Chimidyue - Chris Lensch and Leslie Falconer (2014)
This book depicts a young girl who lives in the Amazon rainforest of Southern America. It documents her experience of being in the jungle alone for the first time. Scared initially, Chimidyue learns to appreciate the forest through the help of a kind butterfly.
Some of the imagery I saw in this book was really helpful in giving me an understanding as to how I may want to visually communicate our story. The page with the jaguar leaping across works really well. I'm really fond of this utilisation of space. I think that this feature is really important within the context of children's publications, as it helps to engage children; who require stimulation in a variety of ways in order to maintain their shorter attention spans.
Another key element of this book was the index-like section at the back. Considering the cultural theme of this story it seems a really useful attribute to it, especially for the young reader who would most likely be unaware.
What initially attracted me toward this book was the fact that it contained no words. The narrative created purely through imagery and particular symbols was very impressive. Becker uses the colour red as a means of continuity throughout the book. My interpretation is that it represents the young girls imagination and allows her to traverse through a range of dreamlike worlds until finally meeting another child who is similarly utilising their imagination.
Considering that our book needs to be as limited as possible when it comes to word count, it's inspiring to see that the visual language can be used to suggest whatever type cannot. The constant use of this red is a very effective yet subtle method of ensuring there's a clear narrative throughout the publication.
Jumble Wood - Helena Covell (2018)
This story was written and illustrated by Helena Covell, a recent graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. Her illustrations present a sense of play and experimentation that is really contagious whilst reading the book. She uses a rather constant colour palette throughout the story, containing a lot fo pink type pastel colours.
One of the things I picked up on from her book was the layout style. Placing small areas of type in different yet linear locations around the page is effective in communicating a sequential narrative when combined with the multiple character illustrations. I think that this is something we are going to have to consider in our publication. We are deciding to use as limited a word count as possible, whilst still taking on quite a vast story content. Therefor, working with text in such a way will help in utilising space in a way that enables as much information to be conveyed as possible.
Another aspect of Covell's work for Jumble Wood that I enjoyed was her use of repeat pattern on the inside pages. This would be a great thing to think about including in our publication. The benefits would be that the pattern could then be transferred and used for marketing products such as, book marks, posters, displays etc.
Laika the Astronaut - Owen Davey (2013)
The bold and graphic imagery in Owen Davey's book has a really attractive and fitting quality to it. Davey has decided to illustrate this book in the style of Soviet art. This is a quality I find important in children's books as it helps to engage adult readers with the story. Appealing to both an adult and child audience may be quite a successful strategy in ensuring popularity.
Considering the book I plan to illustrate will be set in multiple locations around the world it would be good to research into particular art/design practices specific to each area as that could positively influence the style of illustration that I end up using for the book.
Similarly to the theme of our book idea, Lemony Snicket tells the story of a boy who has a fear of the dark. Through a matter of pages and short, simple text, Snicket and Klassen successfully portray the development of the protagonists bravery and acceptance of the dark. I was really drawn to the way the Klassen used negative space in the imagery. A particular favourite page of mine is the one where all you can see is the boys head. Limiting the imagery this much allows a strong emotional mood to be communicated. You feel the characters unease with the dark which in turn helps in building a relationship between the reader and the character.
There's also the act of personifying 'The Dark' which helps in building up a rapport between the reader and character. This assists in breaking down what for many children is a common fear, and reducing it to something that they may eventually find comforting instead of fearful.
