Analysis EI Deafo by Cece Bell

Analysis EI Deafo by Cece Bell

EI Deafo by Cece Bell is a touching and humorous transitional book as well as a graphic novel. The author tells the childhood stories about a little girl who loses her hearing ability at the age of four, which is based on the true story of the author herself. Although the little girl feels isolated because of her disability, she wants to try her best to make herself to be normal. From my point of view, it does not simply tell the experience of a deaf child’s fear and struggle, but also her hope and optimism.

   From Cover to Cover by Horning (2010) clearly defines the key elements of being a transitional book to us. First, “Featuring simple sentences and short chapters, transitional literature serves as a bridge between easy readers and chapter books. (Horning, 2010,p.114)”.

Third, Cece uses various forms to provide different kinds of text and illustrations, which make the book convenient for young readers to distinguish. For example, the illustrations of Cece’s imagination are surrounded by large wavy bubble, Cece’s thoughts are indicated by special bubbles and narrative contents are showed with yellow background. In addition, the size of character and letters help to tell the story in a vivid manner.

Overall, Cece Bell does a good job that combing the conventions of transitional literature with graphic novel. I would consider this book is an excellent example of transitional graphic novel, which is great for children who want to start reading in the depth type of novels.

 

Reference:

Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. New York: Amulet.

Horning, K. (2010). From cover to cover: Evaluating and reviewing children’s books. (Rev. ed.). New York: Collins.