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.
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
Asma, Stephen. On Monsters :An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
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..
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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
Ressler, R. K. & Shachtman, T. (1997). I have lived in the monster. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
It was an exciting time where children appeared to be absorbed in creating their maps, looking outdoors to check they were creating it correctly, and using the photographs they had taken on the camera. The children often linked their own personal thoughts to the objects they were drawing outside, and a wide range of language emerged. For example Henry was drawing the daffodils and discussed with is peer how he has lots in his garden, and he liked the smell. Ollie discussed with henry how he has also seen the daffodils in church
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...
Jones, Marnie. "The Threat to Imagination in Children's Literature." International Journal of the Book 3.2 (2005/2006): 71-76. Print.