The Hero in Childrens Books - Questions

Matilda

1.What do you like most about the character?

Matilda is very independent character who is able to outwit the bad characters through intelligence and a little bit of supernatural powers. She is a bookworm and enjoys learning, as a child I really enjoyed reading about a character who was smart and wanted to go to school, as I enjoyed school.

2.How do they make you feel?

She makes it feel like through learning there are limitless possibilities available which is inspiring. As a child you can feel helpless, so it is good to read about a character who is able to do something about the bad characters 

3.How is colour, line, form and mark making used?

They are very child-like drawings, which bring Matilda down to a realistic and relatable level to the child. Colour is only used on the cover, inside is ink drawings.

4.Ways in which you identify with the character e.g. Rebel, leader, Outsider, Victim, Overcoming Evil?

I’m the only one in my family that actually reads book so I found this relatable, and being a bit of an outsider because I liked to go to school to learn. I would have liked to be more rebellious in the way Matilda gets her own back when people are mean to her, as a child  sometimes you know you’re in the right but adults are convinced otherwise.

5.What are the themes with which they are usually associated e.g. adventure, overcoming evil?

Matilda learnt to do everything herself so her independence is a continuing theme from learning to cook and read, when she is left at home, to walking to the library by herself when she runs out of books. She also believes in righting, wrong behaviour the only way she knows how, which is mischievous and comically witty.

6. What medium/media have been used?

Ink and dip pen drawing which he then adds watercolour for the colour images

7.About the narrative (what’s happening in your image)?

The front cover image of Matilda shows her standing on top of several books, emphasizing how small she is, also representing either she has read or will read all those books. The children in the background are celebrating; throwing books in the air is something other children may do but not Matilda. This makes the book inviting, you would want to know why the children are celebrating.

8.What are the relationships between the characters?

Matilda’s family are detached from their daughter, and find her weird. Trunchball, the Headmistress dislikes everybody especially children and evokes fear from all the other characters. Miss Honey is the lovable character that all the children love; Matilda and Miss Honey develop a caring relationship, which eventually results in an adopted mother-daughter relationship.

9.Does the illustrators interpretations of the character fit with the character described in the text?

Quentin draws Matilda very tiny and small in relation to objects around her to emphasize this, but she is able to rise above this in an adults world.

  

The Hero in Childrens Books- Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake is properly one of the most well known illustrators and most famous for his collaborations with author, Roald Dahl.

Matilda, one of the collaborations is one of my personal favourites from childhood, tells of a super intelligent young girl who is disregarded by her family. She is a strong independent girl who teaches herself to read and look after herself.  

The dreaded Trunchball depicts the teacher that all children are scared off (of course being a story she's a lot scarier and throws children over fences) Matilda is able to use her superpowers and intelligence to seek her revenge on the Trunchball (something children can secretly desire doing too) hence reversing the role of the child-adult situation where the child is defenceless and unable to right the wrongs they see in adults

and of course the loveable Miss Honey, the kindly teacher.

The partnership between Roald and Quentin was fruitful and they published many books together including the witches, charlie and the chocolate factory and the fantastic mr fox (to name but a few)

Quentin also worked on writing and publishing his own books, and illustrating for many other authors

The Hero in Childrens Books - Sheila Moxley

This is another story with a strong female character, Mary Anning a palaeontologist of the 19th century  who challenged the stereotypical roles of gender and class in he scientific community which was dominated by English gentlemen. Mary is a relatable character for the child who dares to be different and follow their dreams

The Hero in Childrens Books- W.W.Denslow

William Wallace Denslow (1856-1915) worked closely with writer L.Frank Baum and were famed for stories such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book consisted of 24 colour plate illustrations, two-colour head and tail pieces, chapter title pages and marginalia (very expensive to print at the time)

 These are the first illustrations of Oz, he had no basis for reference, and had to build up the characters from scratch.

The Hero in Childrens Books- Lauren Child

Lauren Child; writer and illustrator of the incredibly popular Charlie and Lola series, amongst other successes, combines a multimedia of collage, painting and drawing to create unique, quirky illustrations using traditional and contemporary styles.   

The characters are relatable for children (although adults love the books too) and deal with everyday small issues such as fears, dislikes and jealousy. 

