Illustration and Characterization in There's a Monster Under My Bed
Children are drawn to picture books that allow them to feel some sort of elementary emotion such as fear or happiness. Of course all children are different and the types of books they will enjoy depends mostly on their age and their stage of cognitive development, but common to all children is the need for both visual and auditory stimulation. In There's A Monster Under My Bed, James Howe and David Rose combine artistic and visual elements with the characterization of characters to create a captivating yet simple story for young readers. The use of colour and clear wording by the author make this picture book exciting for the child reader.
The first picture of the story is drawn with straight lines that reassure the child that everything is in its place to promote the feeling of safety; children would assume that everything is how it should be at first glance. The use of lighter colours here contrast with the remaining pages of the story therefore giving the child the sense of impending doom as the story continues. The only shadows used on the first page are around Simon's bed allowing the child to imagine what lies there. Howe uses simple sentences here to emphasize the idea of fright. The fact that he uses one word sentences such as "Listen."(1), helps the child understand the intensity of fear the character is feeling. The boy in the story is lying in the middle of his bed on the first page and his face is coated with terror. A child's eyes would be drawn to the boy quickly because he is wearing a bright yellow shirt that contrasts with the surrounding room.
As the story moves on, the legs on the bed start to bend to fit the continually growi...
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...s are red, and the bedcover is more dominant now with its louder pink and blue stripes. The conversation Howe brings into these remaining pages is simple, for example, the conversation between the two brothers, Alex and Simon. Children will understand the elementary phrases used because that is how they talk right now at their stage of development, simple and straight to the point.
In any picture book the connection between characterization and illustration is very important because the author's main audience is children, who, in turn, learn not only by what they hear, but also by what they see. Visual and auditory stimulation become partners at this age and will continue to be used to teach children of all ages different lessons.
Work Cited
Howe, James, and David Rose, illus. There's A Monster Under My Bed. New York: Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc., 1986.
Sensory Imagery: make the reader envision objects and settings in the book with greater detail.
Senick, Gerard J., and Hedblad, Alan. Children’s Literature Review: Excerpts from Reviews, and Commentary on Books for Children and Young People (Volumes 14, 34, 35). Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1995..
Asma, Stephen. On Monsters :An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
“You’ve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone” says Rod Serling before every episode of The Twilight Zone. A show that leaves it’s viewers in a macabre state. Instead of drawing a conclusion like most shows, the show usually ends mysteriously. It utilizes similar elements as other short half-hour shows, but goes about it in a different way. This outlandish style is seen in literature, more specifically short stories, as well. Even though other short stories employ the same literary devices, “The Beast In The Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft is uniquely mysterious because of the story’s suspenseful plot, compelling diction, and, most important, overshadowing theme.
Whalley, J. (2009) ‘Texts and Pictures: A History’ in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University, pp.299-310
Clair uses syntax to depict the childlike quality of the narrator’s memories. In two long sentences and one very short one, the narrator describes the retrieval of a box of “private things” from the back of the closet. The journey seems complicated and difficult, but in reality, the box was merely at the back of the closet. This shows childish thoughts and speech, by turning the simple hiding place into a drawn
Children literature is a term that refers to the texts written for children. The artist uses creative ways to ensure that children are provided with educational books, touching on a variety of themes. This paper will include comparison of two characters from the two texts, “Hana's Suitcase: A True Story,” authored by Karen Levine and “Charlotte’s Web,” written by E.B. White, with the aim of understanding ways in which problems are solvable as indicated by selected characters.
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Ressler, R. K. & Shachtman, T. (1997). I have lived in the monster. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Collings, David. "The Monster and the Imaginary Mother." University of Saskatchewan. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. .
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Children’s processing of information is elementary and so the “copying” of pictures in one’s head is just a crude system of percepti...
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Jones, Marnie. "The Threat to Imagination in Children's Literature." International Journal of the Book 3.2 (2005/2006): 71-76. Print.