Bluey: What Makes a Children’s Story More Than Just A Story For Children

For the past few weeks, Mara and I have been writing about complexity. Especially when it comes to plot, it’s a useful tool that can elevate almost any story, but what if you don’t want to have a complex plot? What if you’re looking to tell a much simpler story, for a much younger audience? Toddlers aren’t able to follow a complicated mystery and keep track of all the clues you toss out, yet you might also want your story to reach the teens and adults in the room as well. 

How can you craft a story with a simple plot, but still hold a large audience captive? How can you invite the entire family into your world, and not just influence the teenage girl or the aggravated grandpa, but also involve the babbling child as well? What is the secret to making your children’s story not just tolerable but also enjoyable to more than just children?

Why Your Story Has to Be Something More 

Well, before I answer that, this also begs the question: Why can’t my story just be for kids? Cocomelon, Peppa Pig, Caillou, countless picture books, easy readers, and many more such preschool stories are renowned for entertaining a toddler for hours. Though there is certainly a market for these such stories, I believe C.S. Lewis said it best: “A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.” 

Sure, Peppa Pig or a copy of Captain Underpants can keep a child entertained, but as I mentioned in my Girl Meets World article a while back, that isn’t all a story is for. Without something deeper behind it, Peppa Pig and Captain Underpants aren’t real stories. They’re just entertainment. 

Despite all of these children shows and books that are purely created to keep a child occupied, there is one that has blown me away with it’s wholesomeness and ingenius skill despite the fact that it’s a cartoon about a family of Australian dogs. 

That’s right, I’m talking about the TV series, Bluey.

Bluey

Bluey is a popular TV series about a family of cartoon dogs. By the animation style, the coloring, and due to the fact it’s produced by Disney Junior, by all means Bluey is a kid’s show. It’s watched by kids, the merchandise is designed for kids, and the plot is simple enough for a kid to understand. Yet, it’s not the second most streamed show of 2023 for nothing. Time and time again Bluey, her parents, and her little sister Bingo have succeeded in not only keeping toddlers invested, but also grabbing the attention of older kids, teens, adults, and even a few adults without kids of their own. 

Why is this? What is it about a pack of cartoon dogs, going about their daily life and playing silly games together that has drawn so many people in?

Let’s walk through one of my all-time favorite episodes together and pull back the curtain on what exactly the writers did to make this children’s show more than just a show for children. 

The plot of the Bluey episode Musical Statues is incredibly simple. Bluey is feeling bad. She’s frustrated with life and is getting aggravated at every little thing (just like any normal seven year old kid after a tiring day.) She complains that she knows she wants something, but she just doesn’t know what. 

In order to cheer her up, Mum forces the whole family into playing a game of musical statues (in the United States, this is also known as freeze dance). They play for a while, and slowly but surely Bluey’s mood gets better and by the end of the episode she’s no longer having a bad day.  

Simple right? Something a 2-6 year old could easily understand: Bluey is upset, but after having some fun, Bluey stops being upset. However, there is more to this episode than meets the eye. A deeper truth you would only catch if you were paying close attention.  

Since the very first scene of this episode, Bingo has been asking her dad if there will be a day when the weekend will never end. “It would be called a forever weekend!” The little toddler decides. This statement just seems like a cute little girl voicing whatever random thoughts come into her head, right? 

By the end of the episode, after the family has finished one round of musical statues and everyone is thoroughly cheered up, Bluey asks if there’s a way they can all dance at the same time, without anyone having to stay out of the game to pause the music. 

Their Mum smiles, sits down, pulls out a make-believe rule book and tells the kids: 

“This says here that if it’s been the sort of day where you don’t know what you want, but you know you want something, then you can play musical statues without stopping the music…In this version of musical statues, there is no winner or loser. It’s not about getting to the end, or getting to the weekend, or even getting to the forever weekend…You’re just supposed to dance when the music’s being played.”

Bluey is trying to teach an important truth here: Enjoy life while you have it. Don’t waste it by complaining. Just dance while the music’s being played. 

What Really Makes A Good Children’s Story

A lot of writers for preschool shows assume they have to talk down to their viewer, and not include any meaning at all. However, when they do this, the kid walks away without being impacted and the show only succeeds in aggravating the other members of the family. The only way PJ Masks or Peppa Pig has even come close to presenting an applicable theme or deeper truth is when their characters learn: ‘sharing is caring!’ or ‘be nice to people who are different from you!’ And although Bluey does address these topics in some of their episodes, their more recent seasons have offered much deeper, more important themes that give the episodes so much more weight and value. . 

Bluey is a good children’s story because it has a deeper meaning behind each episode Unlike other stories, even those marketed to older audiences, this deeper meaning is more elusive. It isn’t complex or immediately clear, for fear of confusing or disinteresting kids, but the strong morals are still there, even though the plot is simple.

A good children’s story has a deep theme presented in a simple way for children. The plot is easy to follow, but deeper truths are also an indispensable part of the story. Most kid content just includes a simple plot with no real heart behind it. And though this method may entertain children for a little while, it doesn’t have a lasting impact on anyone. 

Your story can bring people together, no matter who its target audience is. And giving family’s something to bond over isn’t just a job for screenwriters or producers either. From The Runaway Bunny, to Stone Fox, to Kate DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane children’s books have and can make a difference in people’s lives too. 

So if you’re looking to write for children, don’t be afraid to put meaning into your story. Your book is more than the measure of the appeal to its intended audience. Give your readers something a little surprising, something a little more meaningful, something that they can take with them, no matter how old they are. And your children’s story will become more than just for children.

Let us know in the comments:

What children’s stories have you read that surprised you with their warmth and heart? How did they hide meaningful themes inside a simple plot? And how was this article? Too sweet? Too sour? Just right?