Childrens story – EXSM 3989 – Digital Storytelling Class Blog

Balloons, Wizardry, and a Villain Oh My!

If you loved princesses, magic and balloons as a child of the 90’s then The Balloon Tree was likely on your bookshelf. The children’s storybook written and illustrated by Phoebe Gillman the author widely known for her popular children’s book Jillian Jiggs, also created a story that engaged children with a princess in peril, a villain and a wizard that comes to her rescue with a spell.

Rather than give a synopsis, the following outline of the book will be conveyed using the method of the story spine structure created in 1991 by Kenn Adams, detailing the main elements of the story. The story spine to The Balloon Tree is as follows:

Once upon a time there was a princess, Leona, who lived in a hilltop kingdom with her father the king.

Every day, the happy princess loved to sing, dance, and play with balloon which the castle was always full of.

But one day, an invitation arrived for the King summoning him and his knights to a Royal Tournament.

Because of that, the evil Archduke was put in charge of the kingdom.

Because of that, the Archduke ordered all the balloons in the kingdom to be destroyed and the princess be locked in her room.

Because of that, Leona escaped her room via a secret passageway and asked the wizard for help in creating more balloons to signal her father home.

Because of that, the wizard gave Leona a spell for the tree in the garden to produce more balloons.

Because of that, Leona searched the kingdom for a balloon to cast the spell, and was triumphant.

Because of that, balloons started sprouting from the tree filling the lands with balloons.

Until finally, the king saw a balloon at the edge of the forest and rushed home to rescue his daughter and townspeople from the Archduke.

And ever since then, the townspeople have been joyous and the Archduke has been in the dungeon blowing up balloons.

Much like a Disney movie the main character lived in a kingdom far, far away and was in distress. However, this story resonated with me not only due to my love of balloons as a child, but that the main character was a young girl. Unlike many movies and tales whose protagonist was an adult, Leona was a child who was very brave and able to be her own heroine. No knight or prince came to her rescue as often depicted in stories. A cleaver little boy did help her in time of need, and the wizard provided her a solution, but she was able to fulfill her mission of signaling her father by her own tenacity. “If the premise or character is relatable than the reader will be attached to the story due to the emotional tie” stated Social Media Strategist Linda Hoang in her lecture for Digital Storytelling and following Pixar artist Emma Coats rules 1 & 4 of storytelling. As a young child I was connected to the princesses character wanting to be savvy problem-solver, but also dependent on others for assistance. I was unaware of the term ‘girl power’ as I read this story for the first time in my grade two classroom, retrieving the book from a bin in the “read to self” corner of the room. However, I certainly retained the sense of empowerment and checked the book out of the library to continue reading it at home until my parents purchased me a copy which I have since gifted to my cousins children. This book has become an enduring favourite in their household as well. It entangles the concepts of courage, guidance and teamwork to achieve freedom. If you would like to add a copy to your children’s literary collection it can be purchased via Amazon or Chapters/Indigo.

The Boy Who Would Never Grow Up

“To live would be an awfully big adventure”
J.M. Barrie

Ah, the story of Neverland. I spent my childhood wearing out the book of Peter Pan, reading of his adventures and often imaging my own if I were ever to find my way to Neverland. As I got a bit older, I found myself captivated in a new but familiar story: Hook.

“Look Mom! It’s Neverland!” I smile and point as we drive by a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia, nearly two decades later.

Throughout the tale, the author does not fall short painting vivid colours of the turquoise sea that hugs the island of Neverland. You can almost feel Tinkerbell’s fairydust tickling your face as she flies around. It’s safe to say that there is no lack of “Colour, Picture & Movement” (as Ashley Fell describes being key in every story on her Ted Talks).

The Story Spine

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Peter Pan, I will help break it down for you using the elements of a story spine

Beginning: The story begins in London, where the Darling children (Wendy, Michael and John) are telling stories of Peter and Neverland.

The Event: One day, Peter Pan visits Wendy’s window while he looks for his shadow. He convinces the children to come back to Neverland with him.

The Middle:

Peter’s best friend Tinkerbell the fairy becomes jealous of Wendy. She tries unsuccessfully to have Peter’s nemesis Captain Hook shoot and kill Wendy.
John and Michael go with the Lost Boys to find the island’s “Indians”, who instead capture them, believing them responsible for taking the chief’s daughter Tiger Lily.
Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids, they see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily, to coerce her into revealing Peter’s hideout. Peter and Wendy free her.

Climax: Hook takes advantage of Tinker Bell’s jealousy of Wendy. Tinkerbell reveals location of Peter’s hide-out. The pirates capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings and leave behind a bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.

The End: Peter rescues Tinker Bell and together they confront the pirates, and release the children. Peter fights Hook and wins. Hook and his crew flee. Peter returns the children to London.

J.M Barrie first wrote the tale of Peter Pan in the early 1900’s asking his readers “What does it mean to never grow up?”

As concluded is the article “Beyond the 5 W’s” we can clearly see what driving question the author has highlighted in his story.

What are the classic “5 W’s of Writing” in Peter Pan:

Who (Peter Pan, Lost Boys, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Capt. Hook)
What (Growing up Vs. Staying young)
When (Mid 1900’s)
Where (London and fictional Neverland)
Why (Better explained by J.M Barrie)

What can also unfortunately be highlighted in this story is the authors lack to ” Ensure the story is fair to the people and ideas it represents“

Like many Disney stories of it’s time, there is much to be learned about how NOT to tell a story. The description used in Peter Pan when referring to the “Indians” of the island leave me wondering how a parent would explain these points to their own children. In this article: https://www.fatherly.com/play/peter-pan-is-the-boy-who-never-stopped-by-racist/ you can find some interesting points discussed on the topic.

I’d like to ask you, do you think that the “four I’s” of writing are included in this story?

Interesting
Involve
Instruct
Inspire

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