Evaluating illustrations in children's picture books

The best of the voices that speak to us from children’s books surprise us and expand our sense of life’s possibilities as well as our understanding of ourselves.

Selma Lanes
Down the rabbit hole adventures and misadventures in the realm of children’s literature

Introduction
This module provides you with the skills required to effectively evaluate the illustrations used in children’s picture books. It begins by describing the various visual elements that illustrators use when they create pictures. This is followed by definitions of five artistic styles used by Canadian illustrators in picture books.

When evaluating the illustrations in children’s picture books consider the artist’s use of the following visual elements:

Colour

• Does the illustrator’s use of colour suit the words?
• Are there any cultural associations with the colours used?
• Are the colours used predominantly warm or cool?
• What is the quality of colour reproduction in the book?

Note: colour is NOT always necessary.

Line

• How has the illustrator used line in the pictures?
  o Straight horizontal or vertical lines indicate lack of movement
  o Diagonal lines indicate loss of balance and uncontrolled motion, unless resting on a horizontal base
  o Jagged lines indicate breakdown and destruction
  o Curved lines indicate fluidity, less definite or predictable
• Are the lines heavy or delicate?

Shape

• How has the illustrator used shape in the pictures?
• Does the illustrator’s use of shape suit the mood and intent of the pictures?
• Compare the illustrator’s use of organic (found in nature) shapes
  o Indicate receptivity, also of instability
  o With his/her use of geometric (created by people) shapes
  * Indicate stability

Texture

• How does the illustrator manipulate line, colour and shape?
• What visual effects does the illustrator achieve with his/her use of those elements?
• Does the illustration have tactile feel to it?

Dominance

• What elements dominate the illustration?
• Consider the illustrator’s use of –
  o Size: what are the largest elements in the illustration?
  o Colour: does one colour dominate the illustration?
  o Centre: where is the focal point of the illustration?
• Are dominate element(s) consistent with the text?

Formality

• There are several levels of formality.
• Determined by how illustrations are placed relative to the words
  o Most formal
  * Words on the opposite page from the text
  o Less formal
  * Words and text are on the same page but are separate from each other
  o Least formal
  * Illustrations and text are integrated into one unit
  * Illustrations may appear inside, between or around the text
  * Wordless books that contain no text, only picture

Composition

• Consider each illustration individually
• Each illustration should have
  o Unity
  o focus
• Analyze how illustrator has used white space
• Each illustration should match or extend the action being described in the text

Overall

• Consider all the illustrations in the entire book
• There should be a unity
  o Style of illustrations should complement the text
• There should be a visual balance and rhythm to the book

Some final questions to ask

• Do the visual elements complement, not conflict with the story?
• Does the design of the individual illustrations and book as a whole
• Do the illustrations help the reader anticipate the unfolding of the story’s action and climax?
• Are the illustrations accurate in historical, cultural and geographical details?

Picture books in Canada: five illustration styles
The following section describes five major art styles used by Canadian illustrators in picture books. You’ll notice that realism or representational art is not included in these five categories. Representational art is easy to recognize –

... [it] depicts subjects as they are seen in everyday life. Representational artists do not necessarily attempt to create photographically exact images of their subjects. Instead, they create compositions that clearly refer to people, objects or natural phenomena in realistic ways. (Norton, 163)

This section is based on a discussion of illustration styles by Shelia Egoff and Judith Saltman in The New Republic of Childhood.

1. Native/folk art

In its truest style this style refers to the work of self-taught artists ... and is recognized by such characteristics as doll-like or distorted figures, tentative draughtsmanship, absence of perspective, brilliant colour, and intricate patterns ... (174)

Native/folk artists include Ann Blades, William Kureleck, Sheldon Cohen, Stefan Czernekci, Wang Kui, Tomie de Paola, Leo and Diane Dillion, and Alice and Martin Provenson.

