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JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 2.417, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 4, Issue 8, September 2016
188 www.jiarm.com
DRAWING ON COLLABORATIVE VENTURES TO VISUAL THINKING: THE IMPORTANCE OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
STEPHEN T.F. POON*
*Taylor’s University, Malaysia
Abstract
As the focus on developing and enhancing children’s learning increases, a notable
growth trend has been seen in the field of commercially-published children illustrated books
(CIB). This paper presents key insights on the improvement of child literacy with the aid of
illustrated books designed for the children market. An overview of classical children literary
publications is provided, with perspectives drawn on established research and theories on
visual thinking as a form of spatial intelligence, and its role in literacy development such as
reading skills and knowledge construction. The aims and functions of visual-based thinking
in children literature are discussed and explored, and its use as a means to augment school-
based pedagogy will be considered. As this form of interactive learning medium gains
acceptance, issues affecting the publication of CIB including quality, stimulating graphics
and its value in education, will be further explored. With quality CIB gradually being sought
after by a discerning market, this paper argues for greater recognition and appreciation of the
credible efforts by stakeholders such as publishers, agents, illustrators and writers. The
potential of collaborative CIB projects is also examined, and case studies will be provided to
demonstrate why CIB collaborations are an effective way to raise industry talent, improve
creativity of publications and produce new intertextual and cultural texts, resulting in high-
calibre, sophisticated visual communication ideas and themes emerging in the market. The
paper presents case examples of publications while discussing the collaborative processes by
illustrators and writers in jointly conveying themes through visual communication. This paper
concludes with strategies to reach an increasingly discerning market, and how intertextual
new media applications can be utilised to steer development of this field.
Keywords: Illustrators, Visual Thinking, Literacy, Children Illustrated Books, Publishing
Introduction
People have always told stories to each other. From country villages to school
classrooms, bookstores and holiday programmes, storytelling for children is an essential skill
and a form of educational tool in modern cultural contexts of today.
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Storytelling skills involves special attention on the development of children literature
and educational materials such as storybooks, which have evolved to signify and suit the
changing needs of today’s society. Children books serve aesthetic and functional purposes:
they reaffirm communal observations and experiences, convey particular cultural, spiritual
and social values, trains visual response and language proficiency.
An increasingly professional realm has engendered the need to foster quality
authorship and creative thinking in collaborative children books. The publication of children
illustrated books (CIB) engages a range of occupational sectors including writers, linguists,
social scientists, psychologists, speech specialists, graphic artists, designers, illustrators,
publishers, marketers, distributors, and etc. Training in language arts, humanities and early
childhood education is essential for illustrators. Illustrators for books and other educational
material have emerged from being backend support to recognition among parents, educators
and audiences alike.
The main aim of this paper is to provide authoritative field literature for historical and
contemporary arguments in the development of children literary publications. Three research
questions guiding the paper are:
How does visual thinking improve children literacy?
Has commercialisation of children literature affected the quality and selection of
published children illustrated stories?
Could children illustrated publications augment formal or school-based pedagogy?
The paper discusses the process of producing children illustrated books, with the use
of a range of published examples to analyse the illustration methods of contemporary
illustrators. The paper concludes with an argument for greater recognition of CIB as vital
teaching resources, besides a more effective understanding of current market criteria in order
to reap the potential of CIB as a child literacy and linguistic enhancement tool.
Overview: The Evolution of Children Picture Books
In the Western tradition, children picture books can be traced to the 17th-century
woodcut illustrations of Johannes Comenius, which accompanied early children’s
encyclopaedia for The Visible World in Pictures (McGlynn, 2011). In 1802, Jacob and
Wilhelm Grimm gained renown for their exhaustive collaboration on an early German
lexicography, at the same time documented, collected and published European folktales such
as Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Snow White (O’Neill, 1999: 118).
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These and other literary legacies of central European culture were lifelong passions
for the Grimm Brothers, who professed preference for “a walk in literature” to outdoor strolls
(O’Neill, 1999) even while pursuing law at the University of Marburg, and later as they
entered into political and civic service). The archiving of authentic, pastoral stories reflecting
and representing the German volk (folk) traditions is tackled on a serious level, but the
illustrations that accompanied them were not always recognised as valuable accompaniment.
German literature professor Jack Zipes (2008) notes that as the interest to illustrate classic
children tales grew in the wave of the Romanticism movement in the 1800’s, so flourished
the practice of including unauthorised editions of Grimm fairy tales in illustrated anthologies.
Nevertheless, the successful early publication of pleasure reading titles such as Lewis
Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was emulated by later European children
authors, including Hans Christian Anderson (The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid), Hergé
(Tin Tin), Charles Perrault (Pinocchio), and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince);
while classic titles such as Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit found their way into
domestic American magazines such as Good Housekeeping, enabling shared reading between
children and their mothers (McGlynn, 2011).
19th-century illustrators like Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway
produced prolific and superior works, and the functionality of picture books in education
gained this genre eminence among parents, child experts, book publishers and critics alike.
