Jon Klassen Language Techniques

‘The Dark’ is a picture book written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen that centres around the two themes of fear and imagination. The main idea of this book is to demonstrate that in order to overcome fears, we have to use our imagination. The book shows the importance of overcoming your fears and not being afraid to try something new. Picture books are important as they help us connect with what we observe and how we link concepts with words. The book tells the tale of the protagonist - a young boy named Laszlo - who is afraid of the dark. He visits the dark so that the it will not visit him. One night it visits him and tells him to go down into the basement and shows Laszlo where the lightbulbs are. The dark keeps on living with Laszlo but does not bother him again. Throughout the pages of this book, the composer teaches that we should be able to confront our fears and we shouldn’t be afraid to use our imagination. …show more content…
The illustrator has used different visual techniques including colour and drawing style. Jon Klassen has used different shades of black and grey in order to give the book a more eerie and mysterious vibe. He has not used any bright colours but has instead has incorporated muted colours such as green, yellow and blue into the book. Klassen has also used horizontal and vertical lines in order to create a knitted texture which brings a spooky feel to the book. The author Lemony Snicket has used a variety of language techniques in order to emphasise Laszlo’s fear. He has used an ellipsis in order to build suspense and has used scary phrases such as “never dared”, “creaky roof” and “spooky voice” to promote fear and horror throughout the book. The composers of the book have worked well together to clearly show Lazlo's