Ida and the Wool Smugglers

2. Cartooning
[Cartooning] is represented by the largest group of illustrators, who tend to be visual narrators, storytellers and humorists in contrast to the more restrained artists of magic realism or naive art. (175)

Cartooning, a branch of Expressionism, seeks to express emotional interpretation of the words, rather than a realistic representation.

Characteristics of cartooning include –

• Deliberate distortion and exaggeration
  o Distortion
  * Characters, objects, settings, actions or situations
  o Exaggeration
  * Lends a playful air of incongruity to illustrations

Three styles of cartooning are found in Canadian picture books:

• Bright colours
  o Provides a more contemporary feel to illustrations
• Softer colours
  o Provides a more traditional feel to illustrations
• Surrealistic/grotesque
  o May provoke a dream/nightmare like quality to illustrations
  o Figures, setting or situation are visually distorted

Cartooning artists include Brenda Clark, John Bianchi, Michael Martchenko, Kim La Fave, Kady McDonald Denton, Stephanie Pouline and Marie-Louise Gay.

Other cartooning artists who illustrate children’s picture books include – Quentin Blake, John Burningham, Don Freeman, Stephen Kellog, Jack Kent, James Marshall, David MacPhail, Bill Peet, Dr. Suess, William Steig, James Stephenson, Phoebe Gillman, Maryann Kovalski, Catherine O’Neill, Bill Slavin, and Werner Zimmerman.

3. Romanticism
As a style and approach to art, romanticism uses literary, historically remote and exotic subject matter and treats it in an emotional and dramatic manner. (178)

Romanticism often creates an exotic, romantic, Gothic atmosphere. Very suitable for European folk and fairy tale.

Artists who use romanticism include Canadians Robin Muller, Lazlo Gall and Elizabeth Tyrell and American artists Trina Schart Hyman, Mercer Mayer, David MacPhail and Ed Young.

4. Magic Realism
The art form is basically realistic, but with a slight intrusion of something unreal – a magical element or overtone [scale or perspective or something fantastic] that can create a supernatural atmosphere. Its images can be drawn from dreams and the unconscious, with symbolic allusion and luminous or psychedelic colouration.

Artists that draw in a magic realism style include Eric Beddows, Warabe Aska, Gilles Tibo and Ian Wallace. Other artists include Americans Jan Brett, Robert McCloskey (see Time of wonder), and Chris Van Allsburg, Canadians Jan Thornhill and Ron Lightburn, and Britain’s Anthony Browne.

5. Stylists
A handful of illustrators may be categorized primarily as stylists because they use a specific medium for the transmission of idea and story. (171)

Stylists include Canada’s Elizabeth Cleaver, Barbara Reid, Ron Broda, Pierre Paul Pariseau and Paul Morin, Americans Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats and Leo Lionni, and Britian’s Brian Wildsmith.

Alice’s adventures in Wonderland is, next to the Bible, the most widely translated and quoted book in the world. Virtually everyone who reads it interprets the story in a different way. The same is true of the different artists who have illustrated the story over the years. By looking at the way five different artists have illustrated one scene, we can see the no one style illustration is correct. We all react to these pictures in different ways. Note how the different artists have used the visual elements of colour, line, shape, and texture and the design elements of composition and dominance to create highly individual interpretations of the same scene.

Alice illustrators include the British Arthur Tenniel, who was the original illustrator of the 1865 publication, the 1907 American illustrator Maria Kirk, Gertrude Kay, whom illustrated from American in 1923, Britain’s Arthur Rackham, who illustrated the British 1907 edition and was one of the first to illustrate children’s books along with Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane, and Gwynedd Hudson, who illustrated in 1922.

The following illustrations have been grouped together according to illustration style. Consider how the artists have used the various elements described to create their pictures.

Native/folk
Anderson, Sue Ann. Ida and the Wool Smugglers. Ill. By Ann Blades. Vancouver, BC: Douglas, 1987.

This story is set on an island off the BC coast during the last century. Ida, the protagonist, is too little to hold the neighbour’s new-born baby. She is also too little to participate in the island’s annual sheep run. But, she manages to outwit two sheep smugglers, save an ewe and her twins, and hold her own sheep run. And, yes, she does get to hold the baby at the end of the story.

