Art and Words Merge In The Picture Book Form
It is possible for a reader to find just as much story in the words of a picture book as in its art. The words and art both open the reader to a story. It is also possible for a reader to find a completely different story in the art, a hidden game, a twist or a presentation of material that advances the story beyond the text. How can a picture book do this all these things at once so seamlessly? The answer lies in how the art and words merge in the picture book form.
Creating a good picture book is not simple. Many elements come into play. Style, voice, pacing, tone, page turns, setting are important, but how the art and pictures interact is most important. When combined properly, a picture book becomes a whole world that opens up to the reader. Horn Book writer Anne Hoppes says, “A well-placed word can leave you elated or it can break your heart. Pictures can evoke peals of laughter or cries of outrage… And when the two forms come together, as they do in picture books, the whole is so very much greater than the sum of the parts. At its best and most successful, the skillful joining of words and pictures is nothing short of magical.” (41)
Words as well as art offer fresh comparisons, vivid sensory details, lively, engaging connectivity to a story; they both work to transport the reader into a scene. When working together, they do even more. Hoppe says, “The writer’s job is to pare a story or experience down until the essence remains, spare and shining. The writer distills. The illustrator expands.” (47)
In this fashion, one may argue that art may further the words of a story as seen in Gloria and Officer Buckle. Here the words tell the story of how an officer goes to schools to share safety tips with students only to lull students to sleep. The art shows how a new partner, a dog named Gloria, performs wild tricks behind the officer’s back while onstage. Here, the art expands the author’s story and almost makes a model for how the interaction of art and words in a picture book function.
Let’s let Officer Buckle represent the words of a story, and Gloria, the art.
Officer Buckle presents safety tips but finds his audience snoring. He gains a partner; in comes the art, or Gloria, who performs all sort of tricks behind his back (like art does), and he feels he has a really good thing going. However, once Officer Buckle learns who is receiving the accolades, Officer Buckle bows out of all future performances. He sends Gloria on her own, perhaps begging the question: can the art of a picture book stand alone? (Some would argue yes, and be supported by Flosam, Tuesday, and any other successful wordless picture book.) But, here dear Gloria sits alone on stage and stares until she, and the whole room, begins to snooze. She is unable to perform alone. The biggest accident ever happens after she leaves the stage. The lights go on for Officer Buckle, and he returns to reveal his best safety tip yet, tip 101: “Always stick with your buddy!” The art makes this story work. It enriches the text. Rathmann’s words were pared down to leave room for the art to rise out of this story. One supported the other; both were necessary for the other to thrive. This is the relationship of art and words.
Is there ever a case when the art sneaks in a side story or joke the reader might be able to enjoy that the words don’t reveal? Yes, in The Best Pet of All, day after day a boy asks for a pet dog. He soon asks for a pet dragon instead. Playing along, his mother says, “If you can find a dragon, you can keep it for a pet.” The words tell the story of a boy searching the woods, the park, the beach, and a zoo before finding a dragon at the drugstore. What is most clever is that once th
It is possible for a reader to find just as much story in the words of a picture book as in its art. The words and art both open the reader to a story. It is also possible for a reader to find a completely different story in the art, a hidden game, a twist or a presentation of material that advances the story beyond the text. How can a picture book do this all these things at once so seamlessly? The answer lies in how the art and words merge in the picture book form.
Creating a good picture book is not simple. Many elements come into play. Style, voice, pacing, tone, page turns, setting are important, but how the art and pictures interact is most important. When combined properly, a picture book becomes a whole world that opens up to the reader. Horn Book writer Anne Hoppes says, “A well-placed word can leave you elated or it can break your heart. Pictures can evoke peals of laughter or cries of outrage… And when the two forms come together, as they do in picture books, the whole is so very much greater than the sum of the parts. At its best and most successful, the skillful joining of words and pictures is nothing short of magical.” (41)
Words as well as art offer fresh comparisons, vivid sensory details, lively, engaging connectivity to a story; they both work to transport the reader into a scene. When working together, they do even more. Hoppe says, “The writer’s job is to pare a story or experience down until the essence remains, spare and shining. The writer distills. The illustrator expands.” (47)
In this fashion, one may argue that art may further the words of a story as seen in Gloria and Officer Buckle. Here the words tell the story of how an officer goes to schools to share safety tips with students only to lull students to sleep. The art shows how a new partner, a dog named Gloria, performs wild tricks behind the officer’s back while onstage. Here, the art expands the author’s story and almost makes a model for how the interaction of art and words in a picture book function.
Let’s let Officer Buckle represent the words of a story, and Gloria, the art.
Officer Buckle presents safety tips but finds his audience snoring. He gains a partner; in comes the art, or Gloria, who performs all sort of tricks behind his back (like art does), and he feels he has a really good thing going. However, once Officer Buckle learns who is receiving the accolades, Officer Buckle bows out of all future performances. He sends Gloria on her own, perhaps begging the question: can the art of a picture book stand alone? (Some would argue yes, and be supported by Flosam, Tuesday, and any other successful wordless picture book.) But, here dear Gloria sits alone on stage and stares until she, and the whole room, begins to snooze. She is unable to perform alone. The biggest accident ever happens after she leaves the stage. The lights go on for Officer Buckle, and he returns to reveal his best safety tip yet, tip 101: “Always stick with your buddy!” The art makes this story work. It enriches the text. Rathmann’s words were pared down to leave room for the art to rise out of this story. One supported the other; both were necessary for the other to thrive. This is the relationship of art and words.
Is there ever a case when the art sneaks in a side story or joke the reader might be able to enjoy that the words don’t reveal? Yes, in The Best Pet of All, day after day a boy asks for a pet dog. He soon asks for a pet dragon instead. Playing along, his mother says, “If you can find a dragon, you can keep it for a pet.” The words tell the story of a boy searching the woods, the park, the beach, and a zoo before finding a dragon at the drugstore. What is most clever is that once th
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