Đây là phần trả lời của tôi dành cho câu hỏi của Alisha về việc người biên tập sẽ cần chú ý đến những điều ý khi làm việc với những bản thảo dạng chỉ có tranh không có lời (wordless picture book). Phần trả lời bên dưới đây bằng tiếng Anh, một lúc nào đó, khi có dịp, tôi sẽ dịch lại phần này.
In my opinion, when we are art editing picture book without words for early reader, we can consider these following points:
1. Flow of story: Normally, with picture book, we have two parallel narratives: one with words and another with images. In book without text, the images become the only narrative. Therefore, illustrators should create a strong connection from image to image so that children can understand what happens in the book without reading any words. Even though the book has no text, illustrations still need to have a strong narrative structure with 3 parts: set up, action and resolution.
2. Leaving space for children’s imagination: illustrator creates images that provoke the curiosity about the content. Children should feel like “what will happen next when I turn the page?” It means that illustration should have clear and interesting actions that make children want to read more. Children also should have enough space for imagination, so they can tell story by their own words.
3. Link to children’s experience: children will have more change to explore the world in the book if they can link themselves to the characters’ emotions, actions or they can feel familiar with objects, animals. When illustrating images for this kind of book, illustrators should research about the world of their readers.
4. Add many layers of meaning: the process of reading of children is different from adults. They can read a book many times. Every time they re-read a book, they learn something new. As the articles mentioned, children love repetition and they can become obsessive about things they love. Therefore illustrator can consider adding “hints” in their pictures, so that reading becomes an adventure of exploring book’s world. For example, illustrator can create connections between the first illustration and the final one, or create a pattern in the illustrations, so that when children read book, they feel more eager to discover new layers of meaning.
5. Humour: Children love funny books. We can consider this by creating form of character, actions.
6. Target reader: Illustrator should consider about the age of their target reader. If children are early reader, they should use simple and clear brushes, color...
