Lionni’s Little Blue and Little Yellow: The joy of the encounter

Little blue and little yellow is a narration through images. In this article, the iconic language and the verbal language are analysed. As for the visual code, it discusses the illustration’s task of this picture book and the verbal code with so minimalist amount of words. This verbal code offers the possibility of recognising a linear narrative structure for children’s tales. On the other hand, the value of diversity is exposed, because the metaphoric image is open to different interpretations. All in all, to rediscover the concept of identity construction, taking into account that gender stereotypes are being defined at early years

La fantasía infantil y el rol del padre en Un monstruo viene a verme. De la novela al cine

A Monster Calls, a novel by Patrick Ness, is based on the original idea of Siobhan Dowd, and it was adapted to the cinema by J.A. Bayona in 2016. This article explores how the cinematographic language presents the figure of the father. The study is based on the method of analysis based on the theories of Aumont and Marie and Lavandier. We will analyse the father's role in relation to the child and the family structure, and we will see how the father’s non-presence creates alternative survival situations for the child. Analysis tools will be used to establish a criterion to examine the father’s character, with the support of the shooting script, the storyboard and the novel

Women’s Voices in Digital Storytelling During the Pandemic: A Case Study in English Literature Classes

During lockdown in 2020, in English Literature class, 4th year students majoring in Primary Education had to create stories in which optional male or female characters were allowed. Some conditions were pre-established: thus stories had to be digital and able to be used in online classes with primary pupils. Also, the stories had to follow a determined narrative structure. As a third condition, it was recommended to be aware of the fairness of using female protagonists, as well as male, and give it a thought before choosing either one or the other. This paper will explain the methodology, explain the participants’ digital contributions and show the results with some analysis of the students’ creations

La dona fatal en el cinema espanyol, 1939-1951

La Tesi doctoral "La dona fatal en el cinema espanyol, 1939-1951" és un estudi detallat del personatge cinematogràfic de la dona fatal. L'objectiu és demostrar l'existència de la dona fatal en el cinema dels anys quaranta, en un període amb una fèrria censura que sembla no permetre l'expressió en les arts si no és per beneficiar el règim imperant. En aquest estudi, es fa referència inicialment al marc teòric que preveu el personatge. Des d'una perspectiva històrica, artística i social. Es fa un repàs del cinema anterior a la dècada d'estudi per establir unes bases del personatge, cosa que es fa en el cinema espanyol però també, i sense ànim d'exhaustivitat, en aquells cinemes que es consideren influents per aquest cinema. L1avors, es realitza una anàlisi exhaustiva del cinema espanyol des de l'any 1939 fins l'any 1951, fent recerca bibliogràfica, hemerogràfica i filmogràfica per tal de determinar els tipus de dona fatal existents en el període d'estudi. Després de determinar els films que contenen del personatge, fem una anàlisi fílmica dels films i una anàlisi en profunditat de set films que creiem representen el corpus definit en la nostra recerca. D'aquesta manera, arribem a assolir els objectius que ens proposem a l'inici de la recerca.La tesis doctoral "La mujer fatal en el cine español, 1939-1951", es un estudio detallado del personaje cinematográfico de la mujer fatal. El objetivo es demostrar la existencia de la mujer fatal en el cine de los años cuarenta, en un periodo de férrea censura que parece no permitir la expresión de las artes si no es para beneficiar al régimen imperante. Al principio de este estudio, se hace referencia al marco teórico que prevé el personaje. Esto se realiza desde una perspectiva histórica, artística y social. Seguidamente, se hace un repaso del cine anterior a la década de estudio para establecer unas bases del personaje. Este breve repaso, sin ánimo de exhaustividad, se realiza en los cines que se consideran influyentes para el cine español; también se realiza en el cine español anterior a la década de estudio. Entonces, se realiza un análisis exhaustivo del cine español desde el año 1939 hasta el año 1951, realizando investigación bibliográfica, hemerográfica y filmográfica para determinar el tipo de mujer fatal existente en el periodo de estudio. Después de determinar los films contenedores del personaje, realizamos un análisis fílmico de las películas y un análisis en profundidad de los siete films que creemos que representan el corpus definido en nuestra investigación. De esta forma, llegamos a cumplir los objetivos que nos proponemos al empezar la investigación.This Phd Thesis "The Fatal Woman in Spanish Cinema, 1939-1951", is a detailed study of the cinema character of the fatal woman, The main objective is to demonstrate that the fatal woman was present in the movies of the forties, in spite of the censorship to the artistic representations that seemed only to ease when it was useful to the dictatorship. To begin with, the study refers to the theoretical basis that previews the character. This is done through a historical, artistic and social prespective. Next, there is a summary of the previous cinema in order to establish the cinematic basis of the character. This brief summary, with no aim of exhaustivity, refers to those cinemas which influence Spanish cinema; it is also done for previous Spanish cinema which is mostly silent cinema. Then, an exhaustive analysis is realized of the Spanish cinema between 1939 and 1951. Research is done on bibliography, hemerography and filmography to determine the films which contain the character. After that, a deep analysis is done on 7 chosen films which the author takes as representative of the period of study. Therefore, we accomplish the objectives we established at the beginning of the research

