Picturebooks and wordless picturebooks: a brief history and background

Foundations were being laid for modern picturebooks many years ago: among the tombs of ancient Egypt and structures in Pompeii, stories were told using pictures in particular order.  One of the oldest examples, Trajan’s Column in Rome (fig.1) tells of Trajan’s successful battles during the second century AD (Salisbury & Styles, 2012: 10); and The Bayeux Tapestry (fig. 2) illustrates the Norman conquest; importantly reading in chronological order; left to right (McCloud, 1993: 12).   The modern printing press invented in the fifteenth century by Johannes Gutenberg, saw the rise of book printing (Palermo, 2014).  From the fifteenth century onwards, picturebooks began to appear, as ‘chapbooks’ (roughly assembled pages of text and randomly selected images) were sold by pedlars in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries (Salisbury and Styles, 2012: 12-13).  Commonly accepted as being the first children’s picturebook, Orbis Pictus (Comenius, circa 1657) illustrated words with pictures (Nodelman, 1988: 2).  In the late eighteenth century William Blake created children’s books combining text and image: Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (Salisbury, 2005: 9), when lithography was introduced, meaning colour no longer had to be added by hand.  But the nineteenth century saw beginnings of a golden age for colour printing; when children’s books began to flourish and book illustration became a recognised, valued art form (Salisbury, 2005: 10).  Funny Stories and Droll Pictures (Hoffmann, 1844) directly influenced modern picturebooks, with its somewhat violent themes depicting consequences of bad behaviour (Salisbury & Styles, 2012: 14); setting the tone for cross-over picturebooks to be discussed later.  Less fear arousing than moral focussed publications for children in the sixteenth century, nineteenth century children’s books took a more light hearted approach, as seen in Under the Window (Kate Greenaway, 1878) and Randolph Caldecott’s Picture books (1878-1884, British Library: n.d.).

Caldecott pioneered the interplay between pictures and words, which no longer duplicated but complimented each other (Salisbury & Styles, 2012: 16).  Unpatronising in approach by not focussing on moral lessons he consciously created them with adult and child appeal (Desmarais, 2006: xv); commonly becoming accepted as the founding father of picturebooks (Salisbury & Styles, 2012: 16).

The picturebook can be defined as being where words and pictures are of equal importance, but this can be expanded to include books with pictures not necessarily aimed at children and not conforming to modern conventions (Salisbury, 2015: 9).  

Figure 1 (top): Trajan's Column, detail, AD 113 (Source: crystalinks.com., n.d.)

Figure 2 (above): Bayeux Tapestry, 1080, fragment (Source: Kren, E., Marx, D., n.d., Web Gallery of Art, n.d.)

References:

British Library (n.d.) Help for Researchers: Historical Survey of Children’s Literature in the British Library [online] Available at: http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/literature/chillit/childhist/childhistorical.html [Accessed: 27 July, 2016]

Desmarais, R. (2006) Introduction.  Randolph Caldecott: His Books and illustrations for Young Readers.  Edmonton: University of Alberta Libraries.

McCloud, S. (1993) Understanding Comics: the invisible art.  New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Nodelman, P. (1988) Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books [online]. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.  Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YHPmmt9VvF8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed: 3 August, 2016]

Palermo, E. (2014) Reference: Who Invented the Printing Press? [online].  In livescience.com.  Available at: http://www.livescience.com/43639-who-invented-the-printing-press.html [Accessed: 27 July, 2016]

Salisbury, M. (2005) Illustrating Children’s Books: Creating Pictures for Publication. London: Quarto Publishing Plc.

Salisbury, M. (2015) 100 Great Children’s Picturebooks.  London: Lawrence King Publishing Ltd.

Salisbury, M., & Styles, M. (2012) Children’s Picturebooks: The Visual Art of Storytelling. London: Lawrence King Publishing Ltd.

