The Allure of Picture Books
Photo Credit: Teresa Adams, https://www.wineglasscreative.com/
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was in eighth grade and my teacher, Mr. Cummings, took notice of my compositions, mostly creative writing exercises. I wasn’t as adept with expository assignments and diagramming made no sense to me but selecting the right words and arranging them in a pleasant way felt easy. My mother also gave me lots of attention for my way with words and was my “audience of one” when I attempted my first paginated manuscript.
However, when I finally attended college as a non-traditional student (middle twenties/single mother), I didn’t major in journalism. Lack of confidence got in my way. Rather, I pursued a degree in English Literature with a teaching option, so I could go out and get a job that would support my girls. Then - although I got the degree, I never taught. Teaching jobs were scarce, and I was under-prepared. (Big sigh.) Life ended up taking me in a completely different direction.
Still . . . the voices of Mr. Cummings and my mom continued to whisper to me from a place of longing in my mind. Consequently, I have fiddled around with the “writing” notion every decade of my life, sometimes seriously and sometimes not. “This” time - the past twelve years - I have devoted myself to studying the art form of the picture book. I dearly love picture books!!!
You wouldn’t think so, but they are very difficult to write and honing my skills in this succinct art form has taken tons of practice and lots of study. But that actually might be the funnest part – getting to read lots and lots of picture books - analyzing what makes some of them work so well and why others are not as successful.
Photo Credit: Barbara Helgason stock.adobe.com
Having spent so much of my life dancing around this secret passion, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to witness how dramatically the art form has changed. It’s hardly recognizable from the days of my own books to my daughters’ generation to my granddaughters’. Gone are the days of the luxuriously paced, word-filled, picture book written by Bill Peat or Margery Williams. And no longer are children’s stories the conduit for messages or lessons unless they are very well-concealed, practically on the verge of innuendo.
While the themes have remained consistent, exploring the litany of subjects that are pertinent to all generations of children, it’s the way those topics are presented that has changed. The format has become very concise and deliberate. There are interesting explanations for this – some people say that children’s reduced attentions spans have morphed the genre into a different audience – a more economized audience. It’s also been said that parents in this century no longer have time to read lengthy picture books to their children.
Whatever the reason, I have to say, I really like it. I love the “fewer words rule” because the ones that do get used have to be perfectly selected. I also love the fact that picture books are an expression of a two-fold art – like the give and take of vaudeville comedy – the words tell one aspect of the story, and the illustrations tell the other half – each maintain the balance. Picture books have always looked like this, but today the art form is even more economical. The illustrations no longer just replicate the text – a clever illustrator enhances the text, sometimes omitting the need for words at all. When done well, the result is exquisite.
