Planning The Layout, Pacing and Narrative

This week I have been continuing with media experimentation but decided that it was probably a good time to also start working out how I want the final layout of my pages to look like. I started off by rereading through the text and sectioning off areas that I felt were the major scenes and then the slightly less important ones (as these could be smaller illustrations)
I've also been thinking about how certain images may look better; as a double page spread, vertical/horizontal, one full bleed page, within a frame or even a floating image on its own.
To help with this, I have been researching contemporary (and some old) layouts of children's books and getting ideas from them. Here are a few layouts used in children's books that I found interesting and might be applied into my book:

Using a container with imagery inside

Whole double page of illustration with text on one side

Illustration going on in the back ground with text in front

Sections to show different areas of one place or to show time passing?

I've been sketching different ideas for each scene within the story. Choosing which images to draw will be very important as well so that the story flows naturally. To do this, I've chosen the most important scenes to the story as listed below. Some are quite vague as I'm not sure yet how to approach these.

• The demon/enchanted mirror
• The beginning - Kai and Gerda
• Kai seeing the Snow Queen through the window
• Mirror fragment getting into Kai's eye and heart
• Kai flying away with the Snow Queen
• Snow Queen's kiss
• Gerda/river
• Scene with the Old Lady 
• Scene with the Raven
• The Royal Palace
• Gerda captured by the Robber-girl
• Gerda leaving with Bae
• A scene with the Finnish Lady
• Ice Palace illustration
• Gerda and Kai reunite 
• Ending scene

There are some other ideas for scenes that I've had that, although may not be vital to the story, will make an exciting/vivid illustration or they may just make the story a bit more engaging. These I've made into a separate list:

• Other variations of Kai with the Snow Queen (wrapped in her fur/sitting on sledge etc.)
• The toy soldiers
• Interior of the Old Lady's cottage
• The Old Lady's enchanted garden
• The Old Lady's sun hat
• Gerda sitting under a tree looking at the Raven
• The dream-like shadows in the corridor
• The prince and princess
• Carriage leaving with the Raven watching
• Robber-girl giving Bae to Gerda
• Kai trying to spell the words "Eternity"

Composition sketches for the major scene with The Snow Queen and Kai on the sledge

Kai getting a piece of the mirror in his eye and heart - perhaps use symbolism in surroundings to show the urgency of the situation?

Planning book layout

The meeting between Gerda and the Old Lady who knew magic