The Impact of Silhouette Art in Storytelling on Late Childhood Children

Abstract

The present research aims to explore the impact of silhouette art on storytelling for children in late childhood, with an application to the traditional Arab tale " The Envious Man and the Eye Gouger." The study seeks to assess how the aesthetic values of silhouette art, characterized by its simple visual style and ease of execution, influence children’s encouragement to read, understand culture, engage emotionally, and comprehend storytelling. Additionally, it examines how this art contributes to the educational and cognitive development of the child’s personality. To achieve the study’s objective, the descriptive-analytical method was employed to examine silhouette art in terms of its concept, origin, and characteristics. The study also investigates the importance of illustrations during childhood and explores the perceptual and cognitive characteristics of children in late childhood. A practical experiment was conducted on a sample of 61 girls aged between 9 and 12 years, using a questionnaire administered through personal interviews. The findings revealed promising emotions from the children, expressed through their enthusiasm for reading more Arab heritage stories illustrated with innovative techniques such as silhouette art. The study showed that illustrative drawings using silhouette art contribute to enhancing emotional engagement with characters, aiding in recalling events, and understanding moral messages, making it an effective tool in storytelling. Thus, the aesthetic values of silhouette art can be employed in book illustrations to motivate children to read, offering a valuable addition to educational curricula and traditional Arab stories. The study recommends conducting future research to explore the impact of silhouette art's aesthetic values in other literary and educational contexts, as well as examining its effects on different age groups.