Black and White
Radical Change Theory and Synergistic Reading for Digital Age Youth
On 21, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Dresang, Eliza T., and Bowie Kotrla. ‘‘Radical Change Theory and Synergistic Reading for Digital Age Youth.’’ The Journal of Aesthetic Education 43 (2009): 92-107.
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: radical change theory, picturebooks, Black and White, visual story telling, digital picturebooks
Annotation:
Dresang and Kotrla begin by discussing radical change theory in relation to the award-winning extended length picture book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Dresang notes that this text is an indication of the changing nature of books in response to “digital age youth.” The changing reader is one that is now concerned with interactivity, connectivity, and access. Radical Change Theory dictates that books must becomes more sophisticated in order to keep up with the demand of it’s changing audience. An important part of this article is the discussion of “Changing Children.” The preconceptions we have about children and childhood are rapidly changing into more complex and ambiguously defined identifications. By acknowledging Radical Change Theory, we can more accurately assess books created in the digital age or for the generation of people consuming this type of media. Aesthetic experiences must be responsive to what the youth demands.
‘Everything Comes from Seeing Things’: Narrative and Illustrative Play in Black and White.
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Pantaleo, Sylvia J. “‘Everything Comes from Seeing Things’: Narrative and Illustrative Play in Black and White.” Children’s Literature in Education 38.1 (Mar. 2007): 45–58.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: picturebook, visual storytelling, art, illustration, text/image relationship, color codes, Black and White, postmodernism, deconstruction
Annotation:
Pantaleo acknowledges Macaulay’s use of play as a means to interact with readers. The use of this motif is a catalyst in drawing out the readers interest and ability to reason with an otherwise challengingly deconstructed narrative. The importance of reading with literary and artistic codes in mind is a key element of this article. The article goes into depth exploring student reactions and their suggestions for reading. Illustrations are given equal attention to text in Pantaleo’s study of play in Black and White. From specific imagery to the use of color, illustrations are particularly import in this type of metafiction, as Pantaleo points out.
‘Wait a Second . . .’: Negotiating Complex Narratives in Black and White.
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
McClay, Jill Kedersha. “‘Wait a Second . . .’: Negotiating Complex Narratives in Black and White.” Children’s Literature in Education 31.2 (June 2000): 91–106.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: picturebook, visual storytelling, art, illustration, text/image relationship, color codes, Black and White, postmodernism, deconstruction
Annotation:
Exploring the impact of postmodern fiction on children’s literature and in effect their realities, McClay reads Macaulay’s Black and White. The postmodern picture book is a special case that seeks to break the boundaries set up by traditional examples. Visual and textual information is particularly important in this genre of literature. The words and pictures are assigned explicitly and equally important value on the title page which asserts a warning. McClay points out that both the textual narrative and the stylization of the art within the text work within a constantly intermingling quadruple parallel. The effect of this diversified deconstruction of picture book norms is a variety of positive and negative readings based on space and narration. The value of the visuals in juxtaposition to the textual narrative is clearly pinpointed in this article.
Read All Over
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Kaplan, Deborah. “Read All Over: Postmodern Resolution in Macaulay’s Black and White.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 28.1 (Spring 2003): 37–41.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: picturebook, visual storytelling, art, illustration, text/image relationship, color codes, Black and White, postmodernism
Annotation:
Kaplan explores the narrative techniques found in David Macaulay’s award winning picture book Black and White. Kaplan points out that “Layout, text, narrative, and color are all used in non-conventional ways.” Breaking the codified nature of color codes in picture books, Kaplan points out that Macaulay is able to add complexity to his narrative. The text is also juxtaposed to other texts that do similar work such as Nothing but the Truth and A Pale View of Hills. The deconstructive nature of Black and White, as well as these other texts, allows an insertion of meaning into the narrative that challenges what reader’s have come to expect and understand from the experience of a picture book.
