Emil and the detectives: Initial Research

I have decided to have a go at the penguin random house competition brief, although I am unsure as of yet whether to do all three books or just one. Due to being an incredibly slow reader I will need to take this into consideration when planning my time!

So far, I have read the children's book Emil and the detectives by Erich Kästner, and have made my mandatory start of brief mind map:

Going from what we have already learnt about deconstructing a brief and answering it in the most effective way; I would like to try and tell a story...within a story.

I did a google search to have a look at the range of book jackets already existing for Emil and the detectives:

A lot of the covers already existing are quite outdated as the book is almost 90 years old, consisting of very basic illustrations (most of which aren't really that exciting). 

Here are some previous winners from the same competition last year:

I have noticed that the winner and runners up have used very limited colour palettes, and have used hand rendered methods of image making; this is something that I need to take on board. The more crafted images appealed to the judges, and will appeal to the young readers too.

Factors which I will consider to make my book jacket stand out:

• An interesting narrative
• A striking yet appropriate colour scheme (to make the book desirable)
• My audience: children between the ages of 8-11?
• Appropriate layout, imagery and type

What I will do from here:(in the next week; deadline Dec 7)

• Explorative drawing: characters, buildings etc
• Research into the 1920's era
• Look at potential narratives
• Come up with three-five thumbnail sketches