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The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Analysis
Always remember that the crowd which applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show. Going Postal, Terry Pratchett If you’re here because you’ve been assigned to write an essay on emperors, be sure to double check which emperor you’re meant to be writing about. A BRIEF HISTORY…
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Boy Friendly, Girl Friendly
What is meant by boy friendly and girl friendly? Sometimes a Google search screenshot speaks a thousand words: Girl Friendly Links Strong Female Characters In Fiction from Common Sense Media 100 YA Books For The Feminist Reader from Bitch Media 9 FEMALE CHARACTERS WE WISH WE’D BEEN MORE LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL from The Mary…
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The Do-Something Day by Joe Lasker (1982) Analysis
The Do-something Day is one of those didactic stories in which the parental figures are too busy working to play with their precious little children. In such stories, the child usually goes out and has their own adventure, or an elderly neighbour/grandparent steps in to fill the psychological need, which is loneliness/boredom. And that’s what…
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The Day Patch Stood Guard by Elizabeth Laird and Colin Reeder (1990) Analysis
The Day Patch Stood Guard is a New Zealand farming picture book from the 1980s which is, at its heart, a man and his dog story. Notice anything a bit different about the cover of The Day Patch Stood Guard? The usual convention is to credit the writer first and the illustrator second. Here the…
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Bertie’s Escapade by Kenneth Grahame (1949)
Bertie’s Escapade is a carnivalesque, adorable book which would be a great pre-reader if you’re wondering whether your child is ready for a Wind In The Willows read aloud. You’ll recognise the illustrator as the very same who depicted Winnie-the-Pooh. That said, I can’t resist digging a little deeper into this story, because there is a…
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Mr Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham Analysis
Mr Gumpy’s Outing is a picture book for young readers who are still learning English — a variety of verbs are introduced in a way that will help toddlers to remember them.
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Where’s Spot? concept picture book by Eric Hill Analysis
Concept books exist partly to teach young children basic concepts: ABCs, numbers, colours, opposites, time, size, and in this book, prepositions. Concept books are most often unmemorable. I can tell you at various times our bookshelf has housed cardboard books with the name of a colour on each page, but I got rid of those.…
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Character Empathy In The Breaking Bad Pilot
It is much more effective to act like a nice guy and be “reasonable” if you prove willing to go beyond just verbiage. You can afford to be compassionate, lax, and courteous if, once in a while, when it is least expected of you, but completely justified, you sue someone, or savage an enemy, just…
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Beauty And The Beast Fairy Tale Analysis
Beauty and the Beast is a strongly mythic tale: A girl goes on a journey and ultimately finds her true self. PARATEXT “The Beauty and the Beast” is a tale featuring multiple levels of misogyny and much has already been said about that. For example, Was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Re-Tooled Because Belle Wasn’t Enough Of A…
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Rules Of Summer by Shaun Tan Analysis
On the surface, Shaun Tan’s award-winning picture book Rules Of Summer is simply a list of rules. Below I take a look at how Rules Of Summer is in fact a complete narrative.
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Nannies In Childen’s Literature
What is the difference between nannies and nurses? How do you pick the nanny in the illustrations of books for children? It’s easy for English stories. There was a dress code. According to Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney, Edwardian nannies dressed like this: In the nursery, the nanny wore a…
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The Female Injures Male Trope In Children’s Stories
Female on male violence is often used for comedic effect in storytelling. This holds true even when male on female violence would never fly. Is this a double standard?
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Fathers In Children’s Literature
Across children’s literature, young readers see less of mothers than they do in real life, and, as a type of wish fulfilment, many see more interaction with fictional fathers.
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Islands and Symbolism in Literature
We see islands in the oldest literature we know, from Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Prospero’s Island) to Homer’s The Odyssey (Circe’s Island) to Jason and the Golden Fleece (Lemnos, Doilones, Cius etc). A well-known island from Greek mythology is Ogygia, considered ‘navel of the sea’. This island is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as the home of the nymph…