Images:

Crystalinks.com (n.d.) Trajan’s Column, fragment [image online]. Available at: http://www.crystalinks.com/trajanscolumn.html  [Accessed: 26 July, 2016]

Kren, E., Marx, D. (n.d.) The Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1080) Bayeux Tapestry fragment [image online].  In Wall Gallery of Art.  Available at: http://www.wga.hu/html_m/zzdeco/2tapestr/2bayeux/index.html  [Accessed: 26 July, 2016]

Essay submission

Well l have finally submitted my final degree essay and very pleased with the Turnitin report which came back at only 1% similarity, so l feel confident about that.  I am so relieved to complete this module but l have really enjoyed it and everything l have learned about a genre: wordless picturebooks, which l hope to become more immersed in after graduation.  I am currently working on my own wordless cross-over book on my Final Major Project module so the information l have learned from this theoretical module has certainly been, and will continue to be extremely useful; affecting positively the outcomes l produce.

The aspects of this module l enjoyed most were discovering, on an academic level, more about a subject which really interests me.  I enjoy the challenge of academic writing and the research which goes into it to form strong arguments.  I was surprised to find so much material on the study of images; and wordless picturebooks in particular on educational and emotional development.  It was interesting to learn just how wordless picturebooks can be used in the classroom environment and benefit those with special needs as well as those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.  Cross-over books interests me greatly and, as l intend to create my own work within this genre, this study has been a great benefit to me and the outcomes l will produce.

The easiest part of the module was setting up the blog, as l have created one before, but l also found it interesting to use this as a means of recording information and clarifying ideas, which l hadn’t done previously.  I feel this approach as well as adding posts telling the viewer something about me personally, has a wider appeal than just posting pictures of my latest work, which l have done before.  l will continue with this and share my posts on Google + and link the blog to my website.  Although this aspect of the module was insightful and useful l found the academic research:  the most difficult and time consuming aspect, the most interesting and enjoyable.  Although it could be frustrating and complex, l enjoyed learning about my area of main interest which will help me in the future.  I also found it challenging not to write too much: l had to reduce my essay down quite substantially from the initial draft, as l had included too much information.  I suppose this is just because l am very interested in the theme and didn’t want to miss anything out; though the word count limitation did help me to hone in my writing and critical skills; l had to be ruthless and identify areas where l could link up sentences or paragraphs to reduce the number of words, make statements in shorter sentences or remove parts which may have been saying the same thing l have said elsewhere but in a slightly different way.  I printed off my essay a couple of times as l found l was able to identify these issues more easily than just looking at my computer screen.  I also find it more productive and easier to navigate when using books as opposed to online material; maybe this is a result of being in Generation X.

l feel one of my strengths is being able to identify relevant information quite quickly by scanning, which saves time, but my weakness is arguably writing too much which l always manage to do.  Reducing, of course then takes time but l feel it is also important to include all the information l need so that, when l do reduce it there is a higher level of relevant and highly referenced material.  Previously l have made the mistake of including assumptions and opinion and l now realise that this is not acceptable without being backed up by evidence so l keep this in mind throughout the writing process. 

I feel l used my time well and sourced all the information needed for the essay, which is something l could expand upon at a later date should l wish to do so.  For example l would be interested in finding more out about cross-over books and the contexts they can be used in; seeing them being used in educational or clinical settings.  I feel there is a lot of potential for this genre of books to be used productively for adults with issues such as abuse, childhood neglect and depression for example.  The images can be interpreted by each individual in different ways depending upon their experiences and each person can take something different from it.  This is an area l would really like to be involved in, as l am working on my own wordless picturebook based on one of these themes at the moment.  I am interested in pursuing the area of emotional problems in adults as a result of childhood experience as this is something which personally resonates with me so feel l would be able to reach out to those who have suffered similarly.