Notice Blade’s use of colour and intricate patterns in her illustrations. Her lack of perspective is typical of the style of native art.

Kureleck, William. A Prairie boy’s winter. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1973.
William Kurleck is one of Canada’s best-known artists. Kurleck’s family came from the Ukraine and originally settled in Alberta. They then moved to a dairy farm in Manitoba, near the American border and William grew up there in the 1930’s. That farm is the setting for this book. When he was 16, William was sent to school in Winnipeg. He was eager to tell of his adventures on the farm, but no one would listen. He didn’t find an audience for years. A Prairie boy’s winter consists of 20 full-colour oil paintings. “Fox and Geese” shows a typical children’s game; “Return of First Crow” shows the beginning of spring, after a long, hard prairie winter. Contrary to the happy, idyllic nature of this book, William apparently had a miserable childhood.

Notice how Krueluk uses space as a major element in these illustrations.

Carrier, Roch. The Hockey Sweater. Ill. By Sheldon Cohen. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1984.

Many of us are familiar with this classic Canadian story about hockey. It first appeared as an animated film and won numerous awards. Set in St. Justine, Quebec, the story focuses on one young boy’s passion for hockey, the Montreal Canadiens and Maurice Richard. Our hero needs a new sweater, so his mother orders one – a Montreal Canadiens sweater, of course – from the Eaton’s catalogue. But, horror of horrors, Monsieur Eaton sends the wrong one – a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater! Our hero is crushed, and ends up in church where he prays for moths to come and eat his Toronto Maple Leafs sweater!

Note the evocative expressions on the character’s faces and Cohen’s use of colour.

Czernecki, Simon. Zorah’s magic carpet. Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1995.
This is a very complex story with references to a variety of different cultures. The two main characters are Zorah and her husband Akhmed, Berbers who live near the city of Fez in Morocco. In the story, Zorah weaves a magic carpet and uses it to visit far away lands. Zorah visits the Ukraine, near the outskirts of Kiev, where she meets a family who are holding a wedding and gives the bride a gift – the slippers from her feet. In turn, the bride gives Zorah her vinok, the traditional wedding head dress. Zorah travels to India too, where she gives a young woman her silver necklace and in turn is given a peacock.

Froese, Deborah, reteller. The Wise Washerman ill. By Way Kui. Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1996.
This retelling of a traditional Burmese tale shows that jealousy can be a very destructive emotion. Potter Narathu is jealous of his neighbour, Aung Kyaing’s success and plots to ruin his reputation. Of course, his scheme backfires and it is Narathu that ends up being banished at the end of the tale ... Wang Kui, a Chinese Canadian drew upon his heritage when creating these luminous illustrations which evoke the magic of the far-away land of Burma.

2. Cartooning
Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin fibs. Ill. by Brenda Clark (early illustrations). Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1991.

In each of the Franklin books, Franklin is faced with a dilemma of sorts. He manages to solve it, usually with some loving help from his parents.

In this particular story, the problem has become about because Franklin told a lie ... it all started when Franklin’s friend, Bear, boasted about being able to climb the highest tree ... Franklin’s other friends also boast, very much like small children standing around the schoolyard ... then Franklin does it too ... and tells his friends that he can swallow twenty-six flies in the blink of an eye ... Franklin uses some delaying tactics, but finally he discusses his problem with his parents ... and ultimately he solves his own problem by baking seventy-six flies into a pie. There is a nice touch at the end of the book: Franklin is proud, but doesn’t boast.

Note how Clark uses colour and shape to create a mood in her illustrations. You’ll also notice an incredible amount of detail in her drawings; in fact, the natural environment that she shows is authentic.

Edwards, Frank B. Mortimer Mooner stopped taking a bath. Ill. By John Bianchi. Newburg, ON: Bungalow Books, 1990.
Bungalow Books, started by Frank B. Edwards and John Bianchi, has been a major hit in the last few years. Their picture books, featuring cartoon style animals, are very appealing for young children.

