My aim is to produce a children’s book that explores and applies theories related to children’s fiction aiding emotional, intellectual and moral development. During my research I found a number of studies suggesting that activities such as parent and child discussion and imaginative play help children to assimilate lessons into their own experiences. As these theories are not directly linked to how the books are written and illustrated I have tried to explore them in the text rather than apply them. The theories I have tried to apply to the narrative are realism, complexity and ambiguity. These three storytelling practices are thought to encourage the development especially when combined with conversation and play.
I chose to use the Labours of Hercules as a basis for my story and after story boarding decided to concentrate on one of the labours, The Lernean Hydra. To make the story more realistic and appropriate the trial is no longer to kill the hydra, but for the little girl in the story to catch some worms so her dad can go fishing. Her dad jokingly says “make sure you get some really big ones”, and the girls imagination starts to imagine giant terrifying worms she with have to battle with. She sets off out on her mission helped by her imaginary friend. Together they explore possible ways they could defeat the worms. The imaginary friend suggesting outrageous fantastic mythical ideas and the little girl using logic to play out how they would work in real life (badly). My research suggests that children use imaginative play to act out possible scenarios and measure them against what they see in their real lives, the play is essentially a form of science experiment. I want to use the dialogue between the girl and her imaginary friend to explore this idea.
They eventually realise the the worms are much smaller than they thought and not at all scary. I have tried to use perspective to play with the scale throughout the book. They manage to catch a whole bucket full of worms and should be happy but the girl feels bad for the worms and doesn’t want them to be used as bait. She decides to tell her dad she lost the worms even though it means she will have failed the labour and he will be unhappy. She secretly keeps the worms in her room and feels good, until she sees her dad sat at home feeling sad that he can’t go fishing. It is unclear at the end whether she is happy or sad, or what the right decision was.
I have tried to demonstrate complexity of emotion with the little girls uncertainty, initially about the task but then about her own decisions. Complexity in the illustrations by changing perspectives and using the characters to portray the variety of emotions. I have tried to demonstrate realism through the characters interactions and range of emotions, by taking a mythical tale and making it something more mundane and easier to relate to and by using ambiguity, there is no moral message only an attempt to encourage conversation. Did she make the right choice? Is there a right choice?
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