My plan now is to continue exploring my own visual language and developing my skills in storytelling using emotional elements to reach out to audiences while continuing to research the genres of interest.  The wordless picturebook offers many opportunities for illustrators; even benefiting publishers who don’t need to get them translated into different languages.  Looking at historic examples of visual storytelling which go back thousands of years as well as the more contemporary examples of wordless pciturebooks such as The Snowman has been very helpful.  Lacking written explanation, it is even more important for images to speak to the reader; they also give readers a voice as the voice of the author is lacking (ideal for abuse sufferers).  My current work on FMP has been inspired greatly by the examples l have studied and in particular the emotion conveyed in the wordless book The Arrival, the tackling of difficult issues in Why?; the success of subtlety in image as seen in Rainstorm, the insight and humanity of the child in Footpath Flowers; and the information about sequential narratives in Mac Cloud’s Understanding Comics.  They have been extremely useful in affecting how l produce my own visual sequences and recognising the importance of each element; something l knew very little about a few months ago.  With all l have learned l feel equipped in tackling sensitive subjects and confident that l can achieve this.  As well as producing my own work which is what l am passionate about l am also working on commissions and will seek illustration work upon graduation as well as apply to agencies once l have tailored my portfolio.  This is an area l need to build on after completing this course, as much of the work l produced in previous years is not at the standard l am happy with.  However l feel l am now moving in the right direction and am confident about my ability to produce high standard professional outcomes based on all l have learned on this course.

Bibliography

Briggs, R., 2013, The Snowman. London: Puffin Books.

Lawson, J, Smith, S., 2016, Footpath Flowers, London:  Walker Books.

Lehman, B., 2007, Rainstorm, New York:  Houghton Mifflin Company Boston.

McCloud, S., 1993, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.  New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Popov, N., 1996.  Why?  New York:  North South Books Inc.

Tan, S., 2014, The Arrival, Sydney:  Lothian Books.

Wordless picturebooks

Who benefits from wordless picturebooks? (crossing boundaries)

Being wordless in nature and thus less restrictive in crossing linguistic boundaries, picturebooks have wide appeal and can be used in a variety of educational and clinical settings.

According to Pope Gregory the Great (circa 600) even the uneducated can understand messages conveyed by pictures (in Brown, 2011, p. 37).  Images cross cultural, social , national and economic boundaries admits Protheroe (1992, p.7) states they also compromise development of mathematical and reading skills, scientific imagination and overall cognitive capabilities.  Many scholars argue for the benefits of the picturebook to educational and social learning, and we have seen that images have always played an important role in storytelling.

Werner (1984, in Graham, 1990) explains it is possible for even a blind child to experience picturebooks; though their minds must work harder to formulate images through utilising other senses.  Comprehension can be achieved not only through Braille, but by deployment of interactive features (flips, wheels, pop-ups); accompanying audio; 3D printing and textured pages in wordless picturebooks.  Tom Yeh, creator of the Tactile Picture Books Project is developing software allowing users to create 3D versions of any picturebook, and has already produced famous titles such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle, E., 1969, in Goodreads.com, 2008) and Noah’s Ark (fig. 1);showing raised image as well as Braille.  

Fig. 1: Yeh, T., et al, Noah’s Ark image reproduced in 3D, n.d. (Source: Dezeen.com, 2016)

Some images to use in my essay

My essay is a study of how wordless picturebooks assist emotional and educational development.  I have found a number of examples which help to illustrate the points l want to make:

Fig 1-2:  Popov (1996) takes a similar approach though uses anthropomorphism (presenting animals to convey human emotions, thoughts and actions) to explain the devastating consequences and futility of war.  Fig. shows the two animals in a green, pleasant setting with no worries in the world; until they begin to wage war against each other which quickly escalates out of control.  At the end of the story fig.  shows a bleak contrast, where war has destroyed the earth and all living things.  Each animal has something which belonged to the other (flower and umbrella have changed ownership) but both are destroyed.  It is perhaps unlikely that a child would pick up on such details on the first viewing; however the wordless narrative can be revisited many times and new details uncovered each time.  These multiple layers add narrative and visual interest not only for the child but the adult inclusively.  Colour also plays an important part in the communication of the devastation (bright sunny colours connote happiness and harmony, whereas dull muted tones represent the aftermath).  These two spreads alone convey a poignant message and the author’s personal experience of war undoubtedly contributes to the success of this emotionally charged narrative.

