OWL MOONBY: JANE YOLEN

ILLUSTRATED: JOHN SCHOENHERR PUBLISHED: 1987; PHILOMEL

BOOKSCALDECOTT MEDAL: 1988

BY: TONIA RAY

REALISM STYLE

• Realism: a faithful reproduction of nature, people, and objects as they actually appear. (pg. 33)

• The illustrations of the book are very much real and have a way of making the reader feel as if they are in the scene. You can feel the cold of winter and the darkness of the woods in the next picture.

LINE

• Lines are used to communicate illustrations to the audience. The lines used in this book are both straight and curved.

• In the following picture you can see the curve of the hills, the tall and short shadows of the father and son, the boundary of their farm and the curves of the trees.

SHAPE

• Shape represents an object. Curved shapes usually represent objects in nature. The following picture of the owl represents that it is getting ready to take flight. You can tell this by the curve of his wings.

COLOR

• Color sets the tone of the scene. Sometimes pictures are black and white and will represent simplicity and sometimes color will be used to add dramatization. Owl Moon takes place in the woods during winter, therefore, a lot of blues, grays, and whites are used.

TEXTURE

• Texture adds depth and additional meaning to the illustration. By using texture, illustrations come alive and real for the reader. In the first picture, the texture of the coats tell you that it is very cold outside. The coats look heavy and indicate the coldness of winter. In the second picture you can see the fluffiness of the snow which indicates that the snow has just fallen.

COMPOSITION

• In the following picture, the owl is bigger than the characters because the owl is the dominant object. The author wants the reader to recognize the owl as being the focal point of the story, not just an object.