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Cannibalism in Storytelling
If you wanted to create a scary monster, the scariest ever, how would you go about it?
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Rufus and the Blackberry Monster by Lisa Stubbs Analysis
1999 in picture books was the year of monsters in the forest. Jez Alborough was finishing up his bear series about a massive toy bear, actually harmless. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler released their phenomenal hit The Gruffalo. Rufus and the Blackberry Monster by Lisa Stubbs is part of the same family. Comparisons between this story and The Gruffalo are…
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There’s A Crocodile Under My Bed! by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert Analysis
There’s A Crocodile Under My Bed! is a picture book written and illustrated by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert. First published in 1980, that makes this classic forty years old. There are a large number of picture books about creatures lurking under beds, and many similar titles out there. The most widely known is Mercer Meyer’s There’s An Alligator Under My…
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Monster Pet! by McAllister and Middleton Analysis
Monster Pet! is a 2005 picture book written by Angela McAllister and illustrated by Charlotte Middleton. The story is designed to get young readers thinking about the responsibility of caring for a sentient creature. A body swap plot is used to that end, though I suspect more empathy derives from the facial expressions on the poor little locked up mouse than from the body swap experience, which in a picture book, challenges the adult book-buyer’s ideas of what a picture book should do; This one is slightly creepy. The School Library Journal had this to say:
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Vampire Terminology
A list of words and concepts related to vampires. First, what do we mean by ‘vampire’?
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Zombie Terminology
Why all the zombies in stories? Zombies have unlimited potential as metaphor. Historically, storytellers have used zombies to explore tensions between conservative and progressive values. The zombies themselves represent widespread cultural anxieties of their era. Some storytellers use zombie stories to reinforce the status quo while progressive storytellers use zombies to critique it. Watching the anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown protests in other…
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My Neighbour Totoro Storytelling
My Neighbour Totoro (1988), from Japan’s Studio Ghibli, is one of the few genuinely child centred films in existence. In contrast, most films out of DreamWorks and Pixar contain dual levels of meaning, including jokes only the adult co-viewer will understand, or emotional layers inaccessible to children. For instance, in Toy Story 3 Andy says goodbye to his childhood when…
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Notes On A Quiet Place Film
A Quiet Place is a suspenseful 2018 film directed by John Krasinski, also starring John Krasinski. John Kransinski shares a writing credit with two other guys. A Quiet Place is one of those films where if you see the trailer, you’ve seen the whole film. So don’t watch the trailer if you intend to see the film. Don’t read this…
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The Ritual (2017) Film Study
“The Ritual” is a horror film directed by David Bruckner, adapted by Joe Barton from Adam Nevill’s novel. Although this film is pretty standard in its tropes and structure, the CGI monster makes the viewing experience truly scary. This article says more about the monster and its basis in Swedish folklore.
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Giants and Ogres In Storytelling
Giants and ogres are central archetypes in the fairytale cast. Though similar, they’re not exactly the same.
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Transmogrification In Storytelling
Transmogrification in storytelling has a long history. Today it can be seen across different types of story in many permutations.
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The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Analysis
The Gruffalo is an example of mythic structure, which has been super successful as a story structure across cultures for the last 3000 years.