Complete Name of the Professor
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children’s book written and illustrated by Eric Carle which was first published in 1969. The story was about a caterpillar who ate different kinds of fruits all throughout the week but remained hungry until he ate a leaf which made him feel better afterwards. Upon eating this much, the caterpillar noticed that he was no longer hungry nor was he little anymore—he had become a big fat caterpillar. He then wrapped himself around a cocoon for about two weeks and soon enough, he came out and became a beautiful butterfly.
First of all, the title of the book was already compelling. Personally, it made me think, how can a caterpillar be so hungry when they do not do much? They are tiny creatures, how can a lot of food fit in their bodies? What do they like to eat? Also, I find stories about nature fascinating in a sense that it would make you appreciate other living things—even the tiniest ones—a little bit more. It could stimulate your imagination and make you ask yourself what these creatures sometimes think and do. Such stories would make you a little more interested in the world you’re living in and what kind of things surround you. In addition to this, the illustrations were very minimalistic. It was not elaborate, but its simplicity would still capture one’s attention. It would make you want to just look at it for some time after reading the book. Honestly, the illustrations could be put in a picture frame and be hung in the living room.
Naïve art, I believe, was used in this storybook due to its use of color as well as the style of illustration. The composition of the illustrations was also a factor in compelling the reader to be interested and curious about the book. As I have mentioned, the colors that were used in the drawings were simple but it brought the lines to life and made a good tandem. The colors were vivid and the lines were not conventional; the mixture of both conveyed a mood that is lively and animated. The illustrations need not to be very detailed and realistic, but they were an effective eye candy. Aside from this, texture as an artistic element was very noticeable especially in the illustration of the caterpillar—the hair on his body was thoughtfully shown. All in all, the artistic media used in this book, I believe, was the combination of painting and mixed media, with the use of watercolor and collage. This played a significant part in bringing the drawings to life.
There were a lot of white spaces and the drawings were almost if not all placed in the center. There were no additional details on the other portion of the every page, which contributed to its minimalist effect and literally gave more space for the text. Its simplicity made the book a lot more elegant. The spaces complemented the colors that were used which made the pictures surface. The story was short simple, and so the illustration need not to be very elaborate as compared to books that are longer and have characters that require a lot of details.
The Lion and the Mouse
The Lion and the Mouse is one of the well-known Aesop’s Fables. It was about a lion laying asleep in a forest when a mouse surprisingly came to him. The mouse panicked and hastily ran to wander from the lion’s reach and sight. But instead, the mouse ran across the lion’s nose. The lion, being awaken from his sleep, laid his mighty paw on the mouse to slay the tiny animal. The mouse then begged for her life and assured the lion that he will soon repay him. The beast laughed at the thought of it and eventually freed the mouse. After some time, the lion was seen in the forest by a hunter’s net and he was unable to set himself free. The mouse heard the lion’s roar and quickly helped him escape the net by gnawing it until it disintegrated. Soon the lion set itself free.
What was really interesting in this fable was the thought of the lion and the mouse having an encounter. It would make you think, what would the lion do to the mouse? Or is there any chance that the mouse is not the underdog in the story? What could be so special about a mouse bumping onto a sleeping lion in the middle of the forest? Again, stories like this could stimulate your imagination based from the title. The fable was very brief and short, but it is one of the best-known and told stories in the world. It teaches the lesson that an act of kindness is never wasted. And also, personally, it made me think that maybe there is a possibility that a lion and a mouse could really coexist.
Realism was the artistic style used in the illustration of the story. The illustrator played on the colors as well as the composition of both the lion and the mouse, but it was able to portray how the scenario would be like had it happened in real life. The illustrations still look like paintings, but the details—especially of the lion—were very intricate. The colors that were used were also very realistic and close to the actual color of the sky, of the grass, and of the creatures.
The elements such as lines, color, texture, as well as perspective all set the mood of the story. The colors and textures and lines played well together in bringing the illustrations to life. The combinations gave off the idea that this kind of story could also happen in real life given the chance. Also, it made the story more interesting. Imagine if the colors were flat and the illustrations were unrealistic, the story would not be believable and stimulating. It would not grab the attention of the readers, which is why the style that was used in the illustration was appropriate as well as the elements that were chosen by the artist. Perspective also played an important role as it gave the readers the idea who is the superior and the inferior in the story. The worm’s eye view gave the impression that it was the mouse speaking, and the bird’s eye view was for the lion.
Painting was the artistic medium used in the illustration as it is one of the most suitable media in portraying realism. The play in colors and textures were greatly shown through paint daubs and eccentric brushstrokes. The intricate pictures reveal the plot as well as the emotions of the characters, which make it even more realistic making the storytelling more effective.
There were not much white spaces aside from the space for the text. However, the illustrations and the text still complement each other in a sense that the pages does not look crowded.
The illustrations in both storybooks show that pictures are important and that it should also be read especially for children as it is a part of early literacy. Illustrations are just as important as words—it can carry enough narrative to reveal the plot and the story thread.
