Do you remember the comfort and sense of place you felt when you were read to as a child?  The lights were low, pajamas on, clean faces waiting expectantly for that favorite book to be opened.  The soothing sound of a familiar voice reading a familiar, yet still exciting story, with pages worn and images that teach your imagination to weave spoken words into fascinating tales.
 

Storytelling is an art form all its own.  Steeped in culture and history the act of storytelling has shaped this world.  Why is it so important to tell stories?  What do these stories have to teach us?  Is it the words that make the story?  The voices that read it?  Or is it the images that support it that make the difference?

You are going to answer these question and more during your exploration of storytelling and the visual arts.  Think of the story that was your favorite as a child.  I bet you can still remember many of the illustrations.  Artists who illustrate children's books use a wide variety of approaches and mediums to captivate their small audiences.

• You are going to analyze some of your favorite stories.
• You are going to research famous children's book authors and illustrators.
• You are going to apply your knowledge of the Elements and Principles of Design to those illustrations and evaluate their visual effectiveness.
• You are going to take that information and Modernize your favorite story with imagery from the 21st century.
• You are also going to explore the different Media Approaches that current illustrators use and choose three mediums that will work for your story.

History

1.  What is the history of storytelling?

2.  Who are the most famous children's authors in the 50's, 70's, 90's, and today?  Where do author's like Eric Carle and Dr. Suess fall in this continuum?

3.  Do artists usually illustrate their own stories or do they hire illustrators?

4.  Of the illustrators that you have discovered who are the most famous?  Why do you think they have become so popular?

5.  Have the devices that illustrators use changed over the years?  Are illustrators using any new mediums in the 21st century?

6.  How has technology influenced illustration?
 

Design

1.  What are the formal Elements and Principles of Design?

2.  Are some of the elements and principles used more frequently than others?

3.  How do the illustrators incorporate text into the overall composition of each page?  In The Quiltmaker's Gifthow has the illustrator incorporated text?

4.  Does the font style support the flavor of the story?  Describe the different fonts that you discover.

5.  How does the intended age of the reader effect the illustration and font style?
 

Message

1.  Is there some underlying message in most of the stories in your research?

2.  What are the common morals or messages that these authors intend their readers to gather from their stories?

3.  Have the types of lessons that we want children to learn changed over time?

4.  In your study of the changes from the 50's to today, how had technology molded the underlying themes of these stories?-

1.  Find a copy of your favorite children's book.  Does it have emotional connections to you?  Does it bring you back to a specific memory or age?  Think about the imagery that is used.  Did you have a favorite page or picture?

2.  Read the book to a child or group of children.  Notice how they respond to the words and pictures as you read it.

3. What is the message the story is trying to give?

4.  Record the Author's name, illustrator's name, and copy write date.

5.  Are any of the images in the story outdated now?  Example:  phones with cords, TV's with antennas attached, clothing styles, etc.

6.  Make a list of how our world has changed since this book was published.

7.  Describe the type of illustration devises that the artist used.  Example:  Repetition, texture, line, etc.

8.  How could you modernize this story?  Replace some of the imagery with 21st century images.

9.  Choose a minimum of 3 mediums to recreate an illustration from your favorite story.

10.  Sketch an illustration that is crucial to the message of the story.

11.  On heavy paper, visualize the story through the 3 mediums.  You may want to do each medium on a separate piece and them cut and assemble.
 
 

Now that you have a product lets see how effective it is. In a written artist statement, answer the following questions about your research, process, and results.

1.  Analyze your design using the elements and principles.  Are there any weaknesses visually?

2.  Did you use the mediums effectively?  Did any one of the 3 mediums become predominant and if so, why?

3.  How is your craftsmanship?

4.  Have you gotten the message of the story across?

5.  Did your modernization of the story make it more applicable to this generation of children?

6.  If you were to do this project again, what would you do differently?
 
 
 
 

Congratulations!