Illustrations in M Sendaks Wild Things
In previous decades research concerning the art of picture books has predominantly ignored or downplayed the role illustrations play, instead directing energy towards the written passage. ... Lent illustrates that too often art in picture books is considered to be a mere decoration for the text, when in actual fact illustrations can depict their own narrative, vastly different to that expressed in the text (Considine & Haley, 1994). Following is an analysis of three illustrations found within the literary acclaimed picture book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ (Sendak, 1975). ... In this instance prominence will be given to Sendak’s illustrations and it will be considered how both the text and illustration perform together to effect how the reader constructs meanings, ideas and emotions. The first illustration within M. Sendak’s (1975) ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ is able to give the reader great insight into the protagonists, Max’s, personality (Refer to Appendix 1, pg. ... Sendak (1980) claims that the growth of his illustrations is intentional and is used to describe Max’s moods pictorially. ... Whilst believable, I contend that the increase in size of the illustrations is not so much a representation of Max’s rage as a representation of Max’s dissatisfaction with his inability to have complete power over his life.