I chose to write my text on a separate white page as children would find it easier to read off of. I got this idea from existing books which have their text on blank back grounds or white parts of the pages. Books below are; not now Bernard, The tiger who came to tea, the very hungry caterpillar and Winnie the pooh.
Not now Bernard has the text on a white background and the illustrations in a box style so both illustration and text are on the same page.I could’ve used this style for my book but I wanted bigger text so children could read it by themselves. This is because children in care often wont have an adult around to read them stories so they will have to read them themselves.
The tiger who came to tea is set out in a similar way. However, the drawings are mainly the characters with little or no back ground and these characters are not boxed in by anything. If my drawing skills were better I could’ve set my text and images out this way however, my skills meant that this was an unlikely option as it would draw more attention to the bad drawing. The text is also quite small and some children aged 5-10 may struggle to read text that small by themselves.
The Very hungry caterpillar has the right sized text for my target age group on a white back ground with the illustrations above the text. Again both the text and illustration are on the same page which works when the illustrations have no background. My book will have backgrounds so splitting the text onto one page and the illustration onto another is essential.
Winnie the pooh has both text and illustrations on the same page again. However, when there is a big important illustration they will put the illustration on one page and the text onto the other. The illustrations are usually encased in a white border with a fade out effect.
Books about adoption
My family is forever tells the story of the narrators adoption. From the adoptive parents preparations and excitement, their long journey by plane to meet her, to their life together as a family. This book centres on the process of adoption from the view point of the child. My book is similar in subject matter but my book deals with the ups and downs that children in care have to go through in order to get to this point.
We belong together is a book by Todd Parr it explores the ways people can come together to make a family. This book uses stick figure type characters and represents many different types of families. This book uses bright colours which is similar to mine in a way however my colours are pastel instead of neon bright. This book again shows the different processes of adoptions but not what the children have to go through before that point.
I am struggling to find a book which looks at what children in the care system have to go through before they find their forever families. So maybe my book fills a gap in the market for children in the care system?
