-
Literary Dogs
I almost always hate when pets are described in books. Unless they’re like Vincent from Lost & integral to plot, I prefer to ignore them. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up w/ pets, but I mean – everyone likes their pet & they’re all the same, so why bother pointing them out? It’s like “flowers are pretty” or “babies love their…
-
Z Is For Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky Picture Book Analysis
Kate de Goldi discusses Z Is For Moose on Radio New Zealand and has trouble not laughing. (This is what made me buy the book.) There is something inherently funny about a moose. Is it the bulbous snout, or the slightly onomatopoeic name? (I’m not sure what real-world sound the word ‘moose’ makes, but it should, shouldn’t it?) See also: Inherently…
-
Mr Chicken Goes To Paris by Leigh Hobbs Analysis
Mr Chicken Goes To Paris is a carnivalesque picture book about a chicken who goes to Paris on holiday. For a whiff of the Foreign, film makers often turn to France and especially Paris. The same is true in children’s films, from “Ratatouille” to “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” And the same is true in children’s books. Jerry Griswold, Paris in…
-
Gorilla by Anthony Browne Picture Book Analysis
Gorilla is the book that made Anthony Browne’s name as a creator of postmodern picture books. It was awarded the Kurt Maschler Award (1982-1999), which specifically rewarded British picture books demonstrating excellent integration between words and pictures. WHAT HAPPENS IN GORILLA? A girl called Hannah — about 6 or 7 years old — feels that her father doesn’t spend any…
-
Guess Who’s Coming For Dinner? Picture Book Analysis
Guess Who’s Coming For Dinner is one of my all-time favourite picture books and funnily enough, it has been created by a husband and wife team. Some of the very best picture books are obviously created with a lot of collaboration between writer and illustrator, and it amazes me that so many (also good) picture books are created without writer…
-
Where Is The Green Sheep? Picture Book Analysis
A very popular Australian picture book. Looks so simple. But what’s the secret sauce?
-
Wolves by Emily Gravett Picture Book Analysis
A very cute rabbit checks out a book from the library. The book is called Wolves. As rabbit reads the book, the wolf ’emerges from’ the book (or maybe it doesn’t), coming closer and closer to the rabbit as the rabbit gets scareder and scareder. Finally, we see an extreme close up of a scary wolf looking at rabbit from behind.…
-
Naturalistic Animal Behaviour and Picturebooks
This week our local agricultural group sent an email containing the following information: Warning: Fox Attacks on Chickens. In the last few days, 9 chickens have been killed by foxes in Centre St and Daffodil St at 3 properties between 3am and 4am. The fox is able to climb fences 6m in height. Sid Drumstick lost his entire flock in one night. Chicken owners need to keep chickens fully…
-
Why So Many Animals In Picture Books?
There are many reasons why storytellers sometimes use anthropomorphised animals as characters in very human stories. Here’s a list.