Reflection
Jake:
After analyzing the story I understood why the story was written the way it was. The style of drawing was used to show the difference between reality and what was fake. The drawings made me think back to the cover with Lucy and her pencil, showing that the wolves are not real but something that she has created in order to bring her family closer. Also, knowing that the story was inspired from one of Neil’s daughters nightmares helps me gain a better understanding for the colors that are being used as well. Both the drawings of the wolves and the background knowledge of the story helped me come to the conclusion that most of the story is made up from Lucy's imagination. That also makes the story more understandable as it does bounce around somewhat.
Karsyn:
After re-reading wolves in the walls many times, I have come to really enjoy the book. I can now understand it better due to the background information I have done on it. For example the more I read it, I notice more and more things in the illustrations that I did not notice before. An example that I did not notice before was how some of the pictures in the book were really taken and how some of the images are drawn, this is an important detail I believe because it helps show the reader what part of the story is real and which is a part of Lucy's imagination.
Lily:
While my own personal interpretation of the events that occurred in the book was not significantly altered, researching and re-reading into the story with new lenses has greatly expanded my mind to the many possible viewpoints of other readers. Using the information we have learned about reading images, I enjoyed attempting to decode subliminal messages hidden in plain sight by illustrator Dave McKean. Visiting each page repeatedly and with such scrutiny allowed me to notice tiny elements such as a break in framing and the use of limited speech bubbles, and wonder about their contribution to the story as a whole. Having chosen a book with an element of mystery and confusion made the hunt for answers all the more rewarding.
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Liz:
My perception of the book has greatly changed throughout multiple readings. My first time through, I was not very enthused by the story, I thought it was shallow and random. But, as I dug deeper into the artwork and background of the story, I began to understand the underlying story hidden in the images. For example, when Lucy sneaks back into her room, the picture she was hiding behind was an elephant. This hints that the story, and the elephants attacking later, are all a part of Lucy's imagination and the incident with the wolves is just a nightmare. This can be supported by the black end pages and the fact that the wolves are in a different art style, suggesting they are not from Lucy's world. In the end, after digging in deeper to the story of the book, I found that I really enjoy this book for its complexity and whimsy.