In this story Mortimer Mooner decides to stop taking baths. He also doesn’t clean his teeth or clean up his room. This behaviour continues until his grandmother comes to visit and she is forced to fend him off with an umbrella. And, guess what? Mortimer decides to take a bath.

Munsch, Robert. Show and tell. Ill. By Michael Martchenko. Toronto, ON: Annik Press, 1991.
Martchenko, an advertising artist by training, has illustrated the majority of Munsch’s books. They are one of the perfect pairings in Canadian children’s picture books. Martchenko is able to take Munsch’s words and turn them into images that are bright, beautiful and full of life. In Show and tell, Benjamin wanted to take something really neat to school for show and tell, so he decides to take his baby sister. Well, you can imagine the chaos that ensues. One of Martchenko’s real strengths is his ability to show motion.

Morgan, Allen. Matthew and the midnight monkey man. Ill. By Michael Martchenko. Toronto, ON: Annik Press, 1987.
Martchenko has also illustrated the Midnight Matthew series, written by Allen Morgan. These are contemporary urban stories. In this particular story, Matthew and the Midnight Money Man end up at the mall, searching for the perfect Mother’s Day gifts for their own mothers ...

Since the Matthew stories all take place after he has gone to bed, he appears in his pyjamas, but notice other items of clothing he wears. And each story ends with the question: did it really happen or was it just a dream?

Lunn, Janet. Amos’s sweater. Ill. By Kim La Favre. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1988.
“Amos was old. And Amos was cold. And Amos was tired of giving away all his wool.” So begins this wonderful story about an old sheep and how he eventually gets to wear a sweater that keeps him warm. Meet Amos, see him without his wool, complete with band aids because Aunt Hattie has taken his wool to knit into a sweater for Uncle Harry. But Amos hates that sweater and uses every opportunity to snatch at it, making big holes in it. Guess what Amos ends up wearing?

La Favre’s style of cartooning is gentler, and her use of color is very muted.

Gibson, Betty. Little Quack. Ill. By Kady MacDonald Denton. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1990.

Again, we see a gentler, more romantic style of cartooning.

In this story, Jackie lives on a farm and has many animals to play with, but he is lonesome. His mother buys him a duck and he names it Little Quack. She plays with him and becomes his best friend. One day Little Quack runs away and the family finds her at another farm. Jackie continues to play with her, but she runs away again. Over a month later he finds her with ten ducklings and tries to get them home again so that neither Jackie nor Little Quack will ever be lonely again.

Poulin, Stephane. Can you catch Josephine? Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1997.

Poulin is a French Canadian writer and illustrator. Can you catch Josephine? is a continuation of Have you seen Josephine? It continues the adventure of Daniel and his cat. We follow Daniel as he chases Josephine around his school. Children identify with Daniel, but also, on another level, they identify with the cat. The story ends in the principal’s office, but with a pleasant surprise.

Note Poulin’s use of distortion: his characters, especially his children, are squat, unattractive figures, but still very appealing.

Gay, Marie-Louise. Rainy day magic. Toronto, ON: Stoddart, 1987.
We now move into a more grotesque, almost surrealistic style of cartooning. Most of Gay’s books seem rooted in reality, but there is usually something just a little odd about her stories and pictures.

In Rainy day magic, two children are forced to play inside on a rainy day. Note the father’s reaction to the children’s noise. The children move to the basement, but did the adventure really happen? Perhaps ... because at the end, we see the little girl has a starfish in her hair when she sits down for supper.

3. Romanticism
Muller, Robin. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1985.
Muller uses his illustrations to create a romantic, Gothic atmosphere in this book. Note his use of perspective: how one element dominates the page. This is a very romantic story about a young man named Robin. An orphan, Robin meets up with an evil sorcerer who owns a white dove. The dove turns out to be... well, you’ll have to read the story to find out who she really is. Of course, this story has the traditional happy ending.

