Go to the following web page: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/Syllabus/analyses.html and choose one of the analyses of a picture book to read and evaluate. Make sure you explore the entire analysis and consider the four questions that are listed on that main page as you examine the chosen illustrations of the picture book. After you have completed this, share what you learned from the exercise (250 words). If possible, try to refer to the four original questions from the main page, and feel free to submit your own questions about the illustration & text and the answers you found. I would like to know what you learned by reading someone else’s analysis. This exercise is meant to prepare you for your own presentation of one of the illustrations on pages C1-C32. The presentation of your analysis doesn’t have to be the same as what you see on the website-it’s just meant to give you some ideas of how you can go about the exercise. 
Check this page out for further notes on analyzing a picture book: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/Syllabus/pictureanalysis.html 

What a Truly Cool World. Julius Lester. Illustrated by Joe Cepeda. (New York, Scholastic, 1999). Designed by Janet Hilbun.

•What is communicated?

•How is it communicated?

•How does the artist exploit the characteristics of the medium or media used?

•What is the interplay among visual elements?

 

I chose to study the analysis of the picture book What a Truly Cool World, written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Joe Capeda. This book is about God and the creation of the world. It seems to be a modern translation, with African American characters, and a contemporary spin on the story of creation. There are at least three different ideas being communicated in just this one picture which the website discusses. The first two themes are sense of humor and a sense of happiness and pride. Both illustrations of God and the angel girl, Shaniqua, who watches over the world, have really big smiles and bright looking faces. They are also giving each other high fives, “in celebration of creation.” I also noticed that her dress is a traditional long dress, however, it is wrinkly at the bottom, has tank top sleeves, and is blue. She is wearing red shoes and her wings are not white and feathery, but green and cutesy. In this picture God is not wearing an oversized white gown like you would tradition see, but is wearing a bright yellow robe, with blue and red on it and it doesn’t drop to the floor like most pictures of God are designed. These characters look happy, bright with joy and celebration for life. The website implies that the image is saying that, “Shaniqua truly believes that God is cool.” The other interpretation portrayed in this image is the idea of equality between characters. The two characters are strategically placed so that one is not dominating over the other. They are standing side by side and one is not larger than the other. They are equal in size, however, Shaniqua’s wings make her appear larger, but God’s bright clothing makes him slightly more noticeable at first glance. 

By reading this online analysis and reading some of the analysis’s of the other picture books I realized a lot is happening in these illustrations. I learned to think about color, placement of characters and objects, size, and direction. When we realized these things it can describe a lot about each character’s personality and roles in the story. I also learned that even in children’s books objects, colors, placement, and atmosphere can all be symbolic to the story and the meaning of the story.