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The Seven Ravens Fairytale Analysis
“The Seven Ravens” is a fairytale collected by the Grimm Brothers. In an earlier time, this tale would emphasise the importance of family, with a moral lesson of obedience and respect towards parents.
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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 readers had young children of…
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Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd Analysis
Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy is a cumulative rhyming picture book written and illustrated by New Zealand storyteller Lynley Dodd.
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Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack by Lynley Dodd Analysis
Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (1999) is a picture book written and illustrated by New Zealand storyteller Lynley Dodd. A duckling saves Hairy’s life. Although many of the Hairy Maclary stories are written with the carnivalesque picture book structure, this one is not. Hairy is not on a fun adventure this time; it is summer, and he wants to sleep. He almost loses his life! Plots like this require the classic Odyssean mythical structure.
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Schnitzel von Krumm Forget-Me-Not by Lynley Dodd Picture Book Analysis
Schnitzel Von Krumm Forget Me Not is the tenth book in Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Maclary series, and was published in 1998. Many of Lynley Dodd’s picture books are told with a carnivalesque structure. Schnitzel von Krumm, Forget-me-not is different. This one is told using classic structure and, in my opinion, is one of the most moving of the Hairy Maclary…
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Veronica by Roger Duvoisin
Veronica is a 1961 picture book by Swiss-American author and illustrator Roger Duvoisin. Some of the illustrations are full colour, others in black marker pen.
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Slinky Malinki, Open The Door by Lynley Dodd
Slinky Malinki (1993) is a rhyming carnivalesque picture book written and illustrated New Zealander Lynley Dodd. This book is an excellent case study in how writers and illustrators might encourage young readers to turn the page. LETTERBOXING AS PAGE TURNER Slinky Malinkiand Stickybeak Sydwere a troublesome pair;do you know what they did?Alone in the houseone mischievous day,they opened a door,and…
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Hairy Maclary, Sit by Lynley Dodd Analysis
Hairy Maclary, Sit! (1997) is a carnivalesque rhyming picture book written and illustrated by New Zealand storyteller Lynley Dodd. The story follows on from the immensely popular Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy (1983).
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Schnitzel von Krumm’s Basketwork by Lynley Dodd Picture Book Analysis
Schnitzel von Krumm’s Basketwork is a children’s picture book by New Zealand author-illustrator Lynley Dodd, first published in 1994. The star and only character of this one is… Schnitzel von Krumm… already familiar from the uber-successful Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. Schnitzel von Krumm of course puts the reader in mind of crumbed schnitzel, a New Zealand pub standard. Speaking…
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Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad: A Case Study In Kindness
Conflict, conflict, conflict. Writers seeking storytelling advice are constantly bombarded with the message: Every story needs conflict; nay, every scene! But is this really true? When advice-givers say ‘conflict’, what are they really talking about? Successful stories don’t need conflict… if conflict means arguing, wrestling and wishing each other dead. Stories need opponents. Here’s the thing about opponents: An opponent…
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Dog, Cat and Baby by Joe R. Lansdale
“Dog, Cat and Baby” is a very short story by Joe R. Lansdale, an American writer born 1951. This story is an excellent example of a double twist ending.
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Bathroom As Horror: Here There Be Tygers by Stephen King
Toilets are inherently scary. This holds true across cultures, even though different cultures (and even genders) experience public toilets differently. Below I take a look at a short horror story by Stephen King with a few examples of toilet horror by other authors, in which the public bathroom is utilised for storytelling purposes as a horror venue. TOILETS AND JAPAN…
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Hunting Dogs In Art and Illustration
These hunting dogs are mostly from 20th century magazines and show the vital role dogs have played in tracking and catching game.
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Cows and Cowboys In Art and Storytelling
A collection of art featuring cows, then some cows with cowboys, leading into some cowboys.
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Crocodiles and Alligators in Art and Storytelling
Sometimes they’re friendly, sometimes foe