Ehrlich, Amy. Pome and Peel. Ill. By Lazlo Gall. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1990.
Gall came to Canada during the Hungarian uprising in the 1950’s. He has worked a variety of jobs, including being a set designer at CBC. In this book, his illustrations do not extend the story in the usual way, rather they stand apart from the text. They are more like windows into a special fairyland where the figures appear frozen. There is a very stately feel to his pictures and the details, such as the costuming, are usually authentic.
In Pome and Peel, he illustrates a traditional folk tale from Italy.

Tyrell, Frances. Woodland Christmas. Richmond Hill, ON: North Winds Press, 1995.
Is it romanticism or magic realism? This book clearly blurs the edges between these two categories. In this beautiful retelling of the classic Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” a handsome young black bear courts his true love with twelve gifts. These are gifts with a difference, for example, the calling birds are loons and the lords a leaping moose! The book ends with the wedding of the two black bears.

4. Magic Realism
Wynne-Jones, Tim. Zoom away. Ill. by Eric Beddows. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1985.
Zoom away is the first of three books about the magical cat, Zoom, and his adventures. You’ll notice that the art is basically realistic, but something unreal or magical has intruded into the picture. Did you ever see a cat knitting? All the illustrations are black and white and the figures not exaggerated. In Zoom away, Zoom goes to the North Pole with his friend, Maria, to try to rescue his Uncle Roy. They reach the Arctic through Maria’s house. However, they don’t find Uncle Roy, but only his ship the Catship, leaving the way open for the other two books in this trilogy.

Manguel, Alberto, selector. Seasons. Ill. by Warabe Aska. Toronto, ON: Doubleday, 1990.
Aska, a Japanese Canadian, has illustrated a number of beautiful books. In Seasons, he visually interprets the seasons as described through the poetry selected by Manguel.

Tibo, Giles. Simon in the moonlight. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1993.
The Simon series are very charming books, sutiable for very young children. In this particular book, Simon is trying to understand why the moon disappears. His friend Marlene helps him – he tries to push on a swing so that she can touch the moon, and later they try to catch pieces of the disappearing moon in a blanket.

Andrews, Jan. Very last first time. Ill. by Ian Wallace. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1985.
Ian Wallace is a very prolific illustrator and author of children’s books. In Very Last First Time, he illustrates the story of Eva Padlyat, an Inuit girl who lives in Ungava Bay in the Canadian north. Here, in the winter, people walk on the bottom of the sea when the tide is out to gather mussels. Now, Eva will go by herself. She quickly fills up her mussel pan and begins to explore. Her candles go out and she loses her way. But she does find her way back and her mother comes for her. And, of course, she gets to eat the mussels.

Notice Wallace’s use of colour. His technique is to often interject an element of fantasy into a realistic story.

5. Stylists
Toye, William. The Loon’s necklace. Ill. by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto, ON: Oxford, 1977.
In the late 1970’s, William Toye, an editor at Oxford University Press, retold four Indian legends and Elizabeth Cleaver illustrated all of them. Cleaver was an exceptional artist who went to great lengths to create her illustrations. She made her own paper and used a variety of techniques of artistic techniques including collage, linocuts and shadow puppets. In The Loon’s Necklace, she used collage.

The Loon’s Necklace is a story from Western Canada. It is about an old man who is sad because he has lost his sight and cannot look after his wife and young son. The man manages, with the help of his son, to shoot a bear. But an old hag steals the meat. The man goes to the lake to seek Loon’s advice. He dives with Loon, once – and regains partial sight and twice – and has his sight restored. In gratitude, he throws his shell necklace towards Loon. The beads scatter, and where they land, they make markings on Loon’s neck and back. Now when we hear Loon’s call – a long, joyful trill, we know he’s proud of his necklace.

Oppenheim, Joanne. Have you seen birds? Ill. by Barbara Reid.
Toronto, ON: North Winds Press, 1986.
Reid is an accomplished illustrator who uses plasticine as her medium. A skillful artist, she is able to create a three-dimensional feel to her illustrations.

