Brief: Think back to the earliest books you came across as a child, through your teenage years and early adulthood to where you are now. There may be half a dozen books which stick in your memory or are important to you in some way. There may be many more than that. It may be an early reading book, a particular image or short rhyme which helped you recognise letterforms. It may be the distressed metallic silver cover of a Salinger novel you read as a teenager, or the book you bought on impulse after work one day, seduced by the tactile quality of the cover. Identify these books in your learning log, use photographs and annotation to create an illustrated list documenting the books that are important to you, for whatever reason.
Now, connect your influential books to those with a more global reach. Identify seminal works that have informed or challenged some of the areas you have identified. These may be scientific, artistic, historical, political, geographic, fictional, poetic or religious texts.
My Influential Books
Roald Dahl The Twits (1980) Puffin Books
Image: 2001 version ‘The Twits’ https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/stories/p-t/the-twits
One of the first books I can remember reading page to page is The Twits. I was around 10/11 years old. This book carries a message to “Always be Kind to Others”. In the book, the twits are a very ugly looking couple because they are very ugly on the inside. They spend most of their time playing mean tricks on each other and then trying to get revenge for the mean things done to them. They keep monkeys locked up in a cage which they make stand on their heads and trap birds who sit by their windows and cooks them in pie’s. In the end the Monkey family work with local birds to escape from, and seek revenge on the nasty Mr and Mrs Twit.
As a young child I identified the message of this book to be kind to others, I was so worried I would turn ugly and miserable like the Twits! I felt sympathy for the animals in the book and knew I wanted to be the complete opposite to these characters!
Jacqueline Wilson Books (Books chosen 1991-2004) Penguin Books
Image: 1991-2004 selection of Jacquline Wilson books https://www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk/library.php
As a child Jacquline Wilson books were my all time favourite. I ended up with quite a large collection of her books. I always remember being drawn by the illustrations on the covers rather than the titles of her books, however I still loved the stories within. I found her books easy to read with the text being larger so the pages didn’t look so daunting and the odd illustrations on certain pages which broke up the text. Below are a selection of my favourite books.
I felt amazed and my inner child was so pleased to see that they still create and release the same style of Jacquline Wilsons books! Nick Sharratt, the illustrator to Jacquline’s book has created a recognisable style to her which has been appreciated by many generations.
Jacquline Wilson books introduces you to all sorts of different characters with different backgrounds, some are orphans, some from broken families, relatives with mental health issues etc. Although all story’s ended up with happy endings, as after all they are children’s books it taught me to approach people open minded, as you never know their stories.
Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy (2011-2012) Vintage books
Image: Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) https://www.eljamesauthor.com/books/fifty-shades-of-grey/
I stopped reading as a teenager, other than books needed for school. The only books I have read in my adult life are the Fifty Shades of Grey books, and I only decided to read these as at the time of release they where the most talked about books, everyone was reading and talking about them, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I enjoyed the first book more than the sequels as I enjoyed getting to know the characters and how their relationship progressed. E L James left the ending of the first book as a cliff hanger, it automatically made me wanting more, patiently waiting for the release of the following book. I purchased the next two books on my phone rather than buying the paperbacks, I felt this came with pros and cons. It was beneficial to have it on my phone as I didn’t have to rely on remembering to bring the book with me, however I did feel it took away a certain feeling I had when reading the first as a paperback, I was more easily distracted when reading it via my phone.
Although the story of this book hasn’t influenced me it was the first book I had read digitally, Even though I am not a book lover this to me felt completely different, as I missed the joy of the written word and the turning of pages.
Julia Donaldson Books (Books chosen 1999-2008) Macmillan Publishers
Image: Room on the Broom (2001) The Gruffalo (1999) Stick Man (2008) Monkey Puzzle (2000) http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/picturebooks.php#as
My favourite books to read to my children are Julia Donaldson books, as a family we love them. Above are some of my children’s favourite books. Axel Scheffler, the illustrator has created recognisable characters throughout Julia’s books so much so that my 4 year old is able to identify new Julia Donaldson books which are seen on the shelves in shops.
I remember reading the Gruffalo when I was a child and to be able to read this and more of Julia Donaldson books to my children is great. I love that her books are rhymed as it makes the story fun not only for the reader but for the listener too.
Connections
Looking back at my selection of books above, It took me a while to understand the connections to other books.
Dr Seuss Books – Theodor Seuss Geisel (Books chosen 1954-1971) Random House
Image: Dr Seuss Books (1954-1971) https://www.seussville.com/books/
No other books rhymes better than Dr Seuss. Connected by my love of rhyme from Julia Donaldson books, Dr Seuss is probably one of the most famous children’s authors globally with the books being translated into 20 different languages. Dr. Seuss books in general are filled with valuable lessons. From start to finish, the books are enjoyable for all ages.
