s greatest fears going to sleep. Burglars can be found all across children’s literature. (Enid Blyton loved burglars.)
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Amos and Boris by William Steig Analysis
Some picture books have an Aesop fable at their base. Amos and Boris is one such picture book, written and illustrated by William Steig (1971).
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Come Away From The Water, Shirley by John Burningham 1977 Analysis
Come Away From The Water, Shirley is a 1977 picture book written and illustrated by British storyteller, John Burningham. A number of adult readers talk about the “two different stories” going on in this book.
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Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl Novel Study
As an English speaking child of the 80s I grew up on a heavy diet of Roald Dahl. Danny The Champion Of The World (1975) stands out in my adult memory my favourite Dahl story, perhaps only bested by the frisson of horror left by The Witches (in which I actually examined my J2 teacher, thinking she might be a…
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Fly Homer Fly by Bill Peet Analysis
Fly Homer Fly is a 1969 picture book of 64 pages written and illustrated by Bill Peet who died in 2002 after a long career in children’s storytelling.
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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970) Picture Book Analysis
from the book “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” written and illustrated by William Steig, published by Windmill Books, Simon & Shuster, New York, 1969. Winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1970
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Meal One by Cutler and Oxenbury Analysis
Meal One is a picture book written by Ivor Cutler, Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, first published 1971.
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Goethe and Angela Carter’s Erl-king Short Story Analysis
“The Erl-King” is a short story by Angela Carter based on an old ballad by Goethe, one of the most famous ballads ever told. Carter’s re-visioning doesn’t use the plot from Goethe’s ballad, but borrows some of the atmosphere. Carter inverts the gaze and turns it into something new. As you might expect from Angela […]
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The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats Analysis
The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats was first published 1978, which makes it 40 years old. This picture book is an excellent example of photography as motif, but using a peep show box instead.
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A Lion In The Meadow by Margaret Mahy and Jenny Williams Analysis
Child characters ignored by adults — even in the midst of clear and present danger — are stock fodder and perennial favourites in children’s stories. A Lion In The Meadow by Margaret Mahy is a standout example.
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Stone City by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Stone City” is a short story by Annie Proulx, first published 1979, collected 20 years later in Heart Songs. Some of Proulx’s short stories are like compacted novels, and “Stone City” is one of those. The story of the humans is wrapped by the story of a fox, looking in from a slight distance. “Stone […]
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The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier Novel Study
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier was not written with a young adult audience in mind, but class sets of the book found their way into English departments all over the world. Though this is not my favourite Cormier novel, it remains his best known. Heavy in symbolism and discussable themes, The Chocolate War also makes for […]
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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Analysis
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is an American picture book written by Judith Viorst, published 1972. This was the first in the Alexander series, followed by: Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday Alexander, Who Is Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move Alexander, Who’s […]
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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, […]