Woolvs in the Sitee by Margret Wild and Anne Spudvilas - Book Report/Review Example

The Definition of Picture Book There has been explosion of publishing of picture books in the last few years. The picture books have not been written with just early literacy need in mind or for sharing bed time story. The concept of picture book now is that it is for all ages. The picture books has the ability to help children learn language skills like comprehension, sentence writing, nouns,verbs synonyms, antonyms. There has been an argument that graphic novels have the capacity of bombarding the brain with the setting, character, plot and action .This is the same principle with which the constructions are done in the picture book (Lyga,2006,p58). WOOLVS IN THE SITEE A brief about the author Margaret Wild is one of Australia's most successful, imaginative and challenging writers for children, and Woolvs in the Sitee the bravest to date. Margaret had worked initially as a journalist for newspapers and magazines. Margret later changed her career and worked as book editor in children's publishing. She continued for 16 years in this role. Margaret has the experience of having written more than 40 books for children. Her books are published all around the world and many have won numerous awards. The book in discussion is the Woolvs in the sitee and this is considered as a beautiful and frightening book having good poetic language and using imagery that is rich and unsettling. The concept is that people vanish and the woolvs prowl. The nature of the woolvs has never been understood. Anne Spudvilas is an illustrator who has worked on many children books and is also an established portrait painter.Anne has won many awards as illustrator. Anne won in the year 2007, Aurealis Award, Honour Book CBC Awards for her work in ‘ Woolvs in the Sitee’.( Anne Spudvilas) Anne Spudvilas' illustrations in this book are mesmerizing, having lot of shadows and threat, increase the frightening and suspicious atmosphere. A brief about Story The story is of a teenager who is living in this far reaching world and the teenager lives alone in the neglected building. This story revolves in present tense and in first person.The teenager is terrified about outside world and the “woolvs” that the teenager sees. The boy is tempted into outside world by the glimpse of the blue sky which is misunderstood. Ben is rescued by the only friend who is elderly Mrs Radinski.Mrs.Radinski enters into the dark street to save him. The woman gets disappeared and the boy must have the courage to go looking for her. A brief about the book ‘Woolvs in the Sitee’ by Margret Wild and Anne Spudvilas is an Innovative and intriguing book that contains everything that a picture book for mature students should possess — except correct spelling for older readers. This book can be described as the most powerful and sophisticated picture book in terms of language, visuals, design and ideas. This book like all books that are loaded with rich texts leaves the reader to negotiate meanings. The book is not primarily meant for beginning readers, but for all those who are ready to play with language. This book is ideal for all those who are interested in learning about figurative language, images and terms like metaphor, motif and symbolism. The beauty of this book is definitively the visual literacy. There is clear language that can be said as adding to the integrity of the text and the teenage character Ben .The character Ben is builded up by the language that is used and that also adds to the vulnerability and youth of the character. There will be a building up of sense of alienation in the mind of the reader. Margret Wild does this using the incorrect spelling or also known as phonetically and awkward grammatical constructs and made-up words of an undereducated, depressed, or perhaps dyslexic, teenager. The book is builded in such a way that right from the beginning there is a sense of belief that everything is not all right. The fracturing of the language that can be termed as not unjustified and accidental plus the careful construction of the language in such a way that it is easily decoded by the reader. The opening image of the wolf that is given across the black background gives the strong signal that the experience of reading this story will be meaty and strong. There is a space between the lines in the rough wolf image which is a signal that the readers should be active in filling it. The page next to this image is filled with intense red spread and the graffiti-like text. The book ends with lot of questions to be answered and it gives a belief that the reader had just read apiece of the book rather than the whole story. The book can be scary for children below 10 years due to scary illustrations and scary storyline. The book uses the unconventional phonetic spellings and patterns like ‘er’ in ‘kertins’.The narrator writes phonetically - for example "Erly won morning, wen I'm squinching owt the window, I sees a bloo sky!". The narrator also alludes to a bleak existence "scrooched" in hiding from wolves. That the wolves are metaphorical references to some dark presence. That the wolves are metaphorical references to some dark presence (soldiers? terrorists? or even mental illness) comes clear through the bleak, expressionistic artwork, which portrays no true beasts, but