A picture book is a format in children’s literature; it is not a genre. Picture books are an integration of text and illustration. The text and the illustration work together to tell the story in all genres–fantasy, realistic contemporary fiction, biography, historical fiction, science fiction, and traditional tales. Readers of children’s literature read both the text and the illustrated page. Illustrators of children’s picture books create art that extends the story of the text. Their artwork does not merely “translate” the words of the text; their illustrations provide details that may not have been spelled out in the text. For example, characters are not always given a detailed physical description by the author, leaving the illustrator to very literally put a face on the character. In children’s literature, the illustrations are as important as the texts, and as memorable.
Most picture books will present some text on an illustrated page. However, this is not always the case. Some picture books do not have text, i.e. the wordless picture books. Mercer Mayer, Chris Raschka, Jerry Pinkney, and David Wiesner are author-illustrators who have created wordless picture books. The pages of illustrations tell a story that a young reader can put language to and form his or her own version of the narrative. Some picture books have blank pages, as found in Wiesner’s The Three Little Pigs, and there is a reason for the blank pages, as they, too, add to the story being told. Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are was recognized by Sendak’s editor, Ursula Lindstrom, to be the first picture book to present an illustration on two pages without any text. And, Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are has more than one two-page spread of illustrations. The variety of picture books is endless. Authors and illustrators continually experiment with new ways to tell their stories.
The first British picture book, Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was published in 1902. Wanda Gag’s Millions of Cats, published in 1928, is hailed as the first American picture book. Both books are unique in their presentations. Potter’s tale offers text and illustration, though many times not on the same page. In designing her book, Potter was adamant that the size of the book be for “little hands.” Wanda Gag’s Millions of Cats shows the integration of text and illustration. The black and white illustrations of Gag’s book wind through the pages of her book, wrapping around her text. The curving lines draw the reader’s eyes across the pages and moving past the illustrations. Her choice of font is curvy as well, and ideally fits the flowing lines of the illustrations.
Early illustrators, Kate Greenaway, Maxfield Parrish, Arthur Rackham, and Randolph Caldecott, for whom the award is named, brought life to children’s literature by illustrating alphabet books, poetry anthologies, fairy tale collections, and classic novels. Caldecott’s illustrations are notable because his illustrations were the first to show movement on the static page.
A newer format in children’s and YA literature is the graphic novel. In the graphic novel, the progression of the plot depends on the illustrations to tell the story. The plot is revealed frame by frame, with dialogue and limited narration. Graphic novels are not to be confused with comic books. Most comic books are episodic tales or short serials. The audience of the graphic novel can expect a fully developed novel with all the components of plot and character development they would expect in a traditional novel. The readers of the graphic novel develop visual literacy. They must “read” the illustrated frames as well as the text. Readers will find that some of their favorite titles have been re-published as graphic novels. Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover are examples of new classics gaining a wider as graphic novels.
In this chapter are examples of picture books by Randolph Caldecott, Florence White Williams (illustrator of Little Black Sambo found in the Problematic Classics chapter), Beatrix Potter and Margery Williams Bianco. This short list of author and illustrators does not begin to touch on the number of quality picture books available for young readers. However, our intention is to offer a brief overview of the picture book and its beginnings.
To view and listen to some picture books online, go to:
Storyline Online, a web site that presents picture books read by members of the Screen Actors Guild.
