The difficulty with a single line of text, the things that it states and hides and the effects that it can have on reader were discussed in the previous post. In this part we will talk, in brief, about the use of an image.
It is believed that use of image or images are vital in children's books. They collaborate with the text and make the reading interesting and understanding easy. However, using an image(s) creates several problems.
Let us take an example:
To collaborate with the text 'Butterfly is an insect', we need an image. Remember, the age group of our book is 3 to 5. Now we have to think on several issues before finalizing an image:
- nature of the image, i.e. whether it would be a photograph, or illustration, drawing or a cartoon
- If it is a photograph then whether it should be a cutout or include surroundings. Which butterfly will be used in the photograph? Whether the background should be the natural habitat or something else?
- If we are using the drawing, what should be the color of the butterfly, what should be the angle of projection, which part of the life should the drawing depict?
- If we are using cartoons then how true cartoons should be with the reality?
These are some of the problems that we face while using a single image. The problem can continue. How many images do we use in a single spread? What will be the main image and why? How other images should be different from the main image? Should we remain consistent in our layout-throughout the book or throughout the series?
Book making is not an easy job. Problems are many. The article Grading a book-why and how has tried to outline some of the basic problems that we face with two of the fundamentals of a book-text and image. The following articles would deal in detail with each book making process. I would try to find out how these process can and do affect the parameters on which we grade a book.
Cheers
Kundan
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