Oppenheim, Joanne. Have you seen bugs? Ill. by Ron Broda. Toronto, ON: North Winds Press, 1996.
Ron Broda uses paper sculture to create his amazing sculptures. Authentic in all details, his illustrations fully complement the book’s text. It can take Broda up to a year to create the illustrations for one book.
Burton, Katherine. One Grey Mouse. Ill. by Kim Fernandes. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1995.
This is a counting book with a difference. Fernandes uses phimo, an acryclic clay, to make her illustrations lending a three dimensional effect to her pictures.

Creighton, Jill. 8 O’cluck! Ill. by Pierre Paul Pariseau. Richmond Hill, ON: Scholastic, 1995.
Pariseau uses the unusual technique of collage when creating his pictures. But, in a different way from Cleaver, who wove different elements into her pictures. Pariseau clips “interesting bits” from print, mostly magazines, and glues them together to make pictures.
In this story the Wolf, the perennial bad guy, (isn’t he charming?) thinks that he is going to have fowl for dinner ... but the birds outwit him – guess what they are about to enjoy at their banquet?

Works cited
Shelia Egoff and Judith Saltman. The New Republic of Childhood. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Norton, Donna E. Through the Eyes of a child. 4th edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill, 1995.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Ultimate Illustrated Edition, Compiled and Arranged by Cooper Edens. Toronto, ON: Bantam Books, 1989.
Anderson, Sue Ann. Ida and the Wool Smugglers. Ill. by Ann Blades. Vancouver, BC: Douglas, 1987.
Kureleck, William. A Prairie Boy’s Winter. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1973.
Carrier, Roch. The Hockey Sweater. Ill. by Sheldon Cohen. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1984.
Czernecki, Stefan. Zorah’s Magic Carpet. Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1995.
Froese, Deborah. The Wise Washerman. Ill. by Wang Kui. Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1995.
Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin Fibs. Ill. by Brenda Clark. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1991.
Edwards, Frank B. Mortimer Moon Stopped Taking a Bath. Ill by John Bianchi. Newburg, ON: Bungalow Books, 1990.
Munsch, Robert. Show and Tell. Ill. by Michael Martchenko. Toronto, ON: Annik Press, 1991.
Morgan, Allen. Matthew and the Midnight Money Van. Ill. by Michael Martchenko. Toronto, ON: Annik Press, 1987.
Lunn, Janet. Amos’s Sweater. Ill. by Kim La Favre. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1988.
Gibson, Betty. Little Quack. Ill. by Kady MacDonald Denton. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1990.
Poulin, Stephane. Can You Catch Josephine. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1987.
Gay, Marie-Louise. Rainy Day Magic. Toronto, ON: Stoddart, 1987.
Muller, Robin. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1985.
Ehrlich, Amy. Pome and Peel. Ill. by Lazlo Gall. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1990.
Tyrell, Elizabeth. Woodland Christmas. Richmond Hill, ON: North Winds Press, 1995.
Wynne-Jones, Tim. Zoom Away. Ill. by Eric Beddows. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1985.
Manguel, Alberto, selector. Seasons. Ill. by Warabe Aska. Toronto, ON: Doubleday, 1990.
Tibo, Gilles. Simon in the Moonlight. Montreal, PQ: Tundra Books, 1993.
Andrews, Jan. Very Last First Time. Ill. by Ian Wallace. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1985.
Toye, William. The Loon’s Necklace. Ill. by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto, ON: Oxford, 1977.
Oppenheim, Joanne. Have You Seen Birds? Ill. by Barbara Reid. Toronto, ON: North Winds Press, 1986.
Oppenheim, Joanne. Have You Seen Bugs? Ill. by Ron Broda. Toronto, ON: North Winds Press, 1996.
Burton, Katherine. One Grey Mouse. Ill. by Kim Fernandes. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 1995.
Creighton, Jill. 8 o’cluck! Ill. by Pierre Paul Pariseau. Richmond Hill, ON: Scholastic, 1995..