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Visual Narrativity in the Picture Book
On 21, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Wesseling, Elisabeth. “Visual Narrativity in the Picture Book: Heinrich Hoffman’s Der Struwwelpeter.” Children’s Literature in Education 35.4 (Dec. 2004): 319–45.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: visual story telling, picturebooks, color theory, image/text, irony, layout
Annotation:
Wesseling immediately argues, “Both words and images make their own relatively autonomous contribution to the overall semantic, aesthetic and emotional effect of the picture book. Therefore, it has often been observed that the picture book is closer to other mixed narrative forms such as drama or film than to verbal fiction.” Channeling Nodelman, Wesseling dives into a reading of Der Struwwelpeter, oder lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder that is focused on word and image interaction. This close reading of the text and images garners observations regarding the representations, visual storytelling, and textual augmentation of the illustrations. The construction and layout of pages in relation to rhyming is discussed and categorized as Visual Rhymes. This abstract perspective on visual structure is valuable for thinking about the implications of layout in distant reading picturebooks.
Emerging Literacy of (An)Other Kind
On 21, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Stewart, Michelle Pagni. “Emerging Literacy of (An)Other Kind: Speakerly Children’s Picture Books.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 28.1 (Spring 2003): 42–51.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: picturebooks, oral books, layout
Annotation:
Stewart stakes the claim that picturebooks function in a similar way to oral works. Most interesting, this article discusses the “Oral Performance of Illustrations.” Stewart notes that the visual construction of the page works toward creating a more oral experience for the text. This is done by using illustrations that are not exactly connected to the text of the story or the words on the page. The ambiguity of the pictures gives agency to the child to determine what is being seen. The story is made more interactive and ambiguous, similar to an oral text. Picturebooks for Stewart are by definition the polar opposite of an oral text, but have an element of orality in their execution and the experience that the audience encounters. A text that is speakerly is not necessarily oral.
Picturebooks 2.0
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Serafini, Frank, Kachorsky, Dani, & Aguillera, Earl. “Picturebooks 2.0: Transmedial features across narrative platforms.” Journal of Children’s Literature. 41(2), 2015: 16-24.
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: digital picturebooks, picturebooks, visual storytelling, digitization, layout, child readers
Annotation:
Digital technology has had an augmenting affect on picture books. The author’s of this article are concerned with the transmedial features of the text as well as the work being done by visual images, sound fx and music, textual and paratextual elements of the story, as well as a range of interactivity points within the text such as navigational elements, transitions, and animations. The printed picture book is very different than the experience found on digital devices. For these authors, the content of the book is something that can be experienced in many places and many ways. The digital platform is altering the experience that one can have with a children’s narrative. The meaning garnered from stories is in effect changed as well. For picture books published in print format, digital formats present a new range of entry points for multimodal inquiry. The main primary source for these researchers is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, a text that was published in print and digital media.
Is the Picture Book Dead?
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Schons, Lisa M. ‘‘Is the Picture Book Dead? The Rise of the iPad as a Turning Point in Children’s Literature.’’ Journal of Digital Research & Publishing 2 (2011): 120-28.
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: digital picturebooks, picturebooks, visual storytelling, digitization, layout, child readers
Annotation:
From 2010’s release of the Apple iPad, digital publishing saw a drastic change in many ways. More so, the picture book genre saw a wave of new possibilities. Schons explores the market effect as well as the radical reconceptualization of the genre in this article. Using The Heart and the Bottle as an example, Schons notes the differences between the traditionally printed picture book and the new experience driven interactive iPad picture book. Multimodality is positioned as the new normal for digitally published picture book apps with an emphasis on the blurring of lines between movies, games, and books. E-literature is presented as a revolutionary tool for improving the literacy and digital literacy of the child. One important conclusion to note is the statement that the two different formats, traditional and digital, have a place in the complex and rapidly changing market.
Re-conceptualising picturebook theory in the digital age.
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Al- Yaqout, Ghada and Maria Nikolajeva. “Re-conceptualising picturebook theory in the digital age.” Nordic Journal for ChildLit Aesthetics 6, (2015).
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: digital picturebooks, picturebooks, visual storytelling, digitization, layout, child readers
Annotation:
The digital age has altered the way we read and study the picture book. Al-Yaqout and Nikolajeva maintain the need to expand the theory beyond the multimodal text and image understanding of visual and verbal understandings to include the new elements of multimodal picture books: “auditory, tactile, and performative dimensions.” The article looks at both digital stories as well as apps which are shaping the way visual texts are delivered and interacted with. The immateriality of this new way of digital texts is brought forth for consideration. Interesting points such as the impact of the exploitation of interactivity, the destabilization of the confines of layout and space found in printed texts, and the performance of reading, being read to, or following along. Books that are now available in both print and augmented digital formats, like The Cat in the Hat and Goodnight Moon, are juxtaposed and discussed. Digital children’s literature commands a need for a reevaluation of picture book theory.
