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  • Sinky Boo by Ann Maclean and Art Barton 1947 Australian Picture Book

    Sinky Boo by Ann Maclean and Art Barton 1947 Australian Picture Book

    January 24, 2023

    If you find a copy of Sinky Boo in a secondhand bookstore, look after it. It’s rare. Published in 1947, Sinky Boo was written by an unknown writer called Ann Maclean and a one-eyed artist best known for his fairground artwork at Sydney’s Luna Park.

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  • The Seven Ravens Fairytale Analysis

    The Seven Ravens Fairytale Analysis

    January 24, 2023

    “The Seven Ravens” is a fairytale collected by the Grimm Brothers. In an earlier time, this tale would emphasise the importance of family, with a moral lesson of obedience and respect towards parents.

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  • Houn’ Dog by Mary Calhoun and Roger Duvoisin (1959)

    Houn’ Dog by Mary Calhoun and Roger Duvoisin (1959)

    January 23, 2023

    Houn’ Dog by Mary Calhuon and Roger Duvoisin is a children’s picture book about fox hunting for sport. In the picture book it’s called ‘fox racing’, and the author avoids the realities of fox hunting by focusing on the ‘trial run’ which happens the evening before.

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  • The Great Valentine’s Day Balloon Race by Adrienne Adams 1980 Picture Book

    The Great Valentine’s Day Balloon Race by Adrienne Adams 1980 Picture Book

    January 23, 2023

    The Easter Egg Artists is the first in this series about a family of rabbits with one son and his friend from next door, who is a girl.

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  • What makes a children’s picture book old-fashioned?

    What makes a children’s picture book old-fashioned?

    January 22, 2023

    Room On The Broom is now over twenty years old and is no longer contemporary, but because of the similarities in plot, I’ll use Julia Donaldson (and Axel Scheffler’s) book to illuminate how — exactly — Mary Calhoun (and Roger Duvoisin’s) popular American picture book from the mid 20th century feels like a book from an earlier era.

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  • What is the Symbolist movement in literature?

    What is the Symbolist movement in literature?

    January 21, 2023

    In Symbolist work, the author is aiming to hit the essence or ideal of something which lies behind objective matter and the realm of chance.

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  • Benoit Blanc: Resurgence of the gentleman sleuth?

    Benoit Blanc: Resurgence of the gentleman sleuth?

    January 9, 2023

    When we first meet Benoit Blanc in Knives Out (2019), he is introduced by another character as ‘the last of the gentleman sleuths’. Some viewers compare him to Sherlock Holmes. Others compare him to Hercule Poirot. Interestingly, both of these tentpole detectives are entering the public domain around the same time we’re actually seeing a resurgence in the gentleman sleuth. Perchance Benoit Blanc isn’t the last of them, after all.

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  • What Makes Something Cute? Cute vs. Kawaii

    What Makes Something Cute? Cute vs. Kawaii

    January 6, 2023

    ‘Cute’ describes something attractive in a pleasing, nonthreatening way. Things that are small or young are often described as cute: babies, fluffy puppies with big eyes, squishy toys. Cute things are easy to like.

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  • The Art of Cooking and Serving by Margaret Atwood Short Story Analysis

    The Art of Cooking and Serving by Margaret Atwood Short Story Analysis

    January 5, 2023

    “The Art of Cooking and Serving” is a short story by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, included in Moral Disorder and Other Stories (2006).

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  • How To Make A Seamless Pattern With Stable Diffusion and Artrage Vitae

    How To Make A Seamless Pattern With Stable Diffusion and Artrage Vitae

    January 2, 2023

    Today I’m making some beautiful seamless patterns for digital scrapbooking. You might be after a new social media banner or something like that. In any case, making seamless tiles for patterns has become a lot easier lately.

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  • Fine Art Landscape Painting With Stable Diffusion

    Fine Art Landscape Painting With Stable Diffusion

    January 2, 2023

    Stable Diffusion is already good for a few things, and despite what the dudebros are training their models on (ahem) here’s what I think it does best: beautiful painterly landscapes.

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  • Writing Activity: Describe A Restaurant, Café or Eatery

    Writing Activity: Describe A Restaurant, Café or Eatery

    January 1, 2023

    In this activity you will practice creative writing skills by writing a fictional scene which takes place in some kind of eating establishment: a restaurant, café, milk bar, fast food joint, Saturday morning market, street vendor… Any sort of eatery will do. The first task is to simply imagine a scene. I recommend limiting the […]

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  • The Bad News by Margaret Atwood Short Story Analysis

    The Bad News by Margaret Atwood Short Story Analysis

    December 30, 2022

    “The Daily News” utilises a simple ― relatable and realistic ― gender inversion to illuminate how the popular imagination regards men, women and communication in romantic relationships.

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  • All She Said Was Yes by Shirley Jackson Short Story Study

    All She Said Was Yes by Shirley Jackson Short Story Study

    December 27, 2022

    “All She Said Was Yes” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. This is the one with the Wednesday Addams character archetype who foresees the death of her own parents. But do they listen to her? No.

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  • The Cistern by Ray Bradbury Short Story Analysis

    The Cistern by Ray Bradbury Short Story Analysis

    December 26, 2022

    Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Cistern” can be read as a celebration of plumbing and groundwater solutions, normally invisible to those of us who live in towns

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