Cheri Anderson, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
This July blog highlights the need to include more in depth discussion of the illustrations within picture books in published book reviews. The blog entries will each discuss an award-winning international picture book as an example of the kinds of discussion that should be occurring more frequently in reviews.
Illustrations create a depth of meaning within picture books that are essential to the reading experience for that book. Unfortunately most picture book reviews give only basic information about the illustrations, usually just the medium or technique. Although the medium used by illustrators and the techniques for how they create the art is important, many other visual aspects elements are equally as interesting. The complexity of illustrators’ decisions as they go about their creative processes is fascinating. Some of these decisions are also made by the art directors at the publishing companies. Visual decisions such as the book format, size of the book, font selection, and scale add to meaning making for the reader. Through skillful use of visual elements, such as color, line, space, and perspective, the illustrator engages the emotions of the reader and directs the reader’s attention. Just as important as the written text in establishing authenticity in picture books is a close examination of the illustration style and whether it indicates a particular location of where the story takes place and whether the style and the details in the images are authentic to the culture depicted in the book. Further, the illustrations need to be examined for possible stereotypes or inaccuracies.
Because a well done picture book is an intricate dance between pictures and words, they do not simply mirror each other in content. What is said in the text is not exactly repeated in the pictures. Essential decisions must be made as to what will be presented in the written text and what will be depicted pictorially. Given the essential nature of illustrations to meaning-making in picture books, they should be given as much attention in reviews as is the written text.
Four picture books that were among the newly announced 2009 Outstanding International Books by USBBY caught my attention. I shared these books with colleagues over coffee and dessert and the comments included in this blog come out of discussions with three teachers and artists. Cumulatively we have shared picture books with thousands of children over the years. We have had many incredible opportunities to witness first hand a child’s joy and enlightenment within the pages of great picture books. Because we believe picture books involve an exquisite weave of both words and images, we will discuss the stories as told through the integration of words and images in these books. I would like to express tremendous gratitude to Brenda Halferty and Pam Potter for their willingness to share their insight and wisdom.
This entry is a discussion of the book, What the Rat Told Me: A Legend of the Chinese Zodiac, written and illustrated collaboratively by Marie Sellier, Catherine Louis, and Wang Fei (NorthSouth, 2009, 42 pp, ISBN 978-0-7358-2220-7). Catherine Louis indicates that China has had an enormous influence on her life and work. Although she lives in Switzerland, she says a part of her heart will always live in the land of the dragon. Wang Fei grew up in China, where he learned Chinese calligraphy. He believes the present comes from both the past and the future, and says he looks for the road between. Marie Sellier, Catherine Louis and Wang Fei collaborated on Legend of the Chinese Dragon, a previous USBBY award-winner, as well as What the Rat Told Me.
In the book, The Great Emperor of Heaven asks the animals to meet him at sunrise. The mouse promises to wake the cat at dawn but instead leaves with the other animals to be first in line to meet the emperor. He assigns each animal a year in the twelve year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. When the cat discovers that she has missed out, the friendship between the mouse and the cat is destroyed. Big, bold linoleum prints with strong rhythmic design are featured in double page spreads for each stylized depiction of the animals. Wang Fei’s elegant calligraphy for each animal coupled with Louis’ linoleum print of each zodiac symbol lends authenticity to the printed images.
The endpapers echo the brayer texture of red ink and the closing endpaper includes side by side printed zodiac signs, calligraphy, and English words for all twelve animals. If opened, the book jacket becomes a double page spread where a round red shape is surrounded by black silhouettes of each of the animals. Three quarters of the circle falls to the front of the spine of the book and one quarter to the back, foreshadowing the excellent sense of design of the illustrators within the book.
The oversized book format, 8 x 14 inches, adds to the illustrator’s ability to enhance the vertical journey the animals make up the mountain to visit the emperor. This vertical design also enables the images to encompass twelve animals. A strong use of diagonal line increases the drama where the stark contrast of black silhouetted animals and mountain against the white sky and red earth intensifies the double page spreads. On one page, the vertical orientation of the book isolates the sleeping cat at the very bottom right hand side of the spread but keeps the oversized cat from dominating the illustration. The printmaking technique of using a brayer roller also adds texture to the illustrations.
We found the technique of “bleeding the illustrations” off the page to have the effect of drawing the reader into the story. Because the illustrator has chosen not to make the entire illustration fit onto the page, the field of action seems to include the reader who is now actually sharing that off the page space. As the reader discovers, in some of these instances the illustrations extend onto the next page, providing a possible search for children as they turn the pages of the book. The dramatic and memorable compositions in red, black and white are a powerful invitation into this Chinese legend.
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- Themes: Cheri Anderson, international awards
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Debates & Trends, WOW Currents
Thoughtful illustrations, rich with embedded meaning, serve to enhance the written language of many a well-loved picture book. I totally agree!
Very interesting article–I think it would be great to have more in-depth details describing the book illustrations. Enjoyed the teacher insights on the book What The Rat Told Me.
Since the definition of a picture book is a book whose illustrations relate a significant part of the story it seems obvious to me that reviews of this genre should focus as much on the illustrations as they do on the text. I heartily agree with this blog that many factors other than medium and style of illustrations should be considered in such reviews.
As a storyteller I am keenly aware that when relating a story orally the use of gestures, facial expressions and vocal tone all contribute to the subtleties of communication.
Text is merely words on a page. Illustrations are what give a picture book depth and allow for greater understanding, especially for readers with limited experience or facility with reading or in books relating stories from other cultures.
Illustrastions allow the brain to process both words and pictures reducing the workload on working memory. Students are better able to understand what is being described and better able to recall later. I appreciated this blog for describing the important relationship between words and pictures.
I also appreciated the statement that said that illustrations should be authentic to the culture. I don’t think that artistic license should be taken away from the illustrator who is trying to depict a culture more so that an actual setting in another culture. The reader is able to take away much more from the story if he/she has a more full representation of the people in the story.
Adding illustrations to any story can shift the visual responsibility from that of the reader’s to the visual authorship of the illustrator(s). It is important that illustrators are aware of this responsibility and take great care in how they represent identity and place within their work. While I believe that an illustrator as outsider can represent a culture or story without being directly from the origin, I do agree with both the blog and Paul that the illustrations should remain authentic to that culture. If an illustrator is in fact operating as an outsider as insider within the text, I feel that thorough research on the culture depicted in the story should be conducted before an illustrator may be given the license to participate in such authorship. I really appreciated this blog and I look forward to reading further research on the topic.
I absolutely agree with this article in that book reviews should focus just as much, and in some cases more, on illustrations than the text itself. Books such as The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney only have a few words in them, and the primary story is carried almost entirely by the illustrations. There are many picture books which have no text whatsoever in which the stories are told entirely by the illustrations. In any picture book, however, illustrations greatly affect the tone of the story, the interpretations of the reader and, as this article points out, the ways in which the illustrations affect how the book is read. I found the section about the “bleeding over” of the illustrations particularly interesting and such techniques are definitely important to discuss in book reviews.
This blog has motivated me to look at illustrations with more of an analytical and critical understanding. For me, I think that I focus too heavily on the authenticity of the written word when the illustrations need just as much attention. Developing the skills to analyze illustrations will be a challenge for me. However, reading blogs like these is certainly a good first step! Thanks