Typography is quirky and strategically placed 

Pippi Longstocking was a remake of the original swedish tale by Astrid Lindgren, and tells of a strong minded young girl full adventure and mischief. Child brings life into the character with her use of collage and quirky illustration. Pippi is a role model to young girls to fight stereotypical roles and is often associated withy strong female role models in swedish politics. 

 This was an interesting Q&A on Child's website 

http://www.milkmonitor.com/home/

The Hero in Childrens Books - Emma Chichester Clark

Emma Chichester Clark's series of Melrose and Croc, an Labrador and a baby crocodile is an odd friendship pair but the series shows of their friendship and support which is inspiring for young children

In friends for life the characters are able to discuss what they like and dislike about each other including; liking how each other listens and helps, but disliking the mess or noise. It is tackled in a way that children can relate to.
  

 A bold move to but a palm tree in a christmas book

She also illustrated a series about a blue kangaroo who gets worried about the new arrivals in his owners bed. Clark's choice in colour really captures the mood in her books

The Hero in Childrens Books - Alexis Deacon

Beegu is a story of an alienated alien. It is a story that children can sympathise with the character and identify with the feeling of loneliness 

Beegu is a wonderful yet simply designed character, luminous yellow makes her stand out from the crowd 

The Hero in Childrens Books - Babar

Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated Babar in 1931, as a story of a young elephant who ventures into human society. Despite being a delightful story it has been criticised for being a metaphor for colonisation with Babar being a wild creature who was civilised

I also added in the introduction to the Tv series because I loved it so much as a child.

The Hero in Childrens Books - Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers is one of my favourite children's books illustrators and is incredibly popular at the moment in the world of illustration.

Here in Lost and Found we have the story of a friendship between a young boy and a penguin, and an adventure.  

Friendship is a key aspect in another one of Jeffers book, The Way back Home, when a boy meets an alien on the moon and tries to help him get home, although for a while he accidentally forgets the alien, which is a priceless humour of how easily people can get distracted making both adult and child laugh.

How to catch a star, was Jeffers first picture book

I really like the use of the washed colour boarders that are authentic rather than being shaped and cropped 

Here is a short film I found on Jeffers webpage about himself that was fairly interesting 

http://www.oliverjeffers.com/faq.aspx

The Hero in Childrens Books - Niki Daly

A retelling of the classic little red riding hood, is about a young african girl, Salma,  who is tricked by the wolf, Mr Dog, but instead of being saved by someone, Salma comes up with her own way to save her grandmother and win back what the wolf stole.  The book subtly warns of talking to strangers 

A song for Jamela is another of his books

The Hero in Childrens Books - Michael Foreman

Mia's story tells of a young girl in the Andes, from a poor family. She loses her dog one day and whilst out finding it she comes across a field of flowers that she takes back to she village and sells. The story incorporates ideas of poverty, recycling and ecology to children subtly and sophisticatedly.

The Hero in Childrens Books - The Barefoot Books

The Barefoot Book of Tales, written by Dawn Casey and Illustrated by Anne Wilson

These stories tell of old folktales from around the world, and are educational. They inform children of Britain of the different cultures around the world 

Anne Wilson uses colour, pattern, layers and texture to create wonderful imagery for children's books.

Here are some examples of her other work:

The Elephant dance written by Theresa Heine and Illustrated by Shelia Moxley was another book published by Barefoot books to educate youth on tales from other countries, especially important for the illustrations and stories to be relevant for children from other countries living in Britain and learning about their home country

Octopus Opposites by Stella Stone and illustrated by Stephanie Bauer.

Bauer work is characteristic of barefoot, bright bold colour, pattern, and an all round fun book 

 The Wild Swans illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert is a Barefoot Book which is unlike the over work they publish. Very delicate, classical feel similar to the golden age of book illustration.

The Hero in Childrens Books - John R Neill

The story of the Little Black Sambo, written by Helen Bannerman  in 1899, is an Indian tale involving a young boy outwitting tigers (literally making butter out of them which his mum makes into pancakes!)

The story was popular for half a century before being reconsidered as racial and contained dark iconography (the stylised drawings of black people with over-exagerrated features and colour in the 20th century)  

Below are examples of illustrations for the original story

John R Neill

  

 Gustaf Tenggren 

C.Carey.Cloud (1934)

In 1996 Fred Marcellino rewrote the story to the, the story of the Little Babaji, and removed all racial slurs and updated the illustrations.