Working in primary education you find yourself absolutely surrounded by all sorts of children's books, educational, fictional. Volunteering over the summer at a primary school working with teachers and children I discovered that the same books used to teach me were still being used as teaching resources ('We're Going on a Bear Hunt', 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'The Rainbow Fish') I spoke with the teachers I worked with about this and they explained that these books are very good for using in the classroom but whilst each year exciting for new classes they are the same old stories for teachers.
This is where I saw an opportunity for an exciting and rewarding project in the area of illustration and field I'm looking to work in. Having researched the field of illustration I look to work in, I intend to create a children's book that I could one day use in education as a teaching resource. The book will look to follow the conventions of the classic children's books still used in today's education system, simple illustrations, story and design.
To summarise my children's book:-
Target audience: Children, teachers.
Intent: To create an education tool in form of a children's book.
Theme: Nonsensical story.
Synopsis:
"Aren't you ever curious about what happens to your odd socks?
One little boy was especially curious and made it his mission to find out..."
The story is narrated by a small child (relatable to target audience) and follows his observations and ideas. The story explains in a fun way the old age problem of "where do missing socks go?" and why we get odd socks. Throughout the story the boy theorises and investigates where the socks disappear to and concludes that there are purple-fluffy monsters with one foot who steal them. The existence of these creatures is neither confirmed or disproved but left to as a fun idea for children, similar to The Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny.
I intend the style of the book to be very typical of children's books. It's important that children's books used in education follow a certain style, illustrations cannot be too busy and act as distractions from the story and the text must be eligible to young children. Simple illustrations and simple font faces allow for the book to be used as a tool in education. Sizing is another important factor with children's books, particularly if used in a classroom and will need to be considered when printing.
Evaluation:
My aim is to produce a children's book used as a tool in education. I intend to produce two versions of the book, one in teaching size (large) and the second in a small copy for children's bookshelves. The story is a nonsensical, fun story that children can adapt and play on for their own story ideas. The illustrations will be colourful and the text eligible, the key ingredient to my book is simplicity in design.