Picture Books!

This week's blog is brought to you by Angela Barratt!

I am part of HPL’s Reference Team, and in one of our meetings it was suggested that I create a guide for the different parts of our youth collection. What the heck is a picture book, anyway? And how do you explain the +E section to a new staff member who maybe hasn’t had experience with them before? It’s not all Carle and Seuss in there. Hopefully we can agree on a succinct answer (comment below if you have a good one!), but for now here is my long-form exploration of the picture book form, in celebration of Picture Book Month!  

Picture books, according to Leonard S. Marcus (aka my hero), are an “extraordinarily flexible and child-friendly format” (5). That means lift-the-flap books end up on the shelf right next to long format stories. “Generally we have called books ‘picture books’ when they have a lot of pictures, or are predominantly pictures. Many picture book artists and critics have added the proviso that the pictures in a picture book should do more than simply reinforce the words of the story; they should also add to the story, give it new dimensions, even tell another additional story” (Marantz 2-3).

Jan Brett’s books often have a secondary, interweaving story going on in the illustrations

Academic Barbara Bader writes that “as an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of turning the page” (Salisbury and Styles 75). I love that, “the drama of turning the page”. It’s so true. When I was a kid we had this book called Quick, Turn the Page!, which maximized that drama and really was ahead of its time as an interactive book.

This interplay between image and text brings us to the official ALA definition of picture book.

The Caldecott medal is awarded “to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” ALSC defines picture books as the following:

-A “picture book for children” as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures of which the book is comprised.
-A “picture book for children” is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.

Please note the “ages up to and including fourteen.” Many people were surprised when Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott medal in 2008. It’s not really what comes to mind when you think “picture book.” But it meets the criteria!

And this brings me to another important point: picture books are for everyone! Pre-readers can build narrative skills through “reading” the visual components of picture books. Early readers of course gain confidence as they start with picture books containing few and simple words, with visual cues to back up the text. Examining the visual art of picture books is a great introduction to other forms of visual art, as well as a variety of styles, for grade school kids and even middle and high schoolers. I know many teachers use Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick as a writing prompt. Some picture books are written for an older audience and may require discretion on behalf of caregivers due to sensitive content (have you read Michael Rosen’s Sad Book?). I love reading picture books, myself! Keeps me young and my imagination flexible. And I like to look at pretty things.

Picture books illustrate (ha!) a wide variety of ways to view the world, which in turn leads children to expand their imaginations and build empathy. Some can be considered fine art, some are cartoons, some are street photographs, some are simple line drawings; it is the coexistence of such variety that is powerful.  

When we think “picture book,” we tend to think of what many people refer to as “picture storybook.” But there are lots of kinds of picture books. Here are a few categories drawn from my grad school textbook:

Alphabet

Counting

Concept

Toy

Mother Goose

Picture Storybooks

Wordless

Sometimes it feels like there are just too many picture books. And probably there are. But I want to end with a proclamation, penned by several picture book authors and illustrators, that inspires hope and excitement for what’s to come:

Annotated Bibliography

Admin. “Caldecott Medal - Terms and criteria.” Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), 23 May 2014, www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal /caldecottterms/caldecottterms

The ALSC definitions for the Caldecott medal.

Marantz, Sylvia S. Picture Books for Looking and Learning: Awakening Visual Perceptions through the Art of Children’s Books. The Oryx Press, 1992.

Marantz’s goal here is to give librarians and teachers the vocabulary needed to describe the art of picture books to students as an introduction to visual art and art techniques. She does a page-by-page walkthrough of 43 picture books. Available through the HPL catalog.

Marcus, Leonard S. Show Me a Story!: Why Picture Books Matter. Candlewick Press, 2012.

This excellent book begins with an introduction to the history of picture books. The rest of the book consists of conversations with picture book authors and illustrators about how they got into the field and their reasons picture books matter. I own this, it’s not at HPL.

Picture Book Month, picturebookmonth.com

The Picture Book Month website has blog posts from authors and illustrators explaining why they think picture books are important. It also has Black and White posters that you can download and color, and shelf talkers that you can use to promote your favorites! (although those are in color)

Norton, Donna E., and Saundra E. Norton. “Picture Books.” Through the Eyes of a Child: an Introduction to Children's Literature. Pearson, 2011.

This was my textbook for my children’s literature class. Still relevant!

Salisbury, Martin and Styles, Morag. Children’s Picturebooks: the Art of Visual Storytelling. Laurence King Publishing, Ltd., 2012.

Picked this gem up at Kaboom books, but you can also find some copies at Central. Contains a fantastic history of picture books including info about publishing and art processes. Also examines the relationship between the picturebook and the person.

-Angela