Existing book research

The Gruffalo• Visual Style: Bright, busy, hand drawn and detailed this style makes the aspects of the image stand out and

look more interesting as well as cheerful, the busy scenery also provides the reader with plenty to look at meaning that the book is interesting every time they read it as they are able to find new interesting elements which they may not have previously spotted this means they are more likely to keep rereading the book. I particularly like the detailed visual style of this book as it makes it look more aesthetically pleasing.

• Layout: spaces left within image for the text to ensure that the text is easy to read against the background, text flows through the image to break up the writing so that the reader doesn't get bored reading a lot of text also to help the reader understand what is exactly happening in the picture, mostly full page illustrations however some pages have several smaller illustrations with the text in the white spaces on the page, the full page illustrations are particularly visually interesting, however the variation in pages keeps the reader interested I the book as they are not just looking at pretty much the same thing on every page.

• Text: variation in amount of text on the page from a sentence to a paragraph prevents the reader from getting bored of the book as they don’t have to continuously read large blocks of text, serif font used as its easier for early stage readers to read as it naturally follows on from one letter to another.

• Author: Julia Donaldson• Illustrator: Axel Scheffler• Publisher: Macmillan• No of pages: 26• Page size: 14.7 x 1.7 x 18.6 cm

Bears in the Night

• Visual Style: muted, generally quiet but some pages are more detailed and busy, hand drawn, cartoon, simple, plain. The basic style used helps the reader to focus on the learning to read aspect of the book as the style creates a greater emphasis on the text, the muted colours work well in setting the night time scene as they give the impression of darkness, I feel this works well in helping to set the scene of the book. I also like the less complex style of the background as it helps to make the characters and their actions stand out more.

• Layout: text within the spaces in the picture allowing for easy reading as the text stands out against the background. Full page illustrations used throughout the book to make it more visually interesting for the reader, text follows the flow of the picture to help the younger reader understand the order of the story more, I feel that all of these techniques work particularly well and make the learning to read experience easier and more interesting.

• Text: very minimal amount of text and it is repetitive as there is not much variation in the words used, these techniques make learning to read for our young audience easier as it isn't over complicated and the repetition allows them to get familiar with the words being used, serif font used as it makes it easier to read as it naturally follows on from one letter to another this is beneficial for the young readers who are learning to read.

• Author: Stan and Jan Berenstain• Illustrator: Unknown• Publisher: Random House books for young readers• No of pages: 36• Page size: 6.8 x 0.4 x 9.3 inches

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt• Visual style: mostly muted colours, some pages in black and white, busy, hand drawn and detailed, this style

provides the reader with allot of visual aid when they are reading as well as keeping the book continuously interesting through the use of detail. I like the muted detailed style of the book as I feel that it helps to set the scene and create something visually interesting for the readers however I am not keen of the use of black and white pages as I feel that this doesn't particularly add anything to the book.

• Layout: spaces left within image for the text to ensure that the text is easy to read against the background, Full page illustrations used throughout the book to make it more visually interesting for the reader, text box used for onomatopoeic words to help them stand out and emphasise them as different, some pages have several smaller illustrations with the text in the white spaces on the page, this variation in pages keeps the reader interested. I feel that the layout in this book is very effective in helping in the learning to read process particularly the use of a different background to emphasise the onomatopoeic words ad different compared to the others.

• Text: no huge chunks of text per page, this is kept to only a few sentences in order to prevent the reader from becoming bored by reading huge chunks of text, the words that are used are fairly basic making it easier for the young readers to read and understand and therefore enjoy.

• Author: Mark Rosen• Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury• Publisher: Candlewick Press• No of pages: 40• Page size: 27.2 x 0.5 x 24 cm