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How Teaching School Is Different From The Movies
An English teacher I had at school couldn’t stand that Robin Williams movie, Dead Poet’s Society. The ideal of the enthusiastic teacher jumping about on all the desks, monologuing center stage gave him the shits, I was surprised to learn. Then, when I was at teachers’ college myself, I remember the tutor saying a few times,…
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The American School System: A guide for those from Down Under
Down Under, we grow up reading American books and watching American TV, so the following words are familiar even if we don’t use them ourselves. That said, our language and culture is borrowing more and more from North America. High schools often have faculties now instead of departments, and I’ve heard teenagers start to say…
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The Symbolism Of Cardinal Direction
The cardinal directions — north, east, south and west — have quite different associations in each culture around the world. This article focuses on the Western literary tradition, which is heavily influenced by the Bible. One commonality across ancient traditions: cardinal directions are in some way sacred. Many traditions have rules and guidelines around which…
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Drawing Development And Children
The above picture was drawn by my eight-year-old. According to Gaston Bachelard, who quotes psychologists of his era, door knobs are a good sign. The Psychology Behind Drawings By Children Asking a child to draw his house is asking him to reveal the deepest dream shelter he has found for his happiness. If he is happy,…
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“Gypsies” In Classic Children’s Literature
As always, the term Gypsy is a source of massive debate within the Romany community. Many Romani have reclaimed the term and use it to fight back against oppression. As is their right! Many Romani cannot stand the sight or sound of it, for valid reasons! Roma Unraveled What did Enid Blyton and E. Nesbit…
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Absent Parents In Children’s Literature
One job for children’s authors is to get adults out of the way so child characters can solve their own problems. “There are an awful lot of books about ‘I love you mummy’. ‘Yes, I love you, too, darling little bear!’ I’m not saying there’s not a place for those, but there’s so many books…
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Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 1941 Analysis
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…
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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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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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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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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
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…