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Revolting Rhymes
I have clear memories of this book. First, I remember my father buying it for me in Paper Plus. I was in attendance. He thought I wouldn’t notice, then snuck it into my santa sack. Second, it was very unusual for my father to buy any books at all. Third, this was a whole-family read…
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Stereotypes, Tropes, Caricature and Archetypes
WHAT IS A STEREOTYPE? “Stereotype” is originally a printing term referring to the plate used to print identical copies of something, so “break[s] the mold” is an apt phrase for describing something that’s distinctly different from the stereotype. (“Mold” refers to the mold used to create identical objects, not the mold that grows on old…
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Differences Between Writing For Children and Adults
1. What can I expect of children whose understanding of language is not yet nearly as well developed as my own adult linguistic skills, without asking too much of them? 2. What ought I to expect of children without contravening educational, psychological, moral and aesthetic requirements, particularly since it is not always easy to bring…
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Storytelling And Subversion: How is it done?
Subversion of reader expectation to challenge long-held beliefs is one of the most difficult — and the most important — things storytellers can do.
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Letters And Diaries In Fiction
JOURNALING AND DIARIES AS PUSHBACK AGAINST SELF ABANDONMENT When we can be a witness to our own experience (by writing our experiences down) we can be our own compassionate friend. This is when we can have that connection with ourselves. What happens for many of us is we go through something called ‘Self Abandonment’. We…
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The Features Of Chapter Books
Chapter books are better able to be defined than other types of books because they are for quite a narrow developmental process.
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Why Boys Don’t Read Books About Girls
Why don’t boys read books about girls? Well, first of all, many boys do read books about girls. As for the ones who won’t? They understand that gender is a hierarchy, and their position at the top is tenuous. Also, the adult book buyers in their lives probably aren’t buying them books starring girls, under…
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Names Of The Smurfs
Here are the names of the Smurfs from the iconic cartoon TV series (1981-1989). I have included the Smurfs as they appeared in real life. Never before seen pics! (Made with artificial intelligence.)
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Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski Analysis
Meg and Mog is a super long-running series of picture books written by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski. As is often the case with popular picture book series, there is also a TV series. There’s a massive gap between the first book and the first TV show, which was broadcast in 2003, when the original…
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Voices In The Park by Anthony Browne Analysis
Have you ever wanted to go back and redo old work? A Walk In The Park is one of Anthony Browne’s earliest picture books — his second published after Through The Magic Mirror. Twenty years later (in 1998), Browne decided to redo this book in Postmodern style. Now it is called Voices In The Park.
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The Hare and the Tortoise
You win some, you lose some. Aesop was an equal opportunity storyteller and the tortoise of fables sometimes gets a raw deal. But not this particular tortoise. Sometimes it’s “The Hare and the Tortoise”, sometimes it’s “The Tortoise and the Hare”. This tortoise just goes about his business and wins the day. I’ve never once…
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How To Write Like Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings mastered the tall tale hi-lo children’s story in the 1980s. 30 years on, writers can still learn from his techniques. Other Paul Jennings tropes need to go the way of the dodo.
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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…
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The End Of The Fxxxing World Storytelling
Listed on IMDb as a comedy drama, The End Of The Fxxxing World is a darkly comic coming-of-age tale with a major crime at the centre of the plot. It is also a twisted and cynical romance. The script is written by Charlie Covell, based on the graphic novel by Charles Forsman. Forsman is an American…
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Definition of Anagnorisis and Other Similar Words
Anagnorisis is a moment in a work of fiction when a character makes a critical discovery. Even for plotters rather than pantsers, this is the part of writing that often emerges in the process of storycrafting.