15 Jun 2021, 20:09

Thank you! @davidhohn Really awesome that you re-recorded it for us and the lecture is amazing. I have some thoughts after listening to your analysis, if someone disagrees let me know!
Beekle is Alice and Beekles journey is Alice’s journey. First of all, it is Alice who creates Beekle and draws out his story as you can see on page 34-37, she uses elements of her surrounding to create this fantasy world. The parts of the playground are turned into the island and into the journey (and not the other way round). The crown comes from the pencil box, the rainbow on the island from the rainbow she draws on the paper, etc. The tree is tricky, is the tree with beekle in it the real tree or a reprensentation of the tree Alice did draw ( the leaves have a form of a star…). Secondly, I think that she does not only makes up the story but it is also a story about her self. It is said that she had no friends, and story is about looking for a friend. And is the boy who Beekle thinks of on page 8 not the same boy who she become friends of in the end? The search for a friend in the playground on page 20 is Alice looking for a friend?
Anyway.. super interesting. I’m really curious how he wrote this. Did he start with the story of beekle and than added layers and references over time? This is a fun story for kids and literature for adults all packed in a “simple” picture book! Love it!