Jakiem Johnson

10/16/13

Graphic communications

The New York Public Library

The trip to the exhibit called “The ABC of IT: Why Children’s Books Matter” was a fun experience like no other. The New York Public Library has always had exhibits to explore that attract people to find out more about a certain topic. The Children’s exhibit focused on early books made for kids to get them to have fun while reading. Books like Mary Poppins, old Superman Comics and 145th Street Short Stories helped kids at a young age have an interest in reading. With all the visuals at the exhibits it i

s hard to tell which was the best.

At the exhibit I saw old Superman Comics which caught my eyes because the illustration and bold letters on the front cover. The Superman comic book had the title in a Sans Serif typography, which has a 3D looking effect on it to attract people. The famous logo of the ‘S’ on his chest uses serif typography. Superman’s first appearance was in Action Comics in 1938. Superman is probably the biggest superhero out of the DC universe comics. Kids love the actioninside the book as words change style to make it more interesting and enjoyable. Even the colors of the book was appealing to people even

though they looked faded or washed out but still showed good detail. Over the years the colors have improved with brighter images.

In the exhibit I also saw the umbrella of P.L. Travers who is famous for her children and adults books. P.L. Travers is a British author who wrote the well-known Mary Poppins book. The book has a perfect story about a magical nanny whotakes care of a group of kids with bad behavior but teaches them good manners. Mary Poppins also has a umbrella which allows her to fly anywhere she wants. The Mary Poppins became the biggest children’s book because its imagery and message behind it.

Another interesting book I found was 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers. Walter Dean Myers is a African American author who grew up in Harlem. He dropped out of High

school and later on joined the army. 145th Street is a book with short stories of teenagers growing up in Harlem New York. The title of the book uses old style Serif typography and shows four teens to attract a young crowd but is enjoyable for all ages. The color of the book has a old style red to it and stands out from other books.

In conclusion, my experience at the New York library was great because I got to see the growth on how books for kids improve over the years. Kids enjoy reading books with nice color and good illustration to go with it. Books like Mary Poppins, 145th Street and Superman Comics helped make reading fun. Others areas of the Library showed the making of drawings for kids books which was interesting because the drawings didn’t have much detail on them but still kids can identity what was being shown. I highly enjoyed the trip and recommend everybody to go to the New York Public Library.