11 The Society of Children’ s Books & Illustration Lovers – Newsletter # 1 – August 2013
� In a good picture book,
� the illustrator as well as the author has to be a story teller.
� not even one word can be wasted.
� the text and the art need to dance together.
� the design is integral to the story and illustrations. Type should not just be slapped into a space but should be considered by the artist as part of the art; art and type must work together.
� the book should appeal to the adult reader as well as to the child.
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Of course, what makes a picture book unique is, obviously, the addition of pictures. But pretty pictures will not and should not carry the whole book. The mistake many author / illustrators( and the editors who publish them) make is thinking a series of beautiful pictures will hide a bad story or weak character. The reader will immediately see through that and once again put the book down. It is only in books where the words and pictures are married perfectly, where each is dependent on the other, that a good picture book works. It ' s similar to a singer choosing the right song; can we ever hear anyone singing " Georgia " except Ray Charles? Can we ever listen to " What a Wonderful World " without hearing Louis Armstrong? It ' s that perfect match of words and pictures together with a strong central character that will make a picture book memorable and rise above all others.
� What Is a Good Young Picture Book? Here ' s what it ' s NOT: boring, maudlin, preachy, flat, confusing, or long-winded. What it IS: brief, original, fresh, often funny, satisfying, and possessed of something substantial at the center--call it a kernel of significance that makes it worth a child ' s time. Humor can provide it, so can language, or character, or story. Like the child it ' s written for, this picture book can be cozy and quiet or it can sing and swing, but always it loves language. It ' s told in words that bear repeating--even a grown-up can savor them again and again. It ' s grounded in a child ' s own world, the real world or the play world of a young child ' s imagination. It ' s simple and simply irresistible. And it ' s a hair-puller to write.
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It ' s hard to put it in terms that make sense, but where a picture book differs from the other genres is that its universe has an underlying exuberance that defies containment. Everything is bigger in a picture book--the emotions, the colors, the drama, the intensity. While having the illusion of control, just by their physical brevity, the best picture books actually border on being " out of
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