The Language of Picture Books
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Transcript of The Language of Picture Books
The Language of The Language of Picture BooksPicture Books
English 305English 305
Dr. RoggenkampDr. Roggenkamp
What is a picture book?
Different from an “illustrated text” or novel with pictures
Book in which illustrations and text are equally balanced, equally important
Words depend on the pictures to tell part of the story, and vice versa
Neither element can “stand alone” Together, they complete the story—
create a “third story” between them
Pictures not a “universal language”
Different cultures “read” or interpret pictures differently
Children learn to “read” pictures based on the culture in which they live
Perry Nodelman, Words About Pictures Maria Nikolajeva & Carole Scott, How
Picturebooks Work
Reading pictures a learned process
Pictures won’t mean anything to a child until child is old enough to develop an understanding of its own environment
Children seem to teach themselves picture reading skills at very early age
Contemporary culture FILLED with visual images—children learn visual literacy long before they learn verbal literacy
Do adults “lose” ability to read pictures?
We tend to read just the words Children (especially pre-literate children)
both hear the words and “read” the illustrations at the same time—get a much fuller sense of the picture book
Picture Book MilestonesPicture Book Milestones
1658, Orbis Sensualium Pictus (Johannes Amos Comenius) argued by some to be first picture book
1744, Little Pretty Pocket Book (John Newbery)
Other didactic books like Struwwelpeter (1845)
Victorian Illustrated TextsVictorian Illustrated Texts
Genre really takes off late 19th century—publishing/printing changes make extensive illustration more feasible
Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott, et al.
Illustration becomes associated with books for children
Childhood as joyous & pleasurable; illustrations as joyous & pleasurable
Image: Illustration by Kate GreenawayImage: Illustration by Kate Greenaway
Format and First Impressions
Book’s physical format directs our response to that book before we even open it
Cover, shape, size, “feel” in our hands, kind of paper used, etc.
Format and First Impressions
Elements in the Book—Space
Way type is laid out, spaced on page Borders—white border or not, shifting
borders (e.g. Where the Wild Things Are)
Elements in the Book—Color
Different hues associated with different moods/feelings
Green=peacefulness, blue=serenity or sadness, red=anger, yellow=happiness, etc.
Shades—degrees of brightness or darkness. Light usually=happier mood; dark usually=more intense mood
Saturation—relative intensity of colors. More saturated colors seem more vibrant, less seem more gentle
Color . . .
Elements in the Book—Shape and Line
Rounded shapes associated with softness
Straight, angular lines associated with rigidity, tension, energy
Can strongly affect mood of story
Elements in the Book—Shape and Line
Elements in the Book—Artistic Medium and Style
Collage, oils, pastel watercolors, black and white line drawing, woodcuts, etc.
Realistic, abstract, surreal, impressionistic, etc. Style=“the effect of all the aspects of a work
considered together, the way an illustration or a text seems distinct or even unique” (Nodelman 283).
Example—style of Beatrix Potter: gentle, unsaturated watercolors, tiny size, small animals in human situations
Style affects story—Hyman’s Red Riding Style affects story—Hyman’s Red Riding Hood vs. Marshall’s Red Riding HoodHood vs. Marshall’s Red Riding Hood
Elements in the Book—Visual Objects
Symbols—use of cross, flag, tree, etc. Cultural codes—e.g. dark=evil and
light=good; slumped head=sadness and uplifted head=happiness; wolf=predator and bunny=gentle, happiness
“Picture books both depend on and teach such conventional assumptions” (Nodelman 288).
Cultural Codes
Other elements—light and shadow
Other elements—size of figures
Figures in relation to each other Size of characters in relation to
background
Other elements—focus (close up shot vs. long shot)
Other elements—way movement is suggested
Literary Elements of Picture Book
Plot—tension, action, conflict; closed ending vs. open
Characterization—full, round characters vs. flat characters; dynamic vs. static
Setting Point of view—through whose eyes is
story told? Is narrator a character, or outside the action?
Literary Elements of Picture Book
Theme—even simplest picture book can offer more complex theme or significant meaning
Importance of friendship & family, role of imagination, life coming out of death, etc.
Tone—serious and somber, light and joyful, etc.
What mood provoked in reader?
Text—Context—Subtext
Text The words themselves But also the conventions that readers
observe—symbolism, characterizations, genre, narrative style, open vs. closed ending, etc.
Text—Context—Subtext
Context Historical context in which work was
created How is the text “in community” with the
era in which it was written/illustrated?
Text—Context—Subtext
Subtext Ways textual elements and context work
together to create meanings that are not always obvious
What is the book’s possible ideology? Example: The Story of Babar