Session 3

Refrences

http://www.stephenbiesty.co.uk/home.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-artist-for-whom-the-dollars-are-in-the-detail-1363379.html
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/286149.Stephen_Biesty

Task 2 Research Task

1. Art Styles & Audience 

Information/ Reference title - aimed at 9-11 year olds.

Dogs Days: Diary of Wimpy Kid (Book 4) byAuthor and Illustrator Jeff Kinney

Genre: Comedy

Age Range: 9-11 year olds

Paperback: 240 pages (Available in Hardcover)

Publisher: Puffin (3 Feb 2011)

Language: English

Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2 cm

Art Style: 

Firstly, lets talk about the front cover of the book. The colour used is a dull yellow and it does have some form of texture that resembles leather, along with a stitch border. I can see that the illustrator has used five different font styles. For example; "Diary" the font is formal which is usually seen on existing diaries, "of a Wimpy Kid" looks like it has been written by kid using a red marker and the same goes for "Dogs Days" but in black. 

The image on the front cover obviously is made to look like it has been ripped out and stuck on with tape. However, the drawing itself is quite interesting as it is a simple doodle of young boy. Traditionally, in a child's diary adults would find scribble and doodles especially if the child likes to draw. The scribbles and doodles carry on throughout the book. 

The pages throughout the book is designed in a manner of how a child's diary would look. Jeff Kinney used lined paper and chose a font that represents how a child may write at the age of 9 - 11. This is a clever thing to do as the art style immediately declares who is the audience.  A nine to eleven year old can easily relate to illustration as they demonstrate what happens in a child daily life. For example, watching TV, embarrassing parents and annoying siblings. 

What elements/criteria do you believe are important when looking for an illustration style for this particular age range/ genre of books?

When it comes to 9-11 year olds, I believe the book has to have a strong character who brings emotions such as laughter and tears, which makes the reader care for the character. The story "Dogs Days: Diary of Wimpy Kid " is simple as it is about a lazy nine year old who is constantly being bullied by his older brother, being pestered by his little brother and his mom telling him to try and get out of the house instead of playing video games all day long. However, the story does come with a twist while Greg's plans fail he manages to the put on a big show. The point of the story is that he is always learning from his experience, no matter how bad his life is.

Billionaire Boys by David Williams and Illustrated by Tony Ross

Baby and Toddler - First Object Book 

What's That? by Author and Illustrator Rod Campbell 

Picture Book- aimed at 3-6 year olds

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Author and Illustrator Judith Kerr 

Reference 

http://thewritepractice.com/childrens-book/

Image 
https://www.waterstones.com/book/dog-days/jeff-kinney/9780141331973

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Days-Diary-Wimpy-Book/dp/0810983915

https://www.waterstones.com/book/billionaire-boy/david-walliams/9780007371082

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Billionaire-Boy-David-Walliams/dp/000737108X

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire_Boy

https://www.waterstones.com/book/early-starters-whats-that/rod-campbell/9781447243151

Weblink
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/mar/24/childrens.library

http://www.wimpykid.com

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/feb/07/review-jeff-kinney-diary-wimpy-kid-dog-days

https://www.waterstones.com/author/david-walliams/50422

https://www.waterstones.com/author/jeff-kinney/50442

https://uk.pinterest.com/susanmbarrett/books-3-6-year-olds/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-tiger-who-came-to-tea/judith-kerr/judith-kerr/9780007215997

Session 2

Session 2 Notes

References

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/age-levels-for-childrens-books.html
http://writeforkids.org/2014/02/understanding-childrens-book-genres/

Task 1 Children’s Illustrators

Notes from my book

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Charlie and Lola
• Noddy to Thomas the Tank Engine
• We're Going on a Bear Hunt
• Each Peach Pear Plum
• Shirley Hughes 
• Michael Rosen
• Allan Ahlberg
• Lauren Child

For this task I have chosen to look at  Helen Oxenbury who is the illustrator of We're Going on a Bear Hunt and written by Michael Rosen in 1989. The reason why I decided to talk about this particular book is because I admire how easy it is to read illustrations. 

The book contains of black and white sketches along with watercolored paintings. It is also interesting how the whole layout of illustrations works perfectly the story itself. From my childhood I remember looking through the book and just focusing on the images. It is fascinating how children are able to figure out what is happening in book by looking at the pictures, that adult may not even notice.

Helen Oxenbury gave the story a ordinary family. If we look at the original poem, it has all the elements of an interesting children book. In the video "We're Going on a Bear hunt: The editors were nearly weeping"Michael Rosen explains that he had other ideas for the story such as kings and queens thinking of the rhythm and action from a performance point of view. However, Helen Oxenbury narrowed down to a family.

It was also fascinating to hear what Michael Rosen initial thought were when he looked through the book; "whats that, theres a baby and dog running about, and theres trees." He admits that he wasn't able to read it other than think that it was an impressionist painting until he realised she was telling a story. The illustration demonstrate the amount of danger this ordinary family go through to search for a bear and yet get back home safely.  The book has excitement, adventure and problems that they solve.

The book itself contains 40 pages and I would say the target audience is 3-8 years olds. However, the book can be read to the child so the age range may overlap with younger children. The reason why is because it consist of imagery which makes it interactive as the child can identify what is happening within the illustration. The book also has a rhythm and repetition which makes it memorable. Plus I can remember in nursery, when we were singing along with the teacher and acting the scenes out. (Fun Times)

Lastly, I want to mention the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt is the winner of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (age 0–5 and overall) and runner up for Greenaway. The book is highly recommended. 

Two well known books Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury:

The Dragon of an Ordinary Family (Heinemann, 1969), by Margaret Mahy and a joint winner of the Greenaway Medal.

Farmer Duck (Walker), 1991, by Martin Waddell. This book is the winner of the Illustrated Children's Book of the Yeah and the Smarties Prize. 

References

Weblinks

http://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/apr/10/we-re-going-on-a-bear-hunt-michael-rosen-helen-oxenbury-video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyI6ykDwds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Oxenbury

Images 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Were-Going-Bear-Michael-Rosen/dp/0744523230

http://www.aquarellepublishing.co.uk/artistpage.aspx?id=55

http://www.antiqbook.com/search.php?action=search&author=Margaret+Mahy&l=en&owner_id=-csmx&sort_type=asc&sort_order=author_name+asc%2C+title_first_word&page_num=4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farmer-Duck-Martin-Waddell/dp/074453660X

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/318840848591378973/

Session 1 Introduction to Module

Overview of the Module

Blog: http://gdes2014-tutor.blogspot.co.uk


About the Module 

• Existing graphic design and Illustration experiences
• Intro design/ illustration/ book design/ construction /studio issues
• Importance of illustration/ creative writing/ typography ti this genre
• Publishing/ aspiration for book design/ Use of existing skills 

Module Covers 

 

Learning Outcomes 

Notes from Film