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Unreal by Paul Jennings Hi-lo Short Fiction
Unreal is a collection of 8 short stories, first published 1985. This was the book that really kicked-off Jennings’ career as a children’s author.
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Onomatopoeia, Mimesis and Children’s Literature
Someone in a children’s writing forum crowdsourced recently: What does a waterfall sound like? They were after an onomatopoeic sound. Some replied ‘trickle’. Others said ‘trickle’ is no good at all for a waterfall, as ‘trickle’ suggests a piddling amount of water. I don’t know what they decided, but I thought of my years learning Japanese. Japanese most definitely has…
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Introducing your character’s age in a children’s novel
Readers want to know early on the age of a main character in a children’s book. In a (non-illustrated) book, we don’t have a visual before us. So character age is one of the most important things we need to know up front. How and when to convey that bit of information? I took a look at character age and…
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I Kill Giants As Perfect Example Of Being-toward-death
I Kill Giants is a film and comic book for an upper middle grade audience which functions as a perfect example of Heidegger’s Being-toward-death.
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Bullying In Children’s Literature
Aggressiveness is culturally induced: where it is not valued, it is not strong. Marilyn French “Middle school wasn’t much fun for me. We had some bullying going on, and the best thing to do was to stay out of their way.” Jeff Kinney, author of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid WHAT IS BULLYING? Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or…
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Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs Analysis
Some say that the very first British graphic novel was True Love (1981) by Posy Simmonds. Others would say it was Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs. This month I wrote a post on Teaching Kids How To Structure A Story. Earlier in the month I looked at a wordless picture book, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. Today I continue with a…
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The Woods At The End of Autumn Street by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is an American children’s author, best known for The Giver. The Woods At The End Of Autumn Street is an upper middle grade novel set in WW2 America. The following biographical information feels relevant to The Woods At The End of Autumn Street: Born in 1937, that makes Lois Lowry the same era/age as Liz in Autumn Street. The…
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Hair In Art and Storytelling
It’s stating the obvious to point out that, in children’s fiction, a character’s hair maps onto personality. But in continuing to use hair-personality shortcuts, are writers perpetuating stereotypes? Canadian teen actor Sophie Nélisse plays the title role, a young girl in foster care who we know is not terribly well-off emotionally because her hair is so flat. Her attitude stinks,…
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Matilda by Roald Dahl Novel Study
Matilda is a classic, best-selling children’s book first published in 1988. This story draws from a history of children’s literature such as classic fairytales and Anne of Green Gables. Matilda was written by Roald Dahl, but significantly improved by a talented editor and publisher, Steven Roxburgh. For half of his writing career, Dahl wrote for adults. When Dahl found publishing success…
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Nice Does Not Equal Good
A lesson we must all learn at some point: ‘nice’ person does not equal ‘good’ person. I use these words as shorthand for ‘outwardly amenable’ and ‘morally generous’. Defining morality is a mammoth task in its own right and a nihilist might argue there’s no such thing as morality. I take the view that there is a shared cultural view of…
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Popular Kids In Stories For Adolescents
Children’s literature is at the vanguard of change; ‘children are the future’ and all that. For children, ‘popular’ means something different. A NEW DEFINITION OF POPULAR My daughter is a Sims fan. As I ambled past the PC she announced that she’d discovered how to become popular on Sims 3. Since she’s a little too young to be playing Sims…
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The Influence of The Lovely Bones on Modern Literature
The emphasis in the First Golden Age [of children’s literature] was very much on being healthy in mind and body – if a child became sick, he or she usually got well as part of their story. Today’s reader has no such encouragement. There is an alarming trend in what has been termed “sick-lit” which seems to wallow in the…
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The Ideology Of Persistence In Children’s Literature Analysis
If you work hard you will find success. Persistence leads to success is a comforting truism, because we feel the future is under our own control. Work hard, you win. An episode of a Freakonomics podcast provides a strong, economically sound argument for sometimes giving up. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a book for which encourages quitting. When a…
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Moral Dilemmas And Children’s Stories
What Is A Moral Dilemma? Philosophers are especially concerned with moral dilemmas, and ask the following question: Is it possible to do a morally wrong action in order to do what is morally required? Various branches of philosophy disagree on the answer to that question. Some believe the question itself contains a paradox, rendering the question itself insensible. Gertrude Anscombe…
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Birds In Children’s Literature
Birds occupy a special place in children’s stories, as they do in the Bible, in folklore and in fairytales. Are they good or are they evil? No other creature has so successfully been both, equally. If you’re writing a children’s story, you can do what you like with birds. Birds have always been a favourite device for prophecy and warning…
