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A boy wants to play with his exciting new video game but keeps being interrupted by members of his family who bring him back to reality. The interruptions are reflected in the on-going playing of the game.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille.
Works about this Work
-
Metafictional Play in Children's Fiction
1998
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 8 no. 3 1998; (p. 5-15)Grieve examines the role of metafiction in children's literature and its reliance on reader participation and interaction, by looking at textual strategies that construct the 'game' as text or fiction. These strategies include structuring the narrative around the rules of an actual game, constructing either the physical book or the text as a game, and/or representing characters as 'players in a game' (5). The discussion is a response to critics who question the value of child-focused metafictional texts and of narrative techniques that demystify fictional illusions (such as multiple narrative endings, unreliable narrators and characters, linguistic play, and the reworking of established literary codes and conventions through parody and intertextuality).
Grieve explores a number of texts based on the 'interrogative or metafictional play' and self-reflexivity the narratives offer, which, she argues, 'makes the reader aware of the interplay between reality and illusion' (6). As well as novels from the UK and the USA, Grieves discusses a number of Australian texts: Power and Glory (Emily Rodda and Geoff Kelly), Beyond the Labyrinth (Gillian Rubinstein), Inventing Anthony West (Gary Crew), and The Water Tower (Gary Crew and Steven Woolman).
Metafiction challenges the dominant humanist literary tradition, which posits 'stable, knowable texts' (5), by 'problematizing mimetic illusion' and questioning the 'nature and existence of reality, the creation of literary universes and the nature of human artefacts' (13). This is the value of metafictive narratives for children that Grieve elucidates and ultimately supports.
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Untitled
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 39 no. 3 1995; (p. 20)
— Review of Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book -
Children's Book Council of Australia Annual Awards 1995 : Judges' Report
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 39 no. 3 1995; (p. 2-10) -
Who Says Picture Books are Just for Kids?
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 January 1995; (p. 5)
— Review of The Watertower 1994 single work picture book ; Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book -
Ten Little Australians for Middle-Aged Children
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , November vol. 7 no. 3-4 1995; (p. 10-11)
— Review of Foxspell 1994 single work novel ; The White Guinea-Pig 1994 single work novel ; Somewhere Around the Corner 1994 single work children's fiction ; Jake and Pete 1995 selected work children's fiction ; Way Home 1994 single work picture book ; Featherbys 1993 single work novel ; A Bit of a Hitch 1995 selected work children's fiction ; The Magic Caravan 1995 single work children's fiction ; Ark in the Park 1994 single work children's fiction ; Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book ; The White Guinea-Pig 1994 single work novel
-
Ten Little Australians for Middle-Aged Children
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , November vol. 7 no. 3-4 1995; (p. 10-11)
— Review of Foxspell 1994 single work novel ; The White Guinea-Pig 1994 single work novel ; Somewhere Around the Corner 1994 single work children's fiction ; Jake and Pete 1995 selected work children's fiction ; Way Home 1994 single work picture book ; Featherbys 1993 single work novel ; A Bit of a Hitch 1995 selected work children's fiction ; The Magic Caravan 1995 single work children's fiction ; Ark in the Park 1994 single work children's fiction ; Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book ; The White Guinea-Pig 1994 single work novel -
Who Says Picture Books are Just for Kids?
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 January 1995; (p. 5)
— Review of The Watertower 1994 single work picture book ; Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book -
Untitled
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 39 no. 3 1995; (p. 20)
— Review of Power and Glory 1994 single work picture book -
Children's Book Council of Australia Annual Awards 1995 : Judges' Report
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 39 no. 3 1995; (p. 2-10) -
Metafictional Play in Children's Fiction
1998
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 8 no. 3 1998; (p. 5-15)Grieve examines the role of metafiction in children's literature and its reliance on reader participation and interaction, by looking at textual strategies that construct the 'game' as text or fiction. These strategies include structuring the narrative around the rules of an actual game, constructing either the physical book or the text as a game, and/or representing characters as 'players in a game' (5). The discussion is a response to critics who question the value of child-focused metafictional texts and of narrative techniques that demystify fictional illusions (such as multiple narrative endings, unreliable narrators and characters, linguistic play, and the reworking of established literary codes and conventions through parody and intertextuality).
Grieve explores a number of texts based on the 'interrogative or metafictional play' and self-reflexivity the narratives offer, which, she argues, 'makes the reader aware of the interplay between reality and illusion' (6). As well as novels from the UK and the USA, Grieves discusses a number of Australian texts: Power and Glory (Emily Rodda and Geoff Kelly), Beyond the Labyrinth (Gillian Rubinstein), Inventing Anthony West (Gary Crew), and The Water Tower (Gary Crew and Steven Woolman).
Metafiction challenges the dominant humanist literary tradition, which posits 'stable, knowable texts' (5), by 'problematizing mimetic illusion' and questioning the 'nature and existence of reality, the creation of literary universes and the nature of human artefacts' (13). This is the value of metafictive narratives for children that Grieve elucidates and ultimately supports.
Awards
- 2004 YABBA — Hall of Fame
- 1995 joint winner CBCA Book of the Year Awards — CBCA Award for New Illustrator Awarded to Geoff Kelly for the illustrations of Power and Glory.
- 1995 shortlisted CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Picture Book of the Year
- 1995 special mention White Ravens