Figure 1: Double page spread [ 8-9] (Source: Popov, N., 1996. Why? New York: North South Books Inc.)

Figure 2: Double page spread [ 38-39] (Source: Popov, N., 1996. Why? New York: North South Books Inc.)

Essay draft

I am currently working on my draft essay and the following are a few paragraphs taken from this. While completing this task l found a few errors so it was useful to undergo this review process in order to make corrections.Essay draft fragments upload: A few paragraphs from my essay: not in order)Evans (1998, p.81) acknowledges the value of wordless picturebooks as a solid basis upon which to learn English as they can be interpreted on a personal level by readers. Louie and Sierschynski (2015) suggest that being wordless, picturebooks don’t confuse English language learners thought they still provide as much as books with words because must tell a story; they also state that oral discussion forms the basis of literacy development, so literacy practices should make use of wordless picturebooks which aid discussion (p. 104). Looking specifically at learners of English as a second language, Louie and Sierschynski explore ways in which the classroom setting encourages language development by using wordless narratives. When broken down into small groups or pairs of learners, children are given opportunities to vocalise individual perceptions of images, given time to stop, think, self-correct and construct descriptive sentences. Citing others they argue: self- correction as opposed to teacher correction should be pursued to offer learners opportunities to creatively explore language which aids constructive discussion and learning (Beck & McKeown, 2001, p.104); it is essential that learners of English spend time engaged in meaningful conversation rather than just answering teacher’s questions, in order to achieve academic literacy (Fisher, Frey, & Rothenberg, 2008, p.104); and revisiting images assists in learning basic image sequencing and literacy conventions before progressing onto more sophisticated meaning construction (Cohn,2014, p.107) . Louie and Sierschynski suggest that new learners begin to label objects or actions of characters in the book, and then learn to tell the story in sentences using more complex language structure (p.107). Coultard (2003, in Arizpe & Styles, pp. 164-189) also stresses that culture, personal experiences and ways in which images [and text] have been approached previously, all influence how immigrant children interpret wordless narratives. Images are a vital source of cultural learning for those arriving in a new country with no knowledge about its language and customs (Arizpe, 2009, p. 134).

Often themes covered by this genre of books can be described as challenging or controversial, and Evans (2015, p.11) points out themes such as depression [The Red Tree, Tan, S., 2015, fig. 16, 17, 18], death [Granpa, Burningham, J., 1984], violence, drugs [Bird, Elliot, Z., & Strickland, S., 2008], war [Why? Popov, N.,1996, fig. 12 &13], and bullying, although often considered unsuitable for children, are nothing new. She goes on to explain the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson stories were full of disturbing subject matter such as incest, child cruelty and murder. Traditional fairy tales such as Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel based on such subjects have been heavily diluted for modern audiences, possibly affected by growing political correctness: the sanitisation of fairy tales began in the nineteenth century due to regulation seeking to protect children from having ‘improper thoughts and ideas’ (Zipes, 2013, p.16). Zipes claims that folk tales have a solid foundation in culture and values while representing certain points in history (in Merriam, 2015). For this reason they change so much over the centuries and, cross culturally, around the world. They must be relevant and provide recipients with material they can identify with. 

According to Doonan (1993, p.11) the act of searching for meaning in imagery engages us emotionally as well as cognitively; and provokes emotional responses (p.51); thus providing potential for emotional growth. Although picturebooks are gradually being recognised for their contribution to visual literacy and learning, they are largely ignored when it comes to promoting emotional development (Nicolajeva, 2013, p.249). However, the ability for children to feel and perceive thoughts, feelings and intentions of others is becoming more important in schools as social awareness about issues such as bullying (Slee & Mohya, 2007, in Lysaker, 2011, p.521) and multi-culturalism increase in importance. In reading development, the ability to construct inferences, and imagining more than what is literally on the page, vital in learning to read and becoming fully engaged with the text (Duke, Presley & Hilden, 2004; Sweet & Snow, 2002, in Lysaker, 2011, pp. 520-521). Empathy is one of the most important social skills to learn, and due to limited emotional experiences, picturebooks play a key role in aiding the development of this emotion (Nikolajeva, 2013, p.249-50).

