(1976). Every year has its special film - this year it's... [picture] : Storm Boy. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-133752089
Authors have used the beauty, harshness and problems of our land to tell their stories, often basing their stories in familiar locations and using their reaction to a particular environment as the central theme. Animal stories all rely on the environment in which they are set, and basically fall into three areas:
- educational, life-cycle nature studies disguised as a story
- indirect explorations of reality via talking animals
- investigations of human–animal relations.
Activities
The world of animals is as mysterious to us as it is intriguing; we often wonder what animals get up to when we’re not around. Ask students to think about their favourite animal (you could use a theme, such as an Australian land animal, sea animal or bird). Have students research the animal, its habitat, its behaviours and other characteristics, then ask them to develop a fictional story around that animal.
Some questions to prompt stories might include:
- What does the animal do when there are no people around?
- What might this animal be talking about with others of its kind?
- How does it interact with other species?
- What problems might face that animal and how might that animal find ways to resolve them? Can humans help?
