Title Grandad's Gifts
Author Paul Jennings
Illustrations Peter Gouldthorpe
Year 1992
Paul Jennings is a widely known and respected children’s author who writes weird and funny stories that make kids laugh. Mr Jennings uses feelings and memories from his own childhood to make interesting stories that children can relate to.
Granddads Gifts tells a chilling story of a young boy Shane who moves into his Grandad’s old and very rundown house after his death. Shane moves into his Grandad’s old room, the room his father had lived in for 19 years before him. Shane makes a promise not to open an old wardrobe, his father had kept the same promise his whole childhood. The cupboard is always kept locked but something inside Shane makes him yearn to see what is inside. "I put my eye to the keyhole but everything was black. I sniffed under the gap at the bottom of the door. It was musty and dusty. Something silent inside seemed to call me., "Shane, Shane, Shane..."'
The story moves on to tell of how Shane opens the cupboard only to discover a fox pelt that was formally a gift for his late grandmother. The fox pelt is lifeless until Shane places a lemon in its mouth every night. Shane begins to see changes and signs of life. The story continues to build ambiguity and will leave you thinking could this be...
Grandads Gifts demonstrates a key theme of promise "we should not make promises we cannot keep". The boy Shane is unable to keep the promise that his father kept for nineteen years. Shane yearns to learn what is in the cupboard and can not keep the promise of his family.
The Appraisal System is evident throughout this text with the use of evaluative language. Negative connotations are used to give the reader an insight into Shane's opinion and judgment of the old house. "Small" and "dusty", "bushes that choked the paths and strangled the trees", “musty smells” and “creepy room” are words used to describe how Shane negatively evaluates the qualities of his new home. The author has used sentences that quote Shane’s thoughts and allow the reader inside Shane's head, “this time I thought I saw two points of light twinkle in the darkness” and “I thought it moved.” “It seemed to sigh.” The text intersects well with the chilling images that will leave you in anticipation as to what’s in the cupboard.
Author Paul Jennings
Illustrations Peter Gouldthorpe
Year 1992
Paul Jennings is a widely known and respected children’s author who writes weird and funny stories that make kids laugh. Mr Jennings uses feelings and memories from his own childhood to make interesting stories that children can relate to.
Granddads Gifts tells a chilling story of a young boy Shane who moves into his Grandad’s old and very rundown house after his death. Shane moves into his Grandad’s old room, the room his father had lived in for 19 years before him. Shane makes a promise not to open an old wardrobe, his father had kept the same promise his whole childhood. The cupboard is always kept locked but something inside Shane makes him yearn to see what is inside. "I put my eye to the keyhole but everything was black. I sniffed under the gap at the bottom of the door. It was musty and dusty. Something silent inside seemed to call me., "Shane, Shane, Shane..."'
The story moves on to tell of how Shane opens the cupboard only to discover a fox pelt that was formally a gift for his late grandmother. The fox pelt is lifeless until Shane places a lemon in its mouth every night. Shane begins to see changes and signs of life. The story continues to build ambiguity and will leave you thinking could this be...
Grandads Gifts demonstrates a key theme of promise "we should not make promises we cannot keep". The boy Shane is unable to keep the promise that his father kept for nineteen years. Shane yearns to learn what is in the cupboard and can not keep the promise of his family.
The Appraisal System is evident throughout this text with the use of evaluative language. Negative connotations are used to give the reader an insight into Shane's opinion and judgment of the old house. "Small" and "dusty", "bushes that choked the paths and strangled the trees", “musty smells” and “creepy room” are words used to describe how Shane negatively evaluates the qualities of his new home. The author has used sentences that quote Shane’s thoughts and allow the reader inside Shane's head, “this time I thought I saw two points of light twinkle in the darkness” and “I thought it moved.” “It seemed to sigh.” The text intersects well with the chilling images that will leave you in anticipation as to what’s in the cupboard.
Peter
Gouldthorpe has created images that bring the text to life and develop an interpersonal relationship between the reader and the main participant Shane. The social or medium life like images allow the reader to see and imagine the setting of the old house and drop into Shane’s world. Different angles of
vision cause the viewer to look up or down on the participant reflecting
different levels of power. The illustrator has made great use of creating 'gaps' for the reader to fill, this is seen in the image where Shane opens the cupboard and the viewer is provoked to infer what Shane is reacting to. The colours used are realistic, evoking an emotional
response between the reader and the participant. The gaze of the main
participant Shane is mostly indirect allowing the viewer to observe the
situation and make up their own mind. The illustrator has used non- transactional reactional processes, indicated when Shane's eyes are directed toward what the reader would infer to be the fox, although the fox is not in the same image. The images show strong body language
postures that represent the feelings of the participant and give the reader an
insight into how scared Shane is when he first opens the cupboard. Peter Gouldthorpe uses foreshadowing within the images and this is evident on many pages where the image of the fox hidden in objects such as the wood grain of the cupboard. These symbols give the reader clues as to what might happen at the end of the story. The realistic images have given this story new life.
I would strongly recommend this book to people who like short stories with illustrations that keep you wanting more. The language in the text would be suitable for children above eight years of age. The vivid images could be a little scary for some children below this age.
I made Text to Self connections to the story because it reminded me of when my family moved into an old house. My favourite character is Shane because he is not scared to look in the wardrobe.
I would strongly recommend this book to people who like short stories with illustrations that keep you wanting more. The language in the text would be suitable for children above eight years of age. The vivid images could be a little scary for some children below this age.
I made Text to Self connections to the story because it reminded me of when my family moved into an old house. My favourite character is Shane because he is not scared to look in the wardrobe.