rather a blighted, barbed-wire-strung, urban landscape. There are various references in the text to the countryside - rivers, valleys, blue skies - which suggest the pastoral ideal and its loss in the modern day of “sitee” living. Even with its creative spelling Margret Wild’s text is true to the character of Ben, who is terrified but determined in his nightmare ‘sitee’, where he is beset by ‘woolvs’ as he searches for his missing neighbour Missus Radinski , and himself. The speaker alludes to a bleak existence "scrooched" in hiding from wolves. Nevertheless, no “woolvs" appear, and when Ben ventures outside in the closing pages (“Joyn me," he says), the situation remains undeveloped. Wild's fragmentary graphic narrative establishes a gloomy mood. The writing of Margret Wild is a text to the modern culture of modern popular picture books that do not use the ‘normal’ practise of picture books. The writing and illustrations are very different to the picture books studied in lectures (e.g. Winnie the Pooh). The Design of the Book Color The first page starts with red colour background and with writings on the wall. The second page shows how the city is represented. A close look has shown one solitary light that is shown in the red color. Diagonal lines are spread across the double spread .page. The diagonal lines can infer the tension. The wires are shown as broken and hanging down. The aerials are shown as damaged. (Pam MacIntyre) There are chicken scratch writings on some of the pages which are lines from the story written in erratic fashion; giving the sense of Ben’s confused and fearful mindset .The picture of Ben is shown as lit up in the third image. There are photographs in the third image and the way Ben is lit up is special. The fourth image shows some interesting highlights. The angle at which Ben sees the world, the strength of diagonal lines, the eyeless windows, the hand that was pulling back the curtain and what was the curtain covering first?.The image of the cycle has to be pondered in detail. The fifth image shows a blank right hand side. The meaning of staircase and open doorway should be understood in detail. There is color yellow which gives the cue to read the next page. Associations The decisions that can be termed as creative have everything to make the story more disturbing and disorienting. The themes have been powerfully delivered and the jarring reading experience makes the book more interesting. The impression is of a brutal world and that has been strengthened by the illustrator who has given Ben in heavy charcoal line. Ben is also represented in watercolour wash, the palette dark with splashes of color that was rare. The pictures contain dark shades often highlighted with streaks of red. These dark shades and pencil etchings emphasize the darkness of Ben’s world. The pages appear to be smudged or smeared to give the sense of a dark, industrial type city surrounding Ben’s apartment The wolves that is terrifying Ben is shown as shadow only. But this shadow can also be inferred as the shadow of Ben. The usage of hand has been given more importance in the text. The hands are in various poses. The Use of Shadow Ben is shown as living in shadows. The fear has been highlighted well by using shadows. Symbolism Wolf has been meant as a threat and as stupid. Language The use of language has been shown as changing to the audience. It is more like sms and e-mail. The spellings has been unconventional. There was lot of words that were invented like scrooched, skeeting, shiffles. Poetic style The language is more fluid type. The story goes in the present tense. The past tense in the language will have another effect on the reader. The story will undergo the change the moment, it is said from the point of Mrs. Radinski. Conclusion The book ends on the hope that Ben is determined to free himself from the fear that is crippling him in life. There is a final portrait that shows Ben as brave but still vulnerable. The final title is “Joyn Me” While picture books for older readers often influence the communication process, books for younger readers tend to use more traditional language to communicate. The younger children are not developed to understand the metaphor and resonances used in the book. The older children has the ability to understand the meaning of the text but will they be interested in reading picture book has to be seen. Few clues are given as to why the narrator Ben lives in such fear - his world seems very lonely and disturbed, but is it all in his head? Are there really "woolvs"? Why is he living alone with no food? The book would be interesting as it is similar with Shaun Tan's "The Red Tree" or "The Rabbits. The illustrations are raw and interesting; the cover is striking. This is a powerful and sophisticated book in language, visuals, design and ideas. Like all rich texts, it leaves room for the reader to negotiate meanings. The aim of the book has to be thought of advising the child and parents alike. References “Anne Spudvilas”,viewed on May 21,2009,retrieved from http://www.annespudvilas.com/Main.asp?_=Illustrating Lyga A A W (2006). GRaPHiC NOVELS for (REaLLY) YOUNG REaDERS. School Library Journal, Vol52(3),pp. 56–61. Pam MacIntyre,” Woolvs in the Sitee”,viewed on May 21,2001,retrieved from http://www.penguin.com.au/PUFFIN/NOTES/pdf/067004167X.pdf Read More