The Song and Dance Man
By Karen Ackerman, Flyer by: Rebecca Trisko
Literary and Visual Elements
Throughout the book the pictures do a great job at reflecting the story. The pictures show a grandfather putting on an amazing show for his grandchildren just as the words in the story explain. You could easily flip through this book and get a general idea of the story just from the pictures.
The visual elements on their own do an amazing job at giving the reader a fun and loving feeling. One picture in particular which depicts the grandfather telling a joke and laughing at his own joke is illustrated perfectly. The expression of the grandfather is so detailed that you can almost hear his laughter. The outburst of color behind him along with the confetti pieces gives a sense of fun and movement to the reader letting them really indulge in the story.
Physical Features
The physical features of this book aren't super significant to the overall meaningfulness of the book. Its a simple paperback book that doesn't have opening or closing illustrations.
Artistic Style and Media
They artistic style of this book is realistic which gives the reader a sense that this could actually be happening anywhere in the world. It gives a sense of nostalgia and a warm happy feeling that comes when you see and grandfather and his grandchildren.
The artistic media that is used is beautiful colored pencil. This contributes by giving a simplistic and free feeling to the pictures. It also allows a lot of depth to the pictures through shading and color combining to create things you couldn't in other artistic styles.
Elements and Interplay of Text with Illustrations
The illustrations in this book are mainly done in bright and fun colors. The bright reds, blues, and yellows bring a fun circus and performance feeling to the book. The illustrations are full page and the bleeding colors allow the reader a sense of endlessness. The words are embedded within the pictures instead of being surrounded by white space. This allows the reader to do is as they are reading they can also take in the picture at the same time.