Children's book illustration is a subfield of

book illustration The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Per ...

, and a genre of art associated with

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. Children's books with illustrations are often known as

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

. Illustrations contribute to the children's development and provides them with aesthetic impressions.

History

With the development of printing, the first illustrated books for children began to appear. At first they were primarily religious texts, grammar books, and works about good behavior. The_Gigantic_History_of_the_2_Famous_Giants

According to Cynthia Burlingham. the first books with illustrations that could be read for children were collections of

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

, especially ''

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

'' (first English edition in 1484 by

William Caxton William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...

), which soon became one of the most popular illustrated books for children. Another early example of an illustrated book for children was ''Fabulae Centum'' (1564) by Gabriel Faerno, William Feaver, however, named '' Orbis Pictus'' from 1658 by John Amos Comenius as the earliest illustrated book specifically for children. Writing in the 1970s, Feaver argued that outside occasional exceptions, the history of children's illustrations can be said to be about two centuries old. Initially, illustrations in children's books were almost no different from illustrations in adult editions and were not adapted to the perceptual needs of children. Illustrations in children's books became more popular from the mid-18th century. In England, publisher Thomas Boreman released illustrated miniature books entitled '' Gigantick Histories'' (1740–1743). Notable English illustrated books for children from that period were published by John Newbery ('' A Little Pretty Pocket-Book'' from 1744 and '' The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes'' from 1765). Other important English publishers of illustrated children books from that period included

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

and John Harris. The genres of illustrated children's literature at that time were dominated by the fairy tale and the moral tale; with the former on average having more illustrations. PeterRabbit8

As the toy market grew, illustrated children's books began to be equipped with elements such as moving parts. Creators who specialized in such books included the German graphic artist Lothar Meggendorfer and British publisher Robert Sayer. Technical solutions available in the 20th century meant that illustrated books for children could be relatively cheap while maintaining good quality. The classic illustration drawing techniques were joined by

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, which was used both as a replacement for, for example,

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with Chisel#Gouge, gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts ...

, and was also used in the process of reproduction. Illustrated children's books gradually became more and more adapted to the needs of specific age groups, and the variety of genres of illustrated children's books almost equals those of books for adults. Feaver described the evolution of dominant traditions in children's illustration as follows: "

chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

to picture book, to Crane toybook, to picture albums".

Function

Children's book illustrations can drive the plot or bring the plot to life. While some picture books are written and illustrated by the same person, others are collaborations between an author and an illustrator. Editors of picture books often look carefully for an illustrator that matches the style of the text, while still adding their own artistic value to the book. There must be mutual respect between an author and an illustrator in the creation of a successful picture book.Hoppe, A. (2004). Half the Story- Text and Illustration in Picture Books. ''Horn Book Magazine'', 41–50. Text and image in picture books usually form one whole, because a children's illustration should directly refer to the text. In some cases, it may also be the only component of a book for children, especially the youngest – such books may then take the form of an album without text or with a small amount of text.

Children's illustrators

The boundary between illustrations for children and adults can be blurry, and throughout their careers many illustrators have created works for children and adults and cannot be simply classified as children illustrators. William Feaver noted that some picture books "were produced as de luxe gift-objects for adults to browse through" (such as the works of Edmund Dulac,

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

or Kay Nielsen); others have passed boundaries as genres and tastes changed. He also observed that "many of the illustrations most enjoyed by children... were not specifically intended for them", citing examples of works by illustrators like W. Heath Robinson,

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) was an English wood engraving, wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, ...

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank or Cruickshank ( ; 27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dicken ...

. He further notes that in cases of

Kate Greenaway Catherine Greenaway (17 March 18466 November 1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School of ...

, Randolph Caldecott or Robinson they "were all-purpose graphic artists who happened to hit on winning treatments of staple children's material... success made them specialists". Among the most influential children's book illustrators is

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

, who has been called "the leading children's book illustrator of our time".

Awards

The field of children's book illustration has several awards for illustrators, such as: *

Children's Book of the Year Award for New Illustrator A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

(Australia) * Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration and Governor General's Award for French-language children's illustration (Canada) * Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Award (China) *

Kate Greenaway Medal The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (until 2022 the Kate Greenaway Medal) is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Librar ...

(United Kingdom) *

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

(United States)

References

External links