Research

Books are instrumental in helping children develop and learn. It is important to be careful in introducing controversial, upsetting, serious topics for children.

My research found that a number of books had dealt with such topics aimed at children. Issues can raise from bullying, to war. Michael Morpurgo’s books, aimed at older children, often brings up war – most notably in Private Peaceful and The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips. These books are generally aimed at older children (9-12). However, studies have shown that younger children (than those of that age group) are still capable of understanding complex situations. The key issue is on how it is represented within the story.

With this in mind, I began looking at the way these books had presented the issues in both imagery and text. A particularly interesting book I came across was Michael Rosen’s ‘Sad Book’. The book was illustrated by Quentin Blake. The colours within the line drawing illustrations are simple, yet provide depth and tone. Blake’s art style also have a raw emotional quality about them – the line drawing style is something I wish to incorporate within my own designs for the book.

Throughout the first few workshops, I was able to look at a number of different books with varying art styles, from children’s drawings, to complex oil paintings. The latter was more visually based, using double page spreads and very little text. It also employed a number of features such as recurring ‘easter eggs’ hidden in the backgrounds. This technique helps to make the book much more engaging, and provides further visual stimulation for the younger children this book was aimed at.

Within the workshops, I also saw the book ‘I want my hat back’ by Jon Klaassen. This book has a wonderfully simple and yet recognisable art style. It also presents the story well, using humour that would appear to young children.