UrbanBaby

06.04.08, 11:36 AM General Topics
18 replies

I am critiquing a children's story for a class. It is a long poem geared toward 5 to 10 year olds. It is about a puppy and, in the very beginning, the puppy's mother gets eaten by a shark. Would this be too dramatic for young children to stomach? A mother getting eaten by a shark, leaving the puppy alone? I was so afraid of sharks when I was little. I used to visualize them coming up at me whenever I swam in the sea. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 06.04.08, 11:36 AM Flag

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This is a published poem? or critiquing for a writing class? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:38 AM Flag

writing class [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:38 AM Flag

Several things seem off about this--5 to 10 yrs old is a really wide age range. This is to be read aloud? published with illustrations? How does a shark eat a dog? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:40 AM Flag

np: I was thinking the same thing. I do think that it's a bit heavy handed with the dead mother tradition of children's stories, but their would need to be plenty of setting or plot devel. for a dog to be plausibly eaten by a shark. Sounds like shock for shock value. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:43 AM Flag

sorry "there" not "their". Would you believe me if I said I confused the two after reading about 50 final papers? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:45 AM Flag

wouldn't phase my 5 yo. he loves preadators. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 01:20 PM Flag

^^oops, predators. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 01:20 PM Flag

5 yr olds? yes. Okay for 10, big diff betw the two [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:40 AM Flag

Are you familiar with every Disney story? All of them have dead mothers. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:44 AM Flag

I think this is so that there can be plot development-- if the mother is alive, she saves everyone and solves all problems and then it becomes a boring story [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:48 AM Flag

my mom is so not a Disney mother. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:55 AM Flag

i agree that may be the reason - to empower the child to be the hero, but its still a weird thing once you are aware of it. such a strange message. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 12:02 PM Flag

isn't this what happened in Finding Nemo? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:51 AM Flag

the poem version? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:52 AM Flag

Read this - Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim - a child psychologist who analyzes how children interpret stories. Very often the death of the mother is symbolic of growing up and gaining independence, a scary but important transition for kids. I don't think kids should be sheilded from everything - working through these feelings while listening to and interpreting stories helps get them ready for the reality later in their lives...the reality of going off on their own, not the death of their mother. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 11:57 AM Flag

Don't like Bettelheim [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 01:18 PM Flag

horrible image to put in kids' heads. [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 12:01 PM Flag

like in Pinocchio when Geppeto gets eaten by the whale (or shark, depending on the interpretation)? [ Reply | More

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General Topics 06.04.08, 01:22 PM Flag