This category of stories are as much about parenthood as they are about childhood, and so speak to a dual audience. The adult can’t tell the difference between a tiny tot and a beast. In this way, the child is depicted as a little monster in the house. The mother responds as ever, ‘Not now, Bernard’. The monster explains himself by saying ‘I’m a monster’. The purple monster then takes Bernard’s place in the house, causing mayhem. Bernard tells his mother there’s a monster in the garden and it’s going to eat him, but the adults turn a deaf ear. Thus, these characters are proto-superhero characters in their own way.Īnother example is Not Now, Bernard by Robert McKee, published in 1980.
It’s therefore up to Courage to save the day - a take on the superhero story and the lone hero for a younger audience.
The 1990s gave us the cartoon series Courage the Cowardly Dog, which uses this trope over and over, as part of the structure of every episode: Courage sees a baddie, but Muriel (who is short-sighted) and Eustace (who is unkind) never take him seriously. The Lion And The Mouse Story With Moral Lesson And SummaryĬhild characters whose warnings are ignored by adults - even in the midst of clear and present danger - are stock fodder and perennial favourites in children’s stories.
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