CAE Reading and Use of English Part 8
You are going to read an article in which an illustrator of children’s books talks about other illustrators’ work. For questions 47-56, choose from the sections (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.
Which illustrator’s work is described as
47 being more impressive when considered as a whole?
48 inspiring experimentation?
49 becoming simpler over time?
50 conveying contrasting moods in the same illustration?
51 using illustrations to indicate how to read the text out loud?
52 avoiding a weakness common in children’s books?
53 being the result of collaboration?
54 re-interpreting traditional material?
55 showing unusual events in ordinary contexts?
56 making fun of things that would normally be taken seriously?
Four inspiring illustrators
Illustrator Hannah Roberts talks about the work of other children’s book illustrators
A Judith Kerr
I loved The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr when I was a child. I remember being obsessed with the scene where the tiger came and drank all the water in the tap. I think it was the domesticity of it, that this person was at home and that this could actually happen. Nothing much happens, in fact, but it’s still magical. Kerr keeps the words very simple, and the pictures give you clues about what they should sound like when delivered. In her Mog books, you can look at the cat’s face to see how shocking or dramatic the action is. He is just a funny cat, with an expressive face. If you mention Mog or The Tiger Who Came to Tea to someone under the age of 40, they usually smile, which is the instinctive reaction a children’s book should provoke. I can think of illustrators who are technically better and books with richer textual content, but, with Kerr, there’s something about the way the entire package fits together that’s wonderful.
B Klaus Ensikat
I often feel that illustrators underestimate children. For some reason, pictures for them tend to be over-simple and brightly colourful. Klaus Ensikat’s illustrations, however, are very sophisticated. His drawing is absolutely exquisite, a little like engraving, and he covers large areas with fine, precise lines that give life to shadows, furniture, forests, clothes and soft fur. Those drawings are then washed over with fine watercolour paint, which makes them seem slightly melancholy. At the same time, they are funny and touching. My favourite of his books is a collection of old German children’s songs called Jeder nach seiner Art (To Each Their Own). The texts are handwritten in beautiful old-fashioned calligraphy, and next to them are tiny, perfect black-and-white drawings. Some of these songs about animals are really well known in the German-speaking world, and a less brilliant illustrator would render them visually as familiar, cheerful and superficial. But Ensikat has found new, surreal, romantic ways of illustrating them. I keep buying his books in the (so far vain) hope that I will discover his secret.
C Lane Smith
I first saw Lane Smith’s work when I was a young illustrator. His book The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales was lively and irreverent. It had a fabulous sense of colour, and what especially appealed was the texture: I have always loved layered, dappled surfaces, and Lane Smith uses collage to create a wonderful, grungy feel. His artwork is innovative, and often reveals the absurdities in solemn, earnest attitudes and behaviour. His characters are striking and often staged on a flat plane like a theatre set. The overall design also marks out a Lane Smith look. His wife, Molly Leach, designs the text on every page and, ingeniously, its appearance shapes the way it should be spoken. Lately, Smith’s approach has been more minimal. In his recent book, Grandpa Green, the colour is muted, with drawn outlines against white backgrounds. The truth is that his art has never stood still.
D John Burningham
I recently came across a book by John Burningham, Mr Grumpy’s Outing, that instantly transported me back to my childhood. He can create the sense of a scorching hot summer’s day simply by using a few yellow dots and dashes to represent the sun; you can really feel the heat. His work looks almost haphazard, with smudges, scratches and splodges. But it doesn’t matter whether they were intended or just happy mistakes; they all come together in these wonderful, atmospheric images. You get the impression that he draws with whatever comes to hand. He builds the images with glorious blocks of colour which he then works on with cross-hatching and scribbles of pencil and crayon. The results are full of movement and life. More recently, he has used photography, worked over with paint and mixed with drawn characters, to make rich landscapes. I love the humour he gets into these pictures, the expressions he conjures up with just a few lines. I’ve learned to take risks myself from looking at his books; they leave me feeling less afraid of that blank expanse of white paper.
For this task: Answers with explanations :: Vocabulary