30 initial sketches

Previous years of doing the penguin competition has taught me (as the judges told you to) to do more sketches than you would usually do in order to get out all of the rubbish ideas you have in your head. I guess its like you need to filter out all the bad ideas to find out which are your good ideas.

Above I did a total of 24 sketches ( I was aiming for 30 however I didn't leave myself enough room for more to fit on the page).

A lot of my initial idea sketches were based on quotes or certain sections in the book that I found the most moving or influential for the younger audience.

Before sketching a lot of the ideas that came to my mind were easy to visualise as they had very distinctive and recognisable visual graphics.

Examples of this was august floating, the planets orbiting the sun and a few more.

A lot of the initial sketches were based on august letting go and comig of age which is fitting as it is a coming of age book, this was an aspect that i was trying to show well.

One other key thing that came up multiple time in the sketching process was the idea of the universe and that there is a lot beyond us and august that we cant see. I thought this could be an iteresting starting point for my designs.

Sustainable Further Reading

Mr Brownes Precepts

Video Prodcution

it was deemed the best fit to produce the booklet in video format in order to add to my social sites, also throughout this module I was trying to better my skills with video etc. I used premier pro to do this and took me a while to get the hang of it however the end result was worth it.

Binding

The binding process was a lot easier than expected having to only try 3.5mm and 4mm to get the correct diameter for the shoelace. I chose saddle sitch to bind so that I had enough of the shoelace left so I could create the tie at the edge of the book to make it a bit more obvious that it was a shoelace. 

Jack v Julian

Auggie meets two boys when he goes to 5th grade in a public school. Julian, who thinks he is scary and like a monster, and Jack, who sticks up for him and helps Auggie survive 5th grade.  Julian's view of Auggie is very negative while Jack’s view is more positive and friendly, and this helps the reader understand an important theme in the book.

When Auggie starts school, he meets Jack. Jack doesn’t become Auggie’s best friend right away. He is mostly there to help Auggie get through 5th grade. On page 141, it says “The thing is, there are always going to be kids like Julian who are jerks. But if a little kid like Jamie, who is usually a nice enough kid, can be mean, then a kid like August doesn’t stand a chance in middle school.” This shows that Jack doesn’t want Auggie to have a terrible time in middle school, but he doesn’t really want to be friends. However, as the two get to know each other, they become more like friends. This happens when they have to work on a science project together. There had been a problem between the two because Jack was making fun of Auggie with Julian and his friends. When Jack figured out that Auggie overheard, he instantly felt terrible and was really sorry. Jack apologised to Auggie for what he had done. He also punched Julian in the face when Julian was making fun of Auggie. Jack really thinks that Auggie is a genuine, good friend who would support him in times of trouble

On the other hand, Julian feels the exact opposite of how Jack feels. He thinks Auggie is scary and is a monster. A quote that proves this is, “I think he looks like an orc,” (77). This is why he bullies him. He also wants attention which is another contributing factor for why he bullies Auggie. He even turned the whole grade against Auggie and Jack. Quotes  that supports this are, “Julian went around telling everyone that you punched him because you have emotional problems,” (171), and, “Anyway, Julian said that he thinks being friends with Auggie is bringing you down, and that for your own good you need to stop hanging out with him so much. And if you start losing your old friends it will be like a wakeup call,” (172).  Julian’s feelings about Auggie never change while Jack’s do.  Jack was helpful and a good friend to Auggie, but Julian is a bully. 

The way Jack and Julian view Auggie helps us understand that you shouldn’t judge people by physical characteristics and you should be a friend to those who need one like Jack was to Auggie. R.J. Palacio taught us this theme by showing how Julian and Jack treat Auggie and react to Auggie. The tone Palacio takes toward Jack and Julian also helps us understand the theme. The authors tone towards Jack is very friendly, however, the tone the author takes toward Julian is negative. This shows that Palacio thinks that you should be kind to those who are different. Jacks intentions were very positive and friendly and he wanted Auggie to have a friend. Julian, however, thought Auggie was a freak. Knowing how these two react to Auggie teaches us that you should be kind to everyone, even if they are different.   

Point of View

There are 6 different points of view in Wonder - each view shows you more of peoples thoughts and moods as the book progresses. The shift in the point of view really helps us look into many people’s opinions on different situations.

In the book, the problem that Via doesn’t want to be only known as the weird deformed kid’s big sister increases. “I’m always going to be the sister of a kid with a birth defect: that’s not the issue. I just don’t always want to be defined that way.” 

Later in the story, we find that Via in going to be in a school play, but doesn’t want to tell her parents about it. Through her chapter the reader learns that she didn’t want to tell them because she didn’t want to be defined as Auggie’s sister, but to be known for herself. On page 203, she confesses, “It’s been so nice, Justin. But if he comes to the play, then everyone will talk about it, everyone will know… I don’t know why I’m feeling this… I swear I’ve never been embarrassed of him before.” 

But since we also have August’s point of view, we get to see that Via’s secret really hurt him. As this problem increases, Via finally gives in and realises, after Daisy dies, that she truly loves August and doesn’t care how others choose to define her. So as you can see, because the readers hears both their opinions, both sides of the story could be understood.

Comparing Jack and August’s relationship through each of their chapters leads the reader to a greater understanding of each character’s actions. For example, in August's chapter, Jack turns on him and says cruel things about him behind his back “Tushman asked me to hang out with him at the beginning of the year, and he must have told all the teachers to put us next to each other in all our classes, or something.” (Page 77). 

