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Brits of a certain age will know about Rupert Bear, whose adventures in a magic world were presented in a layered format that suits readers of all ages.
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Brits of a certain age will know about Rupert Bear, whose adventures in a magic world were presented in a layered format that suits readers of all ages.
Rupert Bear is a classic series of children’s stories that were published in the Daily Express newspaper from the 1920s, and as an Annual compilation. They are a perfect example of layering in action.
The narrative can be read at four levels: the page title (‘Rupert makes a new friend’), the pictures, the rhyming couplets and the full text.
This is truly multimodal, involving looking, reading and hearing (the couplets are designed to be read aloud), and it works for children of different ages. The content isn’t identical in each version – it can’t be – but each adds the particular kind of information or experience that its channel affords.
You can read one level all the way through (although the pictures alone would require some guesswork), or you can move between levels on each page. You can read alone or together, and adults reading aloud to children are discouraged from rushing through by the length of the prose version.
Caroline Bott (2003) The Life and Works of Alfred Bestall: Illustrator of Rupert Bear, Bloomsbury Publishing