The Secret – Rhonda Byrne (2006) Beyond Words Publishing
Image: The Secret (2006) https://www.rhondabyrne.com/ https://www.thesecret.tv/store/
The Secret is a self-help book based on the belief of the law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a person’s life directly. This book has sold over 30 million copies world wide and has been translated into 50 languages. I felt this could have a connection to the Jaqueline Wilson books as although Wilson’s books are for children, her stories can reflect in a self help way for other young children in similar situations to not feel alone and outcasted.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio (2012) Alfred A. Knopf
Image: Wonder (2012) https://wonderthebook.com/books/wonder
The book Wonder is a story about Auggie, a home-schooled 10 year old boy with a medical condition which has left his face disfigured. Auggie’s parents enrol him into school who is worried what the other children will think of him and his face. The story starts with Auggie being teased and bullied because of his appearance, However he soon forms a friendship with two children who help him. The book is based on Auggie’s journey and how everyone starts to accept him as the kind boy he is, rather than judging him by his appearance.
I believe this is connected to my first book ‘The Twits’ as it carries the same message of Always being kind to on another.
Global Influential Books
This exercise had me thinking of other well known global influential books which didn’t necessarily connect to the books that I have read as after all, I don’t have the greatest knowledge of books. I wanted to research further into this area to see what exists.
For thousands of years, books have been one of the most popular entertainment for mankind. Readers around the world invest countless hours escaping into new worlds and loosing themselves in the words of the pages. While books affect people in different ways, history has shown that some books have reached and impacted large groups of people. These books can share knowledge, inspiration and discoveries, some books are so important that they can help the world and mankind evolve and move forward by educating and informing the readers of many different genres.
I found an interesting article – https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/the-20-most-influential-books-in-history/ listing 20 of the most influential books voted by the public. It was interesting to see that a lot of these books are from many years ago, with the youngest book on the list being ‘A Brief History of Time’ by Stephen Hawking (1988).
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvior (1949) – Penguin Books
Image: The Second Sex (2015 cover) – Constance Borde (Translator) https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/103/1038399/the-second-sex/9780099595731.html
Simone de Beauvior wrote this book in 1949 to investigate popular definitions of femininity. She concluded that those definitions had been used to suppress women through the ages. Simone de Beauvoir famously wrote, ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, woman’. I understand how this book could be influential, especially as femininity has become very apparent in the recent years.
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1859)
Image: The Origin of Species http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_OntheOriginofSpecies.html
In the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin writes his theories of evolution by natural selection, is one of the most important works of scientific study ever published. This has left me really intrigued as to what the book entails and is defiantly something I will look forward to flicking through, plus it is something I would love to show my children, I am sure this would be of interest to many ages.
The Holy Bible King James version (1611)
Image: The Holy Bible
The King James Version, also known as the King James Bible or simply the Authorised Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, begun in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of James VI and I. (Wikipedia) Arguably one of the most influential books of all time, It has been read, respected and cherished by millions of people over hundreds of years.
Reflection
I found the second part to this exercise quite challenging, I really struggled to find connections between the books that I have read to those of global influence. I spent longer than planned trying to relate the books together, when in all honesty my book knowledge isn’t that great. However I do believe it has re-sparked an interest in books which has long been out, as during my childhood I would love to curl up reading a book.
Amendments After Receiving My Tutors Feedback
My tutor advised me to -‘ Discuss in more detail how the cover artwork reflects the content. And to look at different editions of particular books to see how their designs have changed.’
Following the advise given I decided to apply both to each of the books chosen above.
The Twits By Roald Dahl
I started off by looking back at previous covers to see how they have changed and evolved to keep up with trends and competitors.
Cover dates in order – 2001, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016
All of Roald Dahl’s book covers are iconic and recognisable due to Quentin Blake’s illustrations of the characters from the stories. The illustrations look like they came from a child’s imagination from the description in the books which is what makes them so relatable to the story. Looking at how the covers have developed over time, thankfully the illustrations themselves have stayed the same, the only noticeable thing to change is the typefaces used. Out of all the covers above the last (2016) cover is my favourite. I like the added watercolour touch, this also has a spot UV effect on the title with slight embossing which gives the paperback a higher quality feel.
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
Cover dates in order 1999, 2015, 2017, 2019
The same as the previous book, The Gruffalo’s illustration by Axel Scheffler is so iconic to the book (and author) that there doesn’t seem to be much difference between the covers, only a change of scenery. Because the last two books are special editions they have foiled details in the text and images, which makes these slightly different to others.
The Cat In The Hat by Dr Seuss
Cover dates 1957, 2001, 2010, 2017
The covers for Cat in the Hat don’t vary much between each other, even stretching back to one of the earliest covers in 1957, but the same as the previous two – because they are iconic characters, the covers aren’t able to change drastically as this would effect the story itself and possibly the audience.
rachaelmayesbook.design.blog 