On the other hand, because we also have Jack’s point of view in the story in his chapter, we realise why he said all those mean things. “I’d been talking to Julian about August. Oh man. Now I understand! I was so mean. I don’t even know why. I’m not even sure what I said, but it was bad. It was only a minute or two. It’s just I knew Julian and everybody thought I was so weird for hanging out with August all the time, I felt stupid.” p152. 

Because we have all these changes in the narrating we realise just how diverse each person is and we how each person’s personality affects the plot. Nothing is centred on one person, everyone has problems, and a shift in point of view causes the reader to realise the things each character is going through.   

Characters views of August

As the characters’ views of Auggie change over time in R.J. Palicio’s Wonder, they influence Auggie’s opinions and emotions, teach us lessons, and impact the events in the story. 

When the book began the characters had mixed views of Auggie. Some characters loved and adored Auggie, like Mom and Via, but others did not like him very much, like Julian, Amos, and Miles. In the first few months of school Auggie’s classmates ignored him, stared at him, and said hurtful comments about him. Even his thought to be best friend Jack didn’t like him. 

On p77 Jack said when he thought he wasn't listening, “He always follows me around. What am I supposed to do?” and “If I looked like him, seriously, I think I’d kill myself.” Auggie didn’t have many friends at school, or people that were kind to him. All of these things had a huge negative effect on Auggie’s feelings. He tried to push it off and not think about it, but it eventually got to him.

On p77 and 79 Auggie narrated, “The tears were so thick in my eyes I could barely see” and “I ended up in the second-floor bathroom. I locked the door and just cried for I don’t know how long.” This shows that Auggie is hurt. All of the negativity that Auggie receives also makes Auggie feel worse about himself. 

On p60 Auggie asks, “Why do I have to be so ugly, Mommy?” Although Auggie had those few people who liked him, like Via, the negativity outnumbered the kindness he received and had a bad effect on him

Opinions then start changing about Auggie into positive. On p 210  Auggie narrated, “I found a little Uglydoll keychain sitting on my chair with a nice little note from Maya that said: For the nicest Auggie Doll in the world! xo Maya.” Right after that Auggie stated, “Six months ago stuff like that would never have happened, but now it happens more and more. . . People have been really nice.” The actions of the characters were making Auggie feel better and more confident about himself.

A while after these events Auggie got bullied by some kids from another school, but was defended by Amos, Miles, and Henry. Because popular kids stood up for Auggie, people thought of Auggie as normal. On p282 Auggie said “And now that they’d protected me, I was different to them. It was like I was one of them.” Auggie finally got an idea of what being normal is. He felt proud of who he was, and didn’t fear what people would think of him.

Auggie's classmates first met him they judged him on his looks rather than his personality. Thus meaning people would look at him differently and ignore him, however this all changed. If the characters’ views of Auggie never changed, then Auggie would still feel bad about himself. The negativity would have kept building up to the point where Auggie might have dropped out of school. These events in the book taught the reader an important lesson, to not judge a book by its cover. Wonder’s side characters judged Auggie by his deformities and thought he was a freak, which impacted August’s self-esteem and opinions. But only after getting to know August did the other characters understand who he really was.

Symbolism

Symbolism Of Ordinary

August considered himself “Not ordinary or normal”. From the scowling looks he gets at school, to the behind his back betrayals, Auggie struggles to find a place at his new school. The word “Ordinary” is a very important and meaning that is included in the book.  The book begins with the sentence “I know I am not an ordinary ten-year-old kid” (Pg. 3). The reader doesn’t know the physical appearance of August just yet, which grows suspicion for the reader. “Ordinary” has its own chapter, which introduces the book. August describes how some people describe him as ordinary and also how others don’t. In the beginning of the book, August describes how Via is over protective of him - “Via doesn’t see me as ordinary. She says she does, but if I were ordinary, she wouldn’t feel like she needs to protect me as much” (Pg. 3). But according to August, he considers himself ordinary because of his actions and interests compared to other “ordinary” kids. In Via’s point of view farther into the book reveals her thought towards people who judge August. Via feels hate towards the people that judge Auggie by his deformity.

Being ordinary is someone who does not stand out to others or appear different from others. Many people have other opinions on the meaning of the word. Ordinary has a strong connection to August’s life and how he fits himself in the real world. The book Wonder ends with a great theme and life lesson to carry with you forever: “Never judge a book by its cover”.

The Astronaut Helmet

The astronaut helmet represents Auggie's desire to hide from the world, and it gives him a little, er, space from all the gawkers out there. It is the first thing Auggie uses to control when people can see him, which is pretty fitting since that's exactly what astronauts use their helmets for too: control. Astronauts wear their helmets to make little safe spaces for themselves amongst the endless and inhospitable expanse of outer space, and in his own way, Auggie does the same.

The thing is, though, while it's true that people didn't stare at Auggie when he wore his helmet, they also didn't talk to him. This means that the helmet serves as both a refuge and a self-imposed isolation—the astronaut helmet cuts Auggie off from the world as effectively as being in outer space. So while there are understandable benefits to slipping on the helmet, we also see that Auggie uses it as a way to avoid having to engage with the world around him.

Fortunately Auggie's dad misses his son's face so much that he secretly throws away the helmet, bringing his young astronaut reluctantly back to earth. And in doing so, we understand that the helmet was a tool for a kid, and that now Auggie's growing up.

Marketplace

Wonder is a coming of age book so in order to gather information about the marketplace I found that the audience is for ages 11-13. This then lead me to discover the '50 best books for 11-12 year olds'.

The 50 Best Books for 
11- and 12-Year-Olds

by Melissa Taylor

What I noticed from studying all of the below book cover designs is that they are very illustrative with very strong use of typography for the book title and usually bold type for the authors name.