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Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversation?" ~ From Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Do children NEED picture books? With all the images children are faced with today – television, video games, day care, movies, DVD’s, do they NEED more images filling their brains? YES!!!!!! But why???
Today, more than ever, children need to see the best life has to offer and picture books certainly fit that bill. In great picture books, illustrations share the function of storytelling or concept teaching. In picture books, the picture viewing requires active participation and works with the text.
Children are more visually alert than adults. Illustrations are meant to delight, capture attention, to tell a story or teach a concept, to capture attention and to develop appreciation and awareness in children. Of course, the best way to serve our children is to make as many great books available to the largest amount of children.
THE FUNCTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN PICTURE BOOKS Since the art of a picture book is made up of a series of drawings to tell a story, the art may function in one or more of the following ways:
Establish Setting: • The artwork is a natural for creating the setting of a picture book. Time periods and cultural settings can be brought to life through the illustrations.
Define and Develop Characters: • Pictures are able to give characters more delineation – pictures are able to show what the text can only say. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Reinforce Text: • The primary function of some of the pictures in some picture books is to reinforce and explain what is going on in the text. • An example of this is :
Provide a Differing Viewpoint: • One of the interesting ways pictures are used in picture books is to do the opposite of what is occurring in the text.
Extend or Develop the Plot: • The pictures in picture books can actually help advance the action or plot of the story. • In wordless picture books, the whole plot is told through the pictures.
Provide Interesting Asides: • Sometimes subplots are revealed through pictures that are never referred to in the text.
Establish Mood: • Illustrations are extremely important in determining the mood of a story.
STYLE AND MEDIA IN PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS Some of the most beautiful artwork in the world today can be found in picture book illustrations. They can range from very realistic to abstract.
STYLES: Realism • Realism, or representational style, is a faithful reproduction of nature, people and objects as they actually appear.
Surrealism • Surrealism is realism skewered. It is an attempt to represent the workings of the unconscious mind by creating a dreamlike state.
Expressionism • Is an attempt to give object expression to inner experience. • It often uses bright colors and figures that are a bit disproportionate.
Impressionism • Impressionism emphasizes light, color and movement.
Naive • Naïve is a style that gives the appearance of being childlike, and perhaps lacks a sense of proportion.
Cartoon Art • Books that are illustrated in cartoon format are cartoon art books.
MEDIA • Painterly media includes most of the most common art materials: paint, pencil and ink. • Others, like Paul Zelinsky in Rapunzel use oil and Stevenson uses watercolors, while VanAllsburg uses graphite or pencil. • Other materials used include pen and ink, colored pencils, pastels, charcoals, crayons, felt tip markers, gouache, tempuras and acrylics.
Others, like Suse MacDonald, use computer graphics to enhance their drawing. • Still another form of illustrating is to use wood die cuts or linoleum. • Other illustrators choose canvas, paper, collage photography, and stone lithography.
VISUAL ELEMENTS: • Picture book illustrators incorporate several visual elements into the creation of their pictures that affect the way we respond to their art. • These elements are lines, shape, color, texture and composition.
LINES • The lines in illustrations are either curved or straight. They can run horizontally, vertically or diagonally. They can be solid or broken. • How lines are used often plays an important role in what a picture communicates Diagonal lines suggest movement.
SHAPE • Shape is a two dimensional form representing an object. Shapes can be simple or complex. The objects can be recognizable or abstract. • Curved shapes generally depict objects found in nature and angular shapes depict objects made by humans.
Color Colors have the traits of hue, value and saturation. • Hue is the color itself • Value is the lightness or darkness. • Saturation is the brightness or dullness. • Illustrations that are achromatic are drawn in black, white or various shades of gray.
Texture • Texture is the impression of how a picture book “feels” – the tactic sensation created by the artist – Is it rough, smooth, hard, soft? • Collage is the most obvious way to create a three dimensional object.
Composition • Composition is the visual element that unites all the components in an illustration, either evenly (symmetrically) or unevenly(asymmetrically).
EVALUATING PICTURE BOOKS • Good picture books say something significant. • Action in picture books is important because it moves the action along. • Details in illustrations give the artwork depth and give the artist the opportunity to display their individuality. • Picture books are defined by their format rather than their content.
ABC BOOKS ABC books were one of the earliest varieties of picture books and are still very popular today. • Three rules exist for ABC books: • The words used to represent the letter must begin with a word commonly associated with that letter. • Only the illustration that begins with the letter should be featured. • Words have to have a sound that is consistent with the letter being examined.
COUNTING BOOKS • Also one of the first types of picture books, counting books do a great job of assisting kids in learning their numbers in a sequential way.
CONCEPT BOOKS • Concept books introduce a single, focused concept to children. • Some typical concepts learned would be colors, opposites and basic shapes.
PARTICIPATION BOOKS • A number of participation books are designed to have children be physically involved in the reading of the book.
WORDLESS PICTURE BOOKS • Wordless picture books are, in many instances, meant for the youngest babies. They are great for teaching infants what books are, how to hold them and turn the pages and include many colorful pictures.
PREDICTABLE BOOKS • Also called pattern books, these books can be a bridge to books that can be read on their pen. • There are repeated language and story patterns or other familiar sequences.
BEGINNING READERS • Beginning readers are the first step to children reading independently. • They not only have great pictures, but also have controlled vocabulary.
PICTURE STORYBOOKS • These are the biggest segment of the picture book population and are what most people have in mind when they envision picture books.
ENGINEERED STORYBOOKS • These are books hat are printed in an unconventional way to interest kids. • They can be pop-ups, odd shapes, and books with manipulatives.
BOARD BOOKS • Board books are made of heavy duty cardboard to withstand teething and general abuse. • They are smaller for bitty hands, and often have just one word or picture per page.