An Editor in the Creative Process: Denise Johnstone-Burt in Anthony Browne's Into the Forest

Denise Johnstone-Burt has been Anthony Browne’s editor for many years and she has been by his side in the creative process of many of his picture books. In this article, the work of Johnstone-Burt is examined through the analysis of Browne’s Into the forest. It explores the concept of a good publisher and it answers the question of what it is a good book and what special features a children’s book should include. The iconic and narrative analysis of Into the forest will be seconded by Johnstone-Burt’s contributions

How to teach creativity and didactics to write children’s stories with a pedagogical aim. A case study of an international blended course

The Faculty of Education at UVic-UCC and the Department of Education at UNIRomaTre have organized an international blended course embedded in the Laboratory of English Language for pre-service Primary teachers in their 5th year in Roma Tre every semester for the last three years. The course aimed to foster creativity and language competences in pre-service teachers in their final year while providing them with methodological skills and examples of active engagement in creativity sessions. Task-based activities ranged from self-assessment questionnaires to story writing, making the Lab a sort of hub for innovative strategies and practices in language teaching using creative writing. The objective was to enable pre-service teachers to learn how to write good stories for primary school pupils learning English as a Second/Foreign language, starting from the narrative structures and base-chain given and complying to all the elements required. The outputs collected, currently under research (based on a quali-quantitative approach), were meant as an assessment for the students. As for the clues for assessment/results, six items were evaluated, so to explore the extent of the students’ creativity and understand how they interpreted the potential of using stories to develop linguistic awareness and extra-linguistic competences in their pupils: the narrative structure chosen, the pupils’ age, the protagonist’s gender, the type of protagonists, the format of the stories, the language used. Fulfilling the initial hopes concerning the level of English of the trainee teachers (B2 by law in Italy and in Spain to obtain the qualification to teach at primary school) final recommendations were suggested. The SL/FL and creativity teaching and learning strategies implemented have proven effective also in conveying intercultural and inclusive attitudes (Leproni 2020), representing motivating challenges to tackle the future teachers’ reflective competences in a life-long learning perspective

Lionni's Little Blue and Little Yellow: The Joy of the Encounter

Little blue and little yellow is a narration through images. In this article, the iconic language and the verbal language are analysed. As for the visual code, it discusses the illustration’s task of this picture book and the verbal code with so minimalist amount of words. This verbal code offers the possibility of recognising a linear narrative structure for children’s tales. On the other hand, the value of diversity is exposed, because the metaphoric image is open to different interpretations. All in all, to rediscover the concept of identity construction, taking into account that gender stereotypes are being defined at early years

How to teach creativity and didactics to write children’s stories with a pedagogical aim. A case study of an international blended course

The Faculty of Education at UVic-UCC and the Department of Education at UNIRomaTre have organized an international blended course embedded in the Laboratory of English Language for pre-service Primary teachers in their 5th year in Roma Tre every semester for the last three years. The course aimed to foster creativity and language competences in pre-service teachers in their final year while providing them with methodological skills and examples of active engagement in creativity sessions. Task-based activities ranged from self-assessment questionnaires to story writing, making the Lab a sort of hub for innovative strategies and practices in language teaching using creative writing. Before starting Unit 3, dedicated to storytelling, students answered an individual questionnaire investigating previous knowledge on the topic. Students were then asked to write a story for children in English, in groups, with the imagined purpose of using it in a class of their own, discussing the steps of the task on the Lab online forum. Following the teacher’s guidelines, students were challenged to reflect on different structures and innovative strategies in storytelling sessions as both learners and trainee-teachers. The objective was to enable pre-service teachers to learn how to write good stories for primary school pupils learning English as a Second/Foreign language, starting from the narrative structures and base-chain given and complying to all the elements required The outputs collected, currently under research (based on a quali-quantitative approach), were meant as an assessment for the students. As for the clues for assessment/results, six items were evaluated, so to explore the extent of the students’ creativity and understand how they interpreted the potential of using stories to develop linguistic awareness and extra-linguistic competences in their pupils The SL/FL and creativity teaching and learning strategies implemented have proven effective also in conveying intercultural and inclusive attitudes (Leproni 2020), representing motivating challenges to tackle the future teachers’ reflective competences in a life-long learning perspectiv