Experiences
with literature can be heightened by the illustrations.Books
for younger children tend to be picture books.In
these books the meaning is communicated through both words and pictures,
and the pictures may even dominate at times
Successful
storybooks are illustrated with pictures that harmonize with the text.This
can be done in a variety of ways.One
is to use COLOR.The presence or
absence of it may enhance the story meaning.
SIZE
can also be used to harmonize the words and pictures.The
pictures may get larger and larger or dominate more of the page.Where
the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak give us an excellent example
of this.As Max travels farther and
farther from his very own room into the land of the wild things, changes
in picture size become an effective way to communicate meaning.
In
additions DETAILS can assist with harmonizing of the words and pictures.When
Max becomes king of the wild things, Sendak shows him wearing a crown.he
Peter in The Snowy Day walks with his feet pointing out like “this”
and pointing in like “that,” Keats shows tracks in the snow doing just
“this” and “that.”In books for older
students, pictures play a lesser but still significant role.Most
of the time, the pictures are p-and-ink sketches scattered throughout the
book.This however, can be very powerful,
as in Paula Fox’s The Slave Dancer.These
illustrations by Eros Keith are star, communicating a sense of overwhelming
horror.
THE
PICTURE STORYBOOK
A
picture storybook conveys its messages through the illustration and the
text.Some experts differentiate
between the picture book and the picture storybook, others claim that any
book with a picture-book format can be included under the umbrella term
PICTURE BOOK.
A
picture book might be an alphabet book, a counting book, a concept book
or abook that tells a story.
In
a well-designed book the total format reflects the meaning of the story,
both the illustration and the text bear the burden of narration.A
good picture storybook ties the reader to the pictures and creates the
drama of turning the page.
A
good picture storybook establishes a context for the pictures that follow.It
creates a seamless whole conveying meaning in both the art and the text
and shares in moving the story forward.
Paul
Zelinsky’s illustrations for Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs are a fine
example of the integral partnership between pictures and text.This
story is based on an American folktale form; the tall tale.In
a tall tale, the characters are larger than life and perform impossible
feats, all in a spirit of comic play that children love.
Zelinsky
looked to folk art that has been identified with America’s past, the landscapes
and portraits done during the colonial period by untrained painters.He
worked in oils on wood veneers that recall the tall forests of the Appalachian
mountains where the story takes place.Throughout
the book, he adds a wealth of visual detail.
An
illustrated book is different from a picture book.In
an illustrated book only particular incidents in the story might be illustrated
to creat interest.