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…
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…
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…
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a famous psychological horror short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. WHERE TO LISTEN You may be able to unearth the BBC dramatization of this short story somewhere e.g. on YouTube. “The Yellow Broadcast” was broadcast December 1990. Charlotte Perkins Gilman; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was a prominent…
Home is important to all of us and perhaps even more important to young readers. This is why the mythic journey when it occurs in children’s literature is more commonly known as the home-away-home story — unless a child moves house at the beginning of the story they most often explore alone for a while…
Highly recommended for young fidgeters.
If you’re looking for a chapter book to bridge the gap between beautifully illustrated picturebooks and pictureless novels, the Mercy Watson series is a great option, because the illustrations are just as enticing as any found in a high-production picture book.
If you’re a fan of Renovation Rescue or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and think you’ve seen some good horror stories, you might consider turning brief attention to the story of H.P. Lovecraft, and I don’t actually mean his tragic life story in which he only achieved fame after an early, lonely death; I’m talking about…
Before modern science took hold, when humans were still trying to classify everything we saw around us, people really did believe in the chimera. Take the example of the Scoter duck. No one could decide whether this bird was a bird or a fish. he Abbe of Vallemont even took it out of the bird…
Have you ever had something living in your walls or in your roof space, or cellar? Apparently the story was inspired by his own daughter, who heard rats in the walls at night. (So do we — they’re actually mice…) Hearing rodents in the walls isn’t all that uncommon. And rodents are most active at…
AIM: Students will create an original story as an homage to a classic urban legend.
The Dark is a picture book written by Daniel Handler, illustrated by Jon Klassen. A boy faces his fear of the dark in an archetypal dream house. WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DARK? Shortcoming/Need Psychological Shortcoming: “Laszlo was afraid of the dark.” In children’s books, characters don’t need a moral shortcoming. (In other words, a child character…
Some Things Are Scary is a favourite from my own childhood, and now that my daughter loves it just as much, I appreciate its timelessness. This book would make an excellent mentor text for a classroom of young writers. They might use the structure to create their own story about scary things. I only have the…