The idea of breaking the fourth wall is eliminating
the barrier between reader and story and allowing them in. This allows the
readers to immerse themselves into the wonderful world of imagination.
Many picture books use this technique to get readers
engaged through a unique interactive experience. Humor and intrigue is a big
part of it, which is what makes it so appealing to readers.
My writing mentor Jim challenged me to write my
children's story eliminating the fourth wall. I stumbled on its approach so I
took the time to study picture books that successfully broke the fourth wall.
Breaking the fourth wall is nothing new in picture books.
Author Crockett Johnson did a marvelous job with his book, HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON. It has
become a classic favorite.
In his book, the story unfolds as the main character, Harold, draws in the book with his purple crayon. Harold doesn't
know exactly where the story will take him, but he is in for an adventure and
takes the readers along with him. This story is told in third person, but the
pictures draw (no pun intended) the readers in through imagination.
Author Mo Willems is a pro at breaking the fourth
wall with his Elephant & Piggie and Pigeon book series. In WE ARE IN A BOOK! the characters talk
to each other then break out and refer to the reader. Later, they end up
talking to the reader using speech bubbles. There is an interaction between
characters, and between characters and the reader.
Piggie!Yes Gerald?I think someone is looking at us.
A reader! A reader is reading us.
End: Hello, will you please read us again?
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| Diagram for We Are in a Book! |
Sometimes
breaking the fourth wall can get complex as in BIG BAD BUBBLE by Adam Rubin.
The story is told in second person and starts off like this:
The story is told in second person and starts off like this:
You may not know this, but when a bubble pops, it doesn't just disappear.
Then
a character butts in:
Bubbles are sneaky. You never hear them coming…
And
now the character and the narrator, who is not revealed, are having a dialogue
with each other. But at the same time, because the narrator is outside, we feel
as if the character is talking to us, the reader.
Narrator: Don't listen to Mogo…he has no idea what he's talking about.
Character: Bubbles kill thousands of monsters every year.
Narrator: No, they don't.
Character: Oh, yeah? Prove it.
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| Diagram for Big Bad Bubble |
Activity/Instructions
A
simple breaking the fourth wall device is to simply have the character(s) talk
to the reader. This is very effective in creating an interaction between character and reader.
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| Basic diagram for breaking the fourth wall |
In IS THERE A DOG
IN THIS BOOK? by Viviane Schwarz, several cats are talking directly to the
reader and they are referring to the book that they are a part of. They ask the
reader to do something. In this case, cats are inviting readers to lift tabs. This
makes them feel a part of the story.
Oh, hi!You opened our book!Come and look at all the pages!
Wait- is there somebody else in this book?
PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet is a clever and fun interactive picture book that encourages participation. The reader is instructed to do something like "press here," turn the book upside down, and shake it.
My
all time favorite classic picture book is THERE IS A MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK,
by Jon Stone. Readers are instructed to NOT to turn the page. Of course, that
builds curiosity and leaves readers eventually turning the page. Grover is so adorable in his plea to readers and his fear of what's at the end of the book.
Reader as Narrator
Deborah
Underwood, author of HERE COMES THE
EASTER CAT uses the simple technique of character and reader interaction.
The difference is that the reader becomes the narrator. As the reader reads the
book as narrator, the cat is looking outside of the book. There is a private interaction between the reader and the main character, the cat. This technique allows the reader
to become part of the story and makes for an exciting and personal experience.
What's wrong, cat? You look grumpy.
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| Diagram for Here Comes the Easter Cat |
Referring to Book as Part of Story
The
interaction between characters, narrator, and reader are elements to breaking
the fourth wall. Referring to the book itself is another element as in THE JACKET by Kristen Hall. This story
is told in third person and is about a favorite book- the (nameless) main
character's book. Near the end, the readers are led to believe the book
referred to in the story is the very book they are holding because it has the
same cover as the book in the story. This is a great technique to get the
readers emotionally involved.
Another
story that refers to the book in the story is ERNEST THE MOOSE WHO DOESN'T FIT by Catherine Rayner. This is also
written in third person. In this story the book comes to life as we see a transformation of the book
unfold before our eyes. We see only parts of a moose because he is too
large for the pages. Having the character step out of the book transports the reader into another dimension.
Breaking Out of Character
Characters
who go in and out of character as in THIS
IS A MOOSE by Richard T. Morris also breaks the fourth wall.
The story
begins like any other story:
This is the Mighty Moose. His father is a moose. His mother is a moose…
This moose wants to be an astronaut.Then all of a sudden, they break character with:
CUT.
Excuse me, but moose cannot be astronauts…
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| Diagram for This is a Moose
In CHLOE AND THE
LION by Mac Barnett, Barnett himself is talking directly to the reader. His
presence is known because we can see him in claymation form as a character in
the book. This technique really makes you feel like you are part of the
creation process.
Here is how he starts the book:
This is me, Mac. I'm the author of this book. This is my friend, Adam. He's the illustrator of this book. And this is Chloe. She's the main character of this book.
Here, readers get a backstage pass into the book process with a formal introduction. This is effective at getting readers invested in the story.
After
the introduction, the story begins as third person narrative:
Wherever Chloe went, she looked for loose change.
Not
so long after the story begins, we are interrupted by Barnett who takes us out
of the imaginary world:
I'm sorry. Hold on. Adam could you come out here?
This is what it looks like in diagram form:
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So
you see, there are several techniques you could use to break the fourth wall of
your story. Experiment with these and find which suits your story best.
After
studying these mentor text, I decided that I didn't want a narrator interacting
with my characters. Since I had more than one character, I used the character
interaction and one sided communication of characters talking to readers as in
the diagram of This is Not a Book by Mo Willems. This process of studying
mentor text helped me to see the different ways to approach breaking the fourth
wall. May it help you.
-------------------------------------------------
Mentor
text for breaking the fourth wall:
THIS
IS A MOOSE by Richard T. Morris
ERNEST THE MOOSE WHO DOESN'T FIT by
Catherine Rayner
THE
JACKET by Kristen Hall
HERE
COMES THE EASTER by Deborah
Underwood
THERE
IS A MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK by Jon Stone.
IS
THERE A DOG IN THIS BOOK? by Viviane Schwarz
PRESS
HERE by Herve
BIG
BAD BUBBLE by Adam Rubin
GERALD
AND PIGGIE by Mo Willems
HAROLD
AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson
CHLOE
AND THE LION by Mac Barnett
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