Pamela Becerra

EDU 260

09/21/19

Week 4 - “Gruffalo”

1. Explain the following styles of illustration:

Realism: It’s when art is very life-like and usually non-fiction. Meaning the lighting and
the tones of color are all exact or very similar to real life; non-supernatural.

Surrealism: It’s illustrations that do have realistic imagery but it’s also fiction and
distorted. It has a lot to do with imagination and creativity.

Expressionism: It’s a form of expression where the art demonstrates the emotions
rather than the physical aspects. So it’s symbolic according to what the artist may be
feeling.

Impressionism: It’s art that focuses on the lighting, shading, and soft texture. The
drawings are not sharp and are usually made with paint.

Naive: It’s usually described as unprofessional art due to the “quality” of it. The art can
look childish and has abnormal shapes and colors.

Cartoon Art:

2. Using the elements of illustration, explain the following about The Gruffalo
written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Select two pages
side-by-side to explain illustration for this book.

(Pages 1 and 2 (fox and mouse))

( 1 pt)1. What is the main style used?

The main style used would be naive art. The animals are not realistically drawn 100%.
Some things are accurate but not everything.

(1 pt) 2. What type(s) of media is used?

It appears to look like color pencils. There’s some shading but the drawings are really
sharp in their shape and have a good color gradient.

(2 pts) 3. How are the following used in the illustrations: line, shapes, color,
textures. Give examples of each

The lines are used for the grass, whiskers, and fur to create texture. Shapes are sharp
and outlined. The colors have a gradient and are very bright. The textures are created
with the shading and the types of shapes.

(2 pts.) 4. Explain how the text and illustrations tell the story? What do
illustrations show that is not in the text?

The illustrations are able to demonstrate how the mouse looks as well as all the
characters. For this specific page, it’s showing the mouse walking on two legs and
communicating with the fox. In reality, mice do not walk on two legs and will never come
face to face with a fox without getting eaten. It’s able to demonstrate the actions and
expressions of the animals as they speak.

(3 pts) 5. Explain the page design using the information given above for page
design.

An entire page is dedicated to the illustration of the mouse walking and the fox
approaching. While the page next to it, has the text and in the center has a mini
illustration of both animals communicating with each other. It focuses more on the
illustrations rather than the text, since the illustrations tell more of the story.

Emotional Development:

This week using the Gruffalo, select an age level and ONE specific trait from that
age to evaluate with this book. See the chart below: (5 pts)

Emotional DEVELOPMENT

Identify the Age ____________6 years old______________________

Explain an emotional development trait for the age: At this age, kids are starting to
build up their vocabulary and understanding over their emotions. They’re able to explain
themselves better, explain how they feel, and what they think. They are also becoming
more independent and start to do things on their own.

Using examples from the book, explain how the book fits the emotional

The little mouse shows bravery and language skills. The mouse is able to sneak himself
out of trouble with only using his words and courage. He was able to communicate with
all the animals in a smart way and even though he was faced with a gruffalo, he was still
able to get out untouched. It’s symbolic because all the animals are much bigger than
the tiny mouse, yet the little mouse protected themselves in whatever way they could. It
shows children different types of communication and how despite the differences the
little mouse was able to do big things for themselves.