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The Little Photographer by Daphne du Maurier Short Story Analysis
“The Little Photographer” (1952) is a short crime story by British author Daphne du Maurier. Find it in The Birds and Other Stories, previously published as The Apple Tree collection. Like Rebecca, people of rank are shown to be capable of terrible things.
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Gaston by DiPucchio and Robinson Analysis
Gaston is a picture book written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated in beautiful naive style by Christian Robinson. The colour palette is gorgeous. I liken Gaston to another popular contemporary picture book: Drew Daywalt’s The Day The Crayons Quit. The plots are not at all similar, but they share the same ideological problems, intending to say one thing, inadvertently saying…
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Le Week-end (2013) Storytelling Notes
Le Week-end is a comedy, drama, romance, but not a rom-com — unlike the bulk of romantic/comedy blends this is about a couple on their 30th wedding anniversary, attempting to fall in love with each other again. The promotional material shows the characters laughing, but this is not representative of the mood, which is heavy. The humour is dark. If you’re…
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Hop O’ My Thumb by Charles Perrault
Hop O’ My Thumb is so similar to Hansel and Gretel you might wonder how both co-existed. Both stories have: A time of famine In which the parents decide to leave their children in the woods A trail of pebbles A second abandonment, further into the woods A welcoming cottage in the woods A cannibalistic inhabitant who wants to fatten…
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The Foolish Wishes by Charles Perrault
The Foolish Wishes passed me by as a kid, but there are no shortage of tales about characters granted 3 wishes by some sort of genie/supernatural being.
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Puss In Boots by Charles Perrault Fairy Tale Analysis
These days, modern children are probably most likely to have encountered Puss In Boots in the second Shrek movie. The most resonant scene for us all is probably the bit where Puss is revealed to be a manipulative little bastard, making his eyes big and cute in order to get what he wants. I admit, it’s a real triumph of animation.
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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…