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Oliver by Birgitta Sif Analysis
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…
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Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd Picture Book Analysis
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…
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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Analysis
“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…
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Homes and Symbolism In Film and Literature
Homes are an outworking of the characters who live inside. Sometimes, in fiction, the house even seems to come alive in its own right.
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The Cosy House and Barn
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…
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Drawing While Listening To Audiobooks After Dinner
Highly recommended for young fidgeters.
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Mercy Watson Goes For A Ride by diCamillo and Van Dusen
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.
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The Rats In The Walls by H.P. Lovecraft Analysis
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…
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The Role Of The Chimera In Storytelling
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…
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The Wolves In The Walls by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean Analysis
**UPDATE LATE 2024** Neil Gaiman is an abuser. If this is news to you and you’re skeptical, here is a link roundup. Tortoise was the first (semi) mainstream outlet to give voice to one of Gaiman’s victims. Unfortunately, Tortoise is funded and owned by a notorious anti-trans bigot, so even though I listened to the…
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Lesson Plan: Write Your Own Urban Legend
AIM: Students will create an original story as an homage to a classic urban legend.
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The Dark by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen Analysis
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…
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Some Things Are Scary by Florence Parry Heide and Robert Osborn Analysis
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…
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Symbolism Of The Dream House, Cottage, Bungalow and Cabin
House symbolism is an interesting way of looking at a story. Have you noticed that houses as depicted in Western picture books tend to look the same? Two storied, bedrooms upstairs, slightly untidy but still Pinterest-worthy? There’s a reason for this. Each part of a house is symbolically unique. Gaston Bachelard talks about this in…
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Blackdog by Levi Pinfold Analysis
Anyone who has ever seen a huge unfriendly dog standing right outside their glass door will know how frightening it can be. Pinfold takes that fear and now we have Blackdog.