An example of this confluence is the Randolph Caldecott Medal, which represents a
distinguished range of illustrated children picture books honoured with an annual award to
recognise their ability to bring visual experiences to children through cohesive storylines,
themes or concepts (Association for Library Service to Children, 2008). Since 1937, the
Caldecott Medal has become a helpful standard for child educators looking for “excellent
springboards” (McGlynn, 2011: 4) to impart the proficiency and skills for emergent reading
comprehension, vocabulary knowledge and meaning construction, besides helping reinforce
lessons in learning areas such as science and art.
Aims & Functions of CIB
The many definitions of CIB are available, but in keeping with the objectives of this
paper, we will examine the functional and educational levels of meanings. Barbara Bader,
children’s literature critic and author of the classic American Picture books from Noah’s Ark
to The Beast Within (1976) defines picture books as:
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“…text, illustrations, total design; an item of manufacture and a commercial product; a
social, cultural, historic document; and foremost, an experience for a child. As an art form it
hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two
facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the page.”(Bader: 1)
The late Prof Kay E. Vandergrift of the School of Communication and Information at
Rutgers University, defined children book illustration (emphasis added) as:
“[…] both an art form in its own right and an integral part of the literary composition of the
book as a work of art. To fully appreciate all the styles, media, and techniques in children's
literature, one must be knowledgeable about art in general as well as about the composition
and design of children's books.” (Vandergrift, 1997)
Bader assumes commercial viability rests in the production of books children desire to
consume, while Vandergrift makes clear that visual arts appreciation stems from the social
constructionist perspective of the reader’s own ability to associate differing styles of design
and illustrations with viewpoints and values.
Children in early developmental stages of between two and six years learn to observe
movements, speech, gestures, emotions, positions, moods. The connections formed between
imagery, mental pictures and words arouses understanding, enabling them to distil meaning
through learning a set of cultural value judgments and behavioural responses, despite lacking
sufficient vocabulary to say exactly how they feel. For children with learning disabilities, the
pictorial component promises active sensorial stimulation and facilitates emergent literacy
(Justice and Kaderavek, 2002), particularly in struggling early readers. The use of
intervention strategies to develop emergent literacy has been promoted by researchers in
other ways, for instance, in encouraging parents and teachers to provide connected learning
opportunities such as reading using customary habits of manners and speech, engaging
toddlers and children with age-appropriate materials for early cognitive and socio-emotional
development, such as shared storybook reading (Justice and Kaderavek, 2002; Justice and
Pullen, 2003).
Visuals are acknowledged for their universal power to create narrative familiarisation,
putting young readers in a better position to appreciate cultural references via cultural
comparisons (National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature, 2003; New South Wales
Department of Education and Training, 2008: 21). Literature points to this opportunity: that
while the use of CIB is commonly taken as an informal means to engage children in language
and visual-spatial intelligence development, its usefulness in augmenting formal or school-
based pedagogy has not been a critical area for discussion thus far.
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
The distinctions between visual literacy and other forms of intelligence such as
musical, linguistic, numerical, social, logical, kinaesthetic or active learning shape the
pedagogical concepts in educational research and particularly, in the use of psychology to
understand the nature of human intelligence. Howard Gardner’s acclaimed Theory of
Multiple Intelligences proposed a theoretical approach to separate the seven components of
“intelligence” for different educational applications; these brain-based capabilities are
associated with one’s cultural, historical and societal perspectives (cited in Bjorklund, 2005:
454).
Albert Bandura (1989: 9) propose six classical framing theories of child development,
believing children’s symbolising capacity enables them “to think of cows jumping over the
moon and elephants riding on flies”, improbably these events are in reality. Experts since
Bandura’s time have kept up scholarly debates on the link between children’s imagination
and critical thinking, and how visual thinking would be affected from the reader’s exposure
to perceptual differences in certain cultural settings, calling these observed representations
“the first tier principles of reference” (Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek, 2006: 215-6). In the last
century, researchers have sought to differentiate “reading engagement” or immersion based
on understanding students’ intrinsic motivation for reading tasks that employ deep processing
(self-interest, learning for its own sake), from extrinsic efforts that require surface-level
complex thinking abilities, with motivation coming from the desire for social approval or
avoiding negative evaluation (Entwhistle and Ramsden, 1983; Guthrie et al, 1996).
