Analysizing visual texts - tools and technologies

One of the most exciting areas of research in children's literature is the study of visual texts as literature. In one sense, all printed texts (except that produced in Braille - and at some levels even that) are visual: editors and publishers make decisions about visual impact that relate to typeface, size of font, shape of book, arrangement of title page and so on. Poetry is arranged visually; in fact, in most cases we can guess both a book's genre and who a book is meant for, simply by looking at its cover