Exploring William Moebius' Article "Introduction to Picture Book Codes" and How it Relates to Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are"

William Moebius writes in his article "Introduction to Picture Book Codes" about the several ways one can use to interpret the apparent relationship between the text of a Picture Book and its Pictures. He indicates that there are five different distinct codes to use when analyzing the text as well as the images. Those codes are: the code of position, size, and diminishing return, the codes of perspective, the code of the frame and the right and round, the code of line and capillarity, and the code of colour. Each code speaks of a different aspect of the image and how it relates to psychology behind the implied meaning. These methods come together in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Each page is filled with evidence supporting William Moebius' theories and suggestions.

In the code of position, size and diminishing returns, William Moebius talks about how the position of the character on the page relates to how the illustrator wants to display that character. for instance, if the character is displayed high on the page it indicates that the character has a powerful social status. It also indicates that the character has a positive self-image. Moebius goes on to say that if a character id positioned toward the right of a frame it indicates that the character is moving into a situation of risk and adventure. this is clearly shown in the first illustration of Max in Where The Wild Things Are. Max is shown facing the right of the frame with his left leg extended, touching the right of the frame. This indicates that he is actually walking into the next page into his next kind of mischief. This code also talks about the size of the character indicates the importance of that character or how that character is f...

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...s a color that brings a feeling of warmth and moving on.

The text also works with the pictures throughout the story. The text is on the right page compelling the reader to turn the page to see what happens next. As Max's imagination grows so do the pictures forcing the text to the bottom of the page. The full page spreads eventually take over the entire page leaving no room for text. The pictures carry on as extensions of the story, working well to continue the story. Finally the story ends on a page of all text. A small tag line that brings closure to the story and Max's adventure. The text as well as the pictures work hand in hand to tell a complete story. Along with the various codes that were used to give depth and understanding to the story, the text positioning worked well to provide direction. Everything worked together to tell a great story.