The Present 

'The Present' is a short 4 minute animation created by Jacob Frey. 

The film is about a young boy who seems to prefer his computer games to anything else.  Nothing can seem to drag him away. 

Until his mother leaves him a gift - an adorable puppy. The boy thinks the puppy is cool until he realises that the puppy has a leg missing. He is such a cruel little boy. 
Gradually, the puppy's determination wins him round and they go out to play... at this point we see why the boy may have been adverse to having a puppy with three legs.  Watch it to find out. 

For comprehension questions based on this film click here

Teaching Ideas

• Write a diary/recount as the boy.  Detailing how he felt about the dog at first and how he feels now. 
• Rewrite the film as a 3rd person narrative, working on narrative writing skills such as description and adding dialogue. 
• Discuss why the boy feels the way he does about the dog. 
• Discuss why his mother may have bought that particular dog for him. 
• Write a section of dialogue between Mum and the pet shop owner, perhaps she tells him why she wants that specific dog. 

Link to other Literacy Shed films with a similar theme. 

• Compare the boy to the boy in 'Replay' and how he perceives himself and is treated by his sister.
• Look at how the character in 'Wing' is treated differently because of his disability. 

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The film is based on this comic strip by Fabio Coala