Graham Parke's Blog - Posts Tagged "crocodile"
The Mysterious Case of the Crocodile and the Badman...
[image error]What was my three-year old's reaction when daddy waved his oddly picture-less book in his face? That colorless waste of ground-up trees so utterly devoid of speaking animals, fairies, and animal-saving teenagers? Damian's reaction to No Hope for Gomez! was this: he pointed at the book and said, quite seriously, 'Bad man!'
Some explanation is needed here. Firstly, the fact that Damian spoke up in English at all was interesting. The little guy basically has a choice of four languages. There's Dutch, which he speaks at day care. There's Serbian, which he uses to communicate with his mother. There's English, which he uses to communicate with his father. And then there's that fourth language, the one he is actually fluent in. (Sadly, he is also the only person to speak this unnamed language in our known universe, which is probably why he uses it mostly when talking to himself, and when he wants to end phone conversations with his grandparents.)
Secondly, I'd made the mistake of choosing a prime piece of real-estate, time wise, to connect with my son. Dora Explorer had just started. And TV is a powerful force, especially when Dora is at it. This, by the way, was the Dutch version, where Dora Explorer teaches the viewers Dutch and English (not the English version, where she teaches English and Spanish – what a wasted torrent that was, luckily we found out in time before the culmination of languages blew up Damian's brain).
And, lastly, the reader should know that many things can, in fact, be "Badman". From the witch in Snow White, to the invisible foe who tries to steal Damian's pacifier when he's drinking his milk.
(Edit: That particular Badman has since managed to make all pacifiers disappear from our home. Both Damian and I suspect he may have been aided by a crocodile. If you have any information, please contact your local writer’s association!)
However, the Badman referred to in this instance, I discovered with relief, was not daddy for writing a book without pictures and then bothering people about it during Dora Explorer. It was also not the book itself. It was in fact the image of the Worrier on the front cover, created by C. Rodriguez Vega. This Worrior is somewhat of a homage to Rodin's thinker, only with an even less sunny disposition. He sits on a rock and holds his head, worrying. And, if you look close enough, you can see that he is indeed a bit of a Badman!
Click here for a close look at the cover
Some explanation is needed here. Firstly, the fact that Damian spoke up in English at all was interesting. The little guy basically has a choice of four languages. There's Dutch, which he speaks at day care. There's Serbian, which he uses to communicate with his mother. There's English, which he uses to communicate with his father. And then there's that fourth language, the one he is actually fluent in. (Sadly, he is also the only person to speak this unnamed language in our known universe, which is probably why he uses it mostly when talking to himself, and when he wants to end phone conversations with his grandparents.)
Secondly, I'd made the mistake of choosing a prime piece of real-estate, time wise, to connect with my son. Dora Explorer had just started. And TV is a powerful force, especially when Dora is at it. This, by the way, was the Dutch version, where Dora Explorer teaches the viewers Dutch and English (not the English version, where she teaches English and Spanish – what a wasted torrent that was, luckily we found out in time before the culmination of languages blew up Damian's brain).
And, lastly, the reader should know that many things can, in fact, be "Badman". From the witch in Snow White, to the invisible foe who tries to steal Damian's pacifier when he's drinking his milk.
(Edit: That particular Badman has since managed to make all pacifiers disappear from our home. Both Damian and I suspect he may have been aided by a crocodile. If you have any information, please contact your local writer’s association!)
However, the Badman referred to in this instance, I discovered with relief, was not daddy for writing a book without pictures and then bothering people about it during Dora Explorer. It was also not the book itself. It was in fact the image of the Worrier on the front cover, created by C. Rodriguez Vega. This Worrior is somewhat of a homage to Rodin's thinker, only with an even less sunny disposition. He sits on a rock and holds his head, worrying. And, if you look close enough, you can see that he is indeed a bit of a Badman!
Click here for a close look at the cover
