Imagination

https://www.childtime.com/parent-resource-center/parenting-articles/the-importance-of-imagination/

https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/imagination-important-knowledge-education 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/22/why-we-must-cherish-the-role-of-imagination-in-childhood 

http://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/teaching-creativity.html 

https://pernillesripp.com/2015/10/23/great-picture-books-to-spark-imagination/

fantasy vs reality

http://ierg.ca/about-us/some-ideas-foundational-to-our-work/fantasy-and-reality-in-childrens-stories/

I found this essay about the pro's and con's of fantasy and reality in children's stories. There are a lot of theories from a wide range of sources. A lot of the theories contradict one another arguing the benefits of each method of educating children through stories. 

Children's Books That Go Against The Norm

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2011/jul/11/children-s-book-doctor

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/feb/05/top-10-childrens-books-on-death-bereavement-holly-webb

http://www.chroniclebooks.com/blog/2017/03/30/7-nonfiction-childrens-books-teach-real-facts/

http://www.newsweek.com/childrens-books-diversity-ethnicity-world-view-553654 

Ambiguous/realistic children's books

http://ask.metafilter.com/303294/Childrens-books-with-realistic-ambiguous-plots

http://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-jon-klassen-20161117-story.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/why-childrens-books-should-be-scary/382745/

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

 Anne fine sees modern gritty children's books as having abandoned the hopeful messages of fifties books. The article puts forward contrasting points of view and gives examples of stories and authors I need to research more. Authors that talk about a balance and the use of open endings to keep meanings ambiguous.
Could the use of ambiguity help authors and illustrators to demonstrate the complexities of the world we live in? To allow the reader to develop their own opinions and illustrate how the choices we make are not always clear cut in terms of good and bad. This could lead to problems of stories having no real message at all or being interpreted in negative ways that are not intended. is there a way to show that people are not perfect but that they can have good intentions that don't always work out?

Questions

How can children's authors and illustrators tackle the negative implications of just world stories?

Are the authors and illustrators responsible for the negative effects?

How can a story that shows the true nature of the world we live in promote positive moral values and be appropriate for children?

When should we tell our children that the world is an unfair place and what are the implications of this?

moral ambiguity

moral ambiguity

This article talks about the moral ambiguity of some sci-fi stories. The argument is that a story about good guys and bad guys is boring and predictable, the good guy will overcome struggle and win. We know the end before we even start to watch and this takes away from the intricacies of the story. From the research I have done into the effects of the just world hypothesis there are the issues with good vs evil stories has much wider implications that can distort our view of the world we live in and lead to problems such as victim blaming. This article is interesting because the author makes some good points about the responsibility of authors to encourage positive moral values but I think he has not taken into account the negative effects these morally perfect characters can have on real people. the problem is how do we create stories that show that the world we live in is not a fair place without making them depressing or encouraging negative behaviour and beliefs. How is it possible to create stories suitable for children that avoid just world beliefs while promoting a set of positive moral values and behaviours.

Interesting books

https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/graphic_design/all/03411/facts.understanding_the_world_the_atlas_of_infographics.htm

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961392126/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0961392126&linkCode=as2&tag=gamestormingc-20&linkId=DWCBNMIHK6L6BYRN

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465050654/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0465050654&linkCode=as2&tag=gamestormingc-20&linkId=NRMBPFQHKH6YKHV5

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189263709X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=189263709X&linkCode=as2&tag=gamestormingc-20&linkId=4CFUFY44W5BUJUMW

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674744438/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674744438&linkCode=as2&tag=gamestormingc-20&linkId=A35XS5PYPQKPXQGU

These books look at visual communication from a variety of standpoints, one tackles visual thinking in the form of a graphic novel. They should help me look at visual thinking from a number of perspectives.

Starting point

I spent the last year looking at empathy and the just world hypothesis. I am interested in creating children's books and want to learn more about the narratives we use to educate children. From my research last year I found that although many traditional narratives promote positive moral values they also lead to problems and may not be the best way to help us understand the world around us. My research up to this point has been based around theories that relate to storytelling which I think is a huge part of illustration but I would like to also explore the way we interpret our surroundings visually. As illustrators we are able to use commonly recognised preexisting symbols to help communicate with the viewer. Some of these symbols are so deeply ingrained on us that we see them in abstracted forms. We see faces in any number of objects, something as simple as 3 dots and a line can make a face if arranged in the right composition. I would like to know more about how this interpretation of our surroundings alters our view and what implications it has on illustration.