Discussion

  THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT PART ONE SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Part 1

Illustrators use color strategies when creating book design (Coats, 2013). Color has subcategories that include hue, tones, and saturation. Hues can be warm or cool. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow while cool colors include purple, blue, and green. Illustrators normally follow the traditional meanings associated with a color based on the culture being represented in the book. For example, if the book were about the western culture we would associate brown with earthiness and a feeling of solidity and dependability (Coats, 2013). We would also associate red with blood, fire, danger, and excitement (Coats, 2013).

                Illustrators also use tones to convey feeling. Tone is the shade of a color. For example, adding black to red will create a burgundy shade while adding white to the red will create a pinkish color (Coats, 2013). The illustrator might use darker tones to convey the idea of mystery or give a sense of fear. Brighter tones can lighten the mood.

                Saturation also refers to hue. Saturation is the “degree to which the color is pure” (Coats, 2013). In other words, has the color been mixed with any other colors? Children under nine prefer fully saturated colors or colors that have not been mixed with another color. These are bright, bold colors. When choosing literature, it is important to pay attention to age-related preferences when building the classroom library.

                Shapes in literature can also convey feeling. A triangle on its base makes the reader feel stable while a triangle resting on its point in danger of falling over can create an anxious feeling. Steady horizontal lines cause the feeling of comfort and stability while vertical lines can make us feel secure they can also make us feel confined and powerless (Coats, 2013). Circles create a comforting enclosure and give the reader a sense of completeness.

                Lines, like color and shape, work with the picture to convey a message. Bright contrasting lines can show energy or an unstable mood. Lines can separate figures from backgrounds. Lines can form borders that enclose the picture creating a sense of safety for the young reader (Coats, 2013). Lines are also used to show movement in a picture. Curved lines around the characters feet show motion. Wiggly lines around the character can indicate shaking or dancing (Coats, 2013). While wavy lines around the head can convey dizziness, surprise or anger.

                The texture is also an important element of the picture book both regarding representation and the physical characteristics of the book itself. Brush strokes can give a feeling of weight or convey a sense of seriousness. Watercolors, on the other hand, give a light feeling. Physical aspects of texture are seen in touch and feel books, lift the flap books, or books that have a simple mechanism that can be manipulated by the child. Texture engages children because it creates the desire to touch.

                Characters of a story can be represented by icons. Icons are “line drawings with flat colors that only minimally depict what they represent (Coats, 2013). An icon is a simplified image that represents objects, ideas, philosophies, emotions, or entities (Coats, 2013). Icons can give the character a universal feel because they are not tied to a specific culture which can make the picture book more appealing.

                For readers to identify with characters within the story, artists must decide how characters and objects are going to be positioned, and they must give the reader a specific place from which to view the scene (Coats, 2013). This is called the point of view. The point of view can be manipulated for storytelling purposes. In other words, are you looking down on the scene conveying authority, or are you looking at the scene from the same level as the character? Maybe you are looking up at the character giving the character the authority.

                The way the elements are arranged in relation to each other is the composition (Coats, 2013). The composition “conveys story information” contributing to the flow of the book (Coats, 2013). The composition helps the reader to make judgments regarding the main character. Composition helps the reader determine if the book is funny or serious. And composition conveys the setting of the story.

                In regards to my picture book, I must make these disclaimers, one I am in no sense of the word an author and two artistic abilities do not flow through my body and probably never will regardless of how much we learned in chapter three regarding key elements of a good picture book. The colors in my book are primarily cool consisting of hues of blue. I did not realize just how many of the scenes contained blue until I was looking through it after I had finished it. The text said that children under nine prefer totally saturated colors. My optimal grade is fourth. The average age of a fourth grader is nine. Maybe this is one reason why I connect with this age. We are not as fond of the bright, bold fully saturated colors. The pictures I chose were in watercolors so did not have the heaviness associated with oils and brush strokes. Many of my picture selects have circles incorporated into them. Circles give the pictures a sense of completeness. Lines in my book were primarily used to separate colors and figures from the background. I did not utilize lines to indicate movement. My picture book has a specific character, so icons are not a part of my book. The point of view varies from page to page. Some are looking down, some are from character eye level, and one is looking up at the character. The composition or flow I was trying for was moving through the course of a child’s day and the activities they could engage in ending with the child settling back in for a night of sweet dreams about what he can do tomorrow.

https://storybird.com/books/sleep-tight-my-little-prince/?token=26g2wj4xet

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A STORYBOOK. JUST COPY AND PAST THE LINK IN THE SEARCH BAR AND THE BOOK WILL COME UP.

 

THIS IS THE REFERENCE FOR THE CHAPTERS ATTACHED FROM THE TEXT BOOK THE ONLY SOURCE NEEDED

References

Coats, K. (2013). Children's literature & the developing reader. Electronic Version. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Part 2

The Seven Basic Plots

 

Plot	Book Title/Author  1	Book Title/Author  2	Book Title/Author  3
Overcoming the Monster	Jack and the Beanstalk -Nick Sharrat	The Selfish Giant -Oscar Wilde	The Lion King -Disney
Rags to Riches	Cinderella -Disney	Beauty and the Beast -Disney	Odd Dog Out -Rob Biddulph
The Quest	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -C.W. Lewis	Harry Potter -J.K. Rowling	The Tale of Desperaux -Kate DiCamillo
Voyage and Return	Where the Wild Things Are -Maurice Sendak	The Quest for Paradise -Geronimo Stilton	The Gruffalo -Julia Donaldson
Comedy	Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the bus! -Mo Willems	Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that type -Doreen Cronin	Diary of a Worm -Doreen Cronin
Tragedy	Ladder to The Moon -Maya Soeturor-Ng	Charlotte’s Web -E.B. White	The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -C.S. Lewis
Rebirth	Flip, Flap, Fly! -Phyllis Root	Planting a Rainbow -Lois Ehlert	Charlotte’s Web -E.B. White