Graphic novel & children's books research

By Haris Shaikh

What is a Graphic novel?

A graphic novel is a narrative work where the story is told using primarily artwork. A broad definition is “a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and presented as a book”.They are often bound in more longer and more durable formats.They are often the inspiration behind films and TV series. This can work both ways with TV series being the inspiration for graphic novels.

Examples of graphic novels

• Watchmen• Spiderman• Batman• Superman• The Walking Dead• V for Vendetta• 300

What makes a graphic novel?

A graphic novel is mainly made up of illustration. Illustration helps set the story, scene and tone of the story.It often includes a small amount of text that allows for brief descriptions and dialogue. The text is important as it works with the images and helps move the narrative along.There are many different styles and types of illustration and it varies depending on the style of story. It can be anything from simple black and white, to intricate collages and anything in between.

What is the aim of a graphic novel?

The aim of a graphic novel is to tell a story primarily by the use of illustration and normally presented in a comic strip grid format, contained within white gutters (borders).

As graphic novels became more popular artists began to enhance the layout and add their own twist to it, veering away from the conventional simple layout

Analysis of a Graphic NovelAs you can see this graphic novel contains mostly images. It relies on them to tell the story more than the written text

The colours used are “warm” colours. This generates a more sinister feel

The target audience are males. You can tell this by the way it is presented and words used such as “BAM BAM BAM” and how it is quite violent

What is a Children's book?

Children’s literature is usually aimed at people up to age 12. it is defined in three different ways:- Written by children - Written for children- Or chosen by or for childrenChildren’s literature usually consists of legends, fairytales, myths and folklore. In most cases they consist of stereotypes, happy endings, worlds in which magic is accepted as normal and anthropomorphism (where something that is not human is depicted in a human way).They are normally written in serif fonts because of their clean, straight lines. They help guide the eye from one letter to another, making the text easy to read.

Examples of Children's books

• ZOG• The Crows

Pearblossom• The Famous Five • The Cat In The Hat• The Very Hungry

Caterpillar• Curious George• The Gingerbread

Man

Types of children’s books by age

One of the main ways to define children's books is by age. There are many different types of children's books but all have a target audience, and with each target audience comes different styles of illustration and written text (although there are obviously variations depending on the author, illustrator and nature of the story).

0-5 years old- picture booksPicture books combine verbal and visual narratives in the form of a book. There are many different types of media used such as;- Watercolour- Acrylic paint- Oil paint- Pencil- Computer graphics

One of the most important aspects about children's book are the illustrations. They are mostly simple and help allow the children to grasp what is going n in the story as they can visually interpret the situation better than they can understand a written interpretation. A combination of both illustration and written text allows the child to better understand. At first adults will read the books to young children, and then once they begin to learn to read they can read the books themselves.

5-7 years old- early reader books

These books are often design to help enhance a child's understanding of literature. They can help with reading and writing skills

7-12 year olds- Chapter Books

There are two main types of chapter books; short chapter books, appropriate for children ages 7-9. then there is longer chapter books, appropriate for children ages 9-12.

Analysis of a children's book

There is a small amount of text using basic words because the target audience is young children.

It contains a question making it interactive and helping children learn the names of animals. They can look at the images and answer the question, developing knowledge of farm animals.

The pictures are very basic and easy to interpret, helping children define the different animals.