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Analysis of Illustrations in English Picture Books from the Perspective of the Grammar of Visual Design: A Case Study of the I Am Series

Author(s)

Xinyue Jiao*, Yuanqi Zhao

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Languages, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Using the grammar of visual design as a framework and Richard Scarry’s I Am series as a case study, this paper analyzes the narrative characteristics and educational value of the illustrations in this series from three dimensions: representational meaning, interactive meaning, and compositional meaning. The study finds that this series primarily constructs narrative threads through representational storytelling. It fosters an equal and healing reading atmosphere by offer gaze, eye-level perspectives, and high sensory modality. The use of Centre-margin arrangement and unframed framing creates a visual system tailored to children. The results indicate that the visual design of I Am series aligns with children’s cognitive and aesthetic development, achieving a fusion of narrative, emotional, and educational functions, and can serve as a reference for picture book creation, reading, and teaching.

Keywords

The Grammar of Visual Design; English Picture Books; I Am Series; Image-Text Interaction; Multimodal Discourse

References

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