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Nothing's funnier when you're five than someone being eaten by a bear. We used to sing in school...
Algie met the bear.
The bear met Algie.
The bear was bulgy.
The bulge was Algie.
I saw a picture book version once, with pictures of the bulgy bear. I knew an adult had drawn it because it was so tame. If they'd asked the class to illustrate the song, there'd have been blood. Possibly a severed limb next to the bear.
Of course, it was only funny as fiction. A real bear would be scary and a real Algie wouldn't deserve to be eaten, even if he was a bit grumpy. We understood it was make-believe.
Gory stories carried on though school. I loved Roald Dahl as a child (and I still do). He had no qualms about nasty things happening to children. It was okay, because they only happened to bad children. The nice children would be fine.
This fascination with the gory side of life isn't always approved of by adults. There's been a move to sanitise children's stories for a long time. As a fan of the cautionary tale with over-the-top punishment, I think this is a bad thing. It's also a pity that such tales are difficult to retell for adults, because all stories where children come to harm are banned in an increasing number of markets. In the quest to stop graphic child abuse stories, the cautionary tale* has also been eaten by a bear.
At times I have to wonder, if a five year old knows not to take them seriously, why would a thirty five year old take them seriously? Perhaps people forget how they viewed these tales as a child.
I haven't forgotten. My bear's got blood.
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* Not all such stories are centred around children of course. Those that do tend to be a caution to listen to the advice of elders. An adult character isn't as fitting for that theme.
6 comments:
Gross stuff was cool! There was nothing better as a kid than begging my Mom for some gummy worms, and then trying to make her squirm when I ate them.
Sadly, I didn't really start reading until I got to college, so I missed a lot of great books growing up.
Parents do seem to be taking some things too serious today. I know my folks fit the American stereotype of: Violence ok. Nudity bad.
My Dad took me to see "Rambo 2" in the theater, but years later, after renting "Another 48 hours," I was grounded because it showed a boob. He told me I shouldn't be watching rated R movies. Talk about mixed signals.
Yep. Jelly tastes so much better when it's worm-shaped. And on Hallowe'en, they sell blood red ones. So it's like you're eating worms made out of blood. But everyone's allowed to like icky stuff on Hallowe'en, so that's okay.
Your artwork is classic. If I am ever having a bad day, I just have to come here, and my world is so much brighter.
It's so funny how little kids notice violence in their stories (unless it is against animals. If you want to make a villian immediately noticable in a children's book, have him hurt an animal first). But they are extremely sensitive to other things. Right and wrong, especially. I love writing for kids. They are such an amazing group.
The right and wrong thing is important. If kind and gentle Sally gets eaten by a bear, they're throwing your book. Children's fiction is something I'd like to get into sometime, but I'm inflicting my practise writing on adults first.
I'm glad you like the pictures!
It's funny you mention a bear. When my brother was little (yes, about five or so) we had to share a room. I would tell him stories of "the big bear" who would stalk the room in the night looking for food.
So he would be too scared to sleep in his own bed and would end up in mine, all curled up with the covers over his head, while I told more stories of the big bear.
I'm not sure whether I traumatized the kid for life or gave him an appreciation for horror fiction. He loves those kinds of books now.
I'm guessing the latter or he'd flee from scary stories! I was told if I was noisy when out at night, a griffin would eat me. I don't hold it against the griffins.
I'm not a big fan of adult horror. I like implied horror rather than hack and slash stuff, but it seems increasingly hard to find.
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