Realizing A Connection

Everyone Can Relate To Images of Love

     The image on the cover is just the beginning of the message.  The image tries to draw the reader in by making a connection between the kid and the reader.  Everyone at one time or another was a little kid and made a mess.  The image shows the little kid in his prime of innocence and also his most mischievous age at the same time.  The title presents a phrase that will be connected to the written pages throughout the book.  The appeal on the cover and the same image repeated on page 4 is made more for the parents that read the book, since most of us don't remember things from the age of 2, but any parent will relate to it since they have had a kid and experienced this event.  By presenting the kid with a mess all around him the assumption is that he did it and you can tell from facial expressions that he sees nothing wrong.  With the arrangement of things that he has gotten into each item draws the reader in

more and more. A technique that journalists are taught as early as high school or any visual artist is to keep the reader looking at the picture for as long as possible.  To do this they employ a simple technique that seems very basic, but is a very good tool.  They make a circular pattern with the objects in the picture, if they follow the pattern they will get back to the beginning and keep their eyes on the picture longer.  If there is a path of objects or focus in the picture and it stops at the side of the image the readers eyes will wander off and not keep looking at the image.  The visual in this book that keeps the

reader circling is done with the toothpaste, toilet paper, bath beads, and other items arranged on the floor, because you want to look again incase you missed something.  Many of these things the kid gets into are things that you saw your own child do or you think is funny and will have a connection with.  The humor that is felt is used to put the reader in a happy mood and sets them up for the rest of the book to be full of love and emotion.  The use of the cat in this image is one that can be seen over and over again in comics.  The cat or pet of the family usually is watching the baby and always acting like it realizes the baby is doing the wrong thing.  The cat makes this picture all the more humorous. 

     The next image of the boy coming in from outside has a quality to it of a bigger boy and a bigger mess.  The boy still has little concern over the mess he is making, but seems a little less innocent in this picture.  This is the point where the mother would probably be yelling and using the boys middle name to express her anger.  Not only does he make a mess of the house, but with a baggy untucked shirt, messed up hair, and untied shoes the boy can be a reflection of many people that at one point as a kid didn't want to take baths and didn't care how dirty they were.  The cat in this picture is seen jetting out of the kitchen and running from the mess. 

Using the explanation above about the cat there seems to be more to it then a comical allusion.  The cat seems to be imagery for the mother.  The first image was the mother getting frustrated about the mess, instead of yelling at the boy, she loved him and ignored it, but was still upset about the mess.  In this picture the cat runs like a mother will run from a dirty mess if it pops up every time the boy comes in from playing outside.  Often times the boy is probably messy and it seems like too much.  Instead of being mad the mother just runs from it and cleans it up later without being mean to the

boy.  The patched holes in the boys jeans also imply a couple of messages that the mother cared enough to fix the holes and confirms the last thought that the boy gets messy often since his jeans have holes from excessive wear.  The mothers dedication to the boys happiness shows her love for the boy.

     In the last of these images there is an aerial view of the house.  This view gives us a idea of now being set outside of the lives of these two people.  All the pictures up until now were inside the house and seemed very personal to the people.  Now the view being removed is symbolic of the mother being removed partially from the boys life.  The important part of this picture is the girl walking up

the street.  The mother isn't fully removed from his life, because as we look ahead the boy obviously gets a kitten from the girl walking up the street.  Most adults can relate to this image, because there was a point where they moved out.  The boy is now shown dressed very nice and neat.  A mother could be proud of her son at this point and will remember this image as vividly as they remember when their kids went off to live on their own.  The emotions of moving away are very strong and whether or not it is wanted by either part, everyone knows it has to happen sometime.  The love that is exchanged at

this turning point in the boys life will be enormous compared to most days.  With this being one of the last images that expresses the boy and his growing up it makes an important view.  Since after each event the mother still holds him and rocks him back and forth, everyday of his life he has had love shown and expressed to him.  The images are showing that her love is always there, even though it may not seem like it since she should be mad at him for this reason or that.  The love of a mother will never die away.