Wonder Research and Themes

Research

Written by RJ Palacio, based on own experience with her son, who's reflected in the book as the character Jack.

Auggie is starting 5th grade, first year on middle school, year 5 in the uk. Aged 10/11. Birthday is October the 10th, favourite holiday is Halloween October 31st.

Has a skull defect, caused by a TCOF 1 gene, his parents and his sister have this gene but don't show it physically. Reflects the idea of being the same on the inside but different on the outside.
Auggie has had 27 surgeries, use this number within the project.

'From the get-go we knew we wanted to have Auggie on the cover of the jacket in some way, but the challenge was how much of Auggie do we show? We believe that the book itself should be what paints the picture of this captivating character and so we approached the Wonder jacket in more abstract terms. With Auggie’s appearance being such an integral part of the Wonder story, our choice was to abstract the character as to not influence the readers’ perception of who Auggie is, while also creating a metaphor for his facial abnormality.'
- Tad Carpenter, designer of the book cover. He was sensitive around the topic of Auggie's facial abnormality, he didn't ignore it when designing the cover, but was selective in what he decided to show.

Carpenter Creative

Book design is essentially creating a brand identity bound within a hardcover. Illustration, typography and layout guidelines create the structure of the brand that is your book. Whether you’re looking for a book jacket design, a children’s picture book or even a type-driven coffee table book with strong attention to detail, we are ready to get on the same page. - Carpenter collective.

Tad carpenter designed the book cover for 'Ninja, Ninja Never Stop' using a restricted colour palette or red, teal, yellow, and black.
- could use a restricted colour palette within design to push self and create rules.

The carpenter creative consider type in their work as much as they consider the images, it can be integrated if it make sense within the image, on others the composition is what makes it stand out.

The type of design made can appear rather flat, but the inclusion of texture as well as multiple layers can increase the depth within the image.

Themes and Motifs

Family:

- nuclear

- whole unit

- love and support

- a glowing positive in Auggie's life

- considered 'lucky' by others to have such a strong unit

Kindness:

- learnt during the final chapters

- remaining kind through adversity

- regardless of appearance, background or circumstance.

- each character has own journey 

Tolerance of Differences:

- bullies

- outward appearance doesn't make his different

- within the school system

- the more time they spend the more they learn

Courage:

- strength in his own character

- sets and example

Friendship:

- help Auggie 

- ease the difficulties

- apologies 

Popularity:

- many characters struggle with it, how to manage/gain it

- trying to "fit in"

- the desire to be accepted

Outside vs Inside:

- the differences between the two 

- wants to be know for something more than his face

- disscussions about heaven and if you get to swap your face when you die

Astronaut Helmet:

- learns to live without the helment

- hiding his true self/protecting his self

- loss of helmet reflects the loss of insecurity 

The Universe:

- seen as a thing that impacts the characters

- how it revolves around each character

- how it's impacted Auggie

Daisy:

- ties the family together

- symbol of unconditional love 

- get a new dog bear, who shines hope within the family

Graduation:

- important milestone

- receives an award for showing courage and kindness in the face of adversity

- symbolises the growth of all the characters over the course of the narrative