Lewis Carroll, Ruy Vidal and Maurice Sendak didn’t produce books only for children (Beckett, 2012, p.3-5) and they cross generational boundaries while also standing the test of time. Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (first published 1964) is one of the best selling picturebooks ever. Clearly his approach in refusing to lie to children (in Brockes, 2011) and not being scared to tackle difficult subjects paid off. 

 References:

Arizpe, E., 2009, Sharing visual experiences of a new culture: Immigrant children in Scotland respond to picturebooks and other visual texts. In J. Evans (Ed.), Talking beyond the page: Reading and responding to picture books. Oxon, UK : Routledge (pp. 134-151). Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G., 2001, Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read aloud experiences for young children, The Reading Teacher, Vol: 55, Issue: 1, pp. 10-20. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' language development using wordless picture books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p 104. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]Beckett, S.L., 2012, Crossover Picturebooks: A Genre for all Ages [online] Available at: http://www.earlyliteracyinfo.org/documents/pdf/doc_89.pdf [Accessed 3 August 2016]Burningham, J., 2003, Granpa. London: Red Fox Books.
Cohn, N., 2014, The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: The interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics . Frontiers in Psychology , Vol: 5 Issue: 1, pp 1-9. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p 107. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016] Coultard, 2003, K., 2003, Chapter 8: “The words to say it”: Young bilingual learners responding to visual texts. In E. Arizpe & M. Styles (Eds.), Children reading pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts. New York, NY : RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 196-189. Doonan, J., 1993, Looking at Pictures in Picture Books. Exeter, UK: The Thimble Press.
Duke, N., Presley, M., & Hilden, K., 2004, Difficulties with reading comprehension. In C.A. Stone, E.R. Silliman, & K. Apel (Eds), Handbook of Language and Literacy: Development and disorders. New York: Guilford Press. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, pp. 520-521. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Elliot, Z., & Strickland, S., 2008, Bird. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc.
Evans, J., 1998, What’s in the Picture? Responding to Illustrations in Picturebooks. London: SAGE.
Evans, J., 2015, Challenging and Controversial Picturebooks: Creative and Critical Responses to Visual Texts. Oxon, UK: Routledge / Taylor and Francis Group.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Rothenberg, C., 2008, Content-area conversations: How to plan discussion-based lessons for diverse language learners . Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, pp 103-111. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p. 110. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]Nikolajeva, M., 2013, Picturebooks and Emotional Literacy [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 67, Issue 4, December 2013 / January 2014, pp. 249-254. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/10.1002/trtr.1229/epdf [Accessed 8 August 2016]Sendak, M., 2011, Maurice Sendak: I refuse to lie to children [interview online]. In Brockes, E., 2011, in theguardian.com. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/02/maurice-sendak-interview [Accessed 4 August 2016]Sendak, M., 1964, Where the Wild Things Are. London: Red Fox (2000).Slee, P., & Mohya, J., 2007, The Peace Pact: An evaluation of interventions to reduce bullying in four Australian primary schools. Educational Research, Vol: 49, pp. 103-114. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, p. 520-66. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Sweet, P., & Snow, C., 2002, Reconceptualising reading comprehension. In C. Block, L. Gambrell, & M. Pressley (Eds), Improving comprehension Instruction: Rethinking research, theory and classroom practice (pp. 17-53). New York: Jossey Press. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, p. 520-521. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Popov, N., 1996. Why? New York: North South Books Inc.
Tan, S., 2015, The Red Tree. Sydney, Australia: Lothian Children’s Books.
Zipes, J., 2013, Fairy Tale as Myth/ Myth as Fairy Tale. Kentucky, USA: The University Press of Kentucky.