Making Meaning from Visual Thinking
Children see visuals even before learning language. Mabel Segun (1988: 25), a vocal
advocate of Nigerian children authors, believes illustrations is purposeful as “literature in its
own right”, chiefly to pique children’s imagination, create sensorial awareness and ideate
potential, besides correcting injurious cultural notions brought about by advertising. Visual
images, narratives and character depictions coalesce in the child’s mind and senses through
constant exposure, multiple resources and reading activities (Stephens, 2003: 4). From
wordless picture books enjoyed by preschool-aged emergent readers in “point and say”
learning (Jalongo, Dragich, Conrad and Zhang, 2002: 168), to travel brochures,
advertisements and signboards, visual embellishment enables children with language
proficiency weaknesses to make sense and understand writers’ point of views but only after,
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as some social pragmatists theorise – recognising the salience of their own stance (Golinkoff
and Hirsh-Pasek, 2006). As pictorial “linguists”, illustrators can contribute towards
developmental objectives of society by applying their ability to transliterate, i.e. decode and
encode visual messages and symbols (Segun, 1988:1). Segun, who criticises the perpetuation
of stereotypes and Nigerian illustrators who wallow in unimaginative characterisations in
some CIB, believe these should make way for more accurate portrayals of cultural heritage
symbols and identities.
The biographical tale When Marian Sang by Pam Muñoz Ryan (2002) is an example
(Figure 1). Targeted at junior readers, illustrator Brian Selznick uses sepia tones to
complement the sombre, emotive language of the narrative and draw a profound portrait of
the protagonist’s experience in facing racism in pre-Civil Rights America and to depict stoic
courage in the central role model (Salvadore, 2012; Scholastic, n.d.; YouTube, 2011). In
contrast, Reynold Ruffins (2013), an African American professor, painter and illustrator, uses
strong primary colours and stylistic variance in augmenting texts and provide depth of
commentary about facts and information. Ruffins admits that his dimensional abstract art
whimsies – animals, parades, streetscapes, are often viewed as nothing more but
representational (Figure 2). What readers may not appreciate are the confines of the narrative
and audience that challenges artists not detach interpretive skills from the story (Hinkle,
2013).
Figure 1: Selznick’s cover illustration forWhen Marian Sang
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Figure 2: Cover of Sarnoff (1979) Light The Candles! Beat The Drums! How Visual Thinking Engages Children: Postmodern Approaches
The colours, shapes, forms, words and themes in CIB are fundamental contexts which
help children enlarge visual-based thinking. Pictures determine the story, scene and mood,
define and develop characters, communicate perspectives, and reinforce cultural messages or
textual symbols (Fang, 1996). Fang uses Maurice Sendak’s illustrative style in Where The
Wild Things Are as an instance where plot progression is suggested by the protagonist Max’s
room (his ‘wild kingdom’) steadily being filled with trees and grass from bedposts to shag
rug, heightening the sense of Max’s infuriation for being sent off to his room as punishment
(Fang, 1996: 135), thus redirecting the reader’s focus on the narrative value (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Maurice Sendak, Where The Wild Things Are (1963)
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Newer studies present the possibilities of interactive explorations in experimental
social contexts as a motivating factor for emergent child literacy. Nolen (2001) for instance,
applies the social constructionist framework to conduct an ethnographic experiment,
particularising the accomplishments of under-skilled kindergarten children at risk of learning
disabilities given opportunities to read stories, create artwork and write in partnership with
their peers. Children’s sensitivity to visual stimuli has always given opportunities to explore
models of teaching and literacy that blends pictures and imagery. For instance, educationists
note the benefits of art in teaching metalinguistic skills in terms of phonological and written
competencies (Chaney, 1994, cited in Justice and Pullen, 2003: 100). The role of props in
developing early literacy and in play settings have also been measured and considered as an
effective intervention strategy (Justice and Pullen, 2003); the use visual response to enrich
lesson processes and content (Whitin, 1994); the use of age- and culturally-appropriate toys
that involve active play from children and their families (Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff, 2003),
and for no better reason that simply to delight, inspire and give children sound foundations to
enhance their emotional development, as well as fostering successful participation in lifelong
literacy (Whitehurst et al, 1999).
Zipes (2008), citing the Freudian concept of the ‘œuncanny’ and Bloch’s
conceptualisation of home, views fairy tales - frightening, magical, concealed codes in
relationships and capricious endings, as a way for individuals to handle feelings of anxiety,
fear and familiarity. In and through unfamiliar settings, folktales “[ignite] a double quest for
home”, as readers seek uniformity of belief in meanings and in the fantasy. Their
experiences, comforting or otherwise, may either assimilate or alienate that which has been
established in their norms and cultural traditions (Zipes, 2008). Comparative literature sees
parallels in avid storytellers’ circles, arguing that postmodern educational approaches could
incorporate existing stories in folklore and local culture that are in fact, comparatively similar
in cross-cultural settings.
As the inclusion of books on one’s cultural heritage is relevant for didactical and
educational functioning (Lynch-Brown and Tomlinson, 2008), folk stories and storytelling
which children of native communities can embrace and relate to, should be integrated in
teaching aids. Nevertheless, a state of literacy failure has been noted in the frenetic pursuit of
improved educational pedagogical systems in the past decades, as teachers in the United
States and Europe reported declining proficiency among their students in language skills, oral
communication, reading and writing. Adding to this, proper standards of educational
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practices are being compromised with incessant media exposure putting stress on visual
spatial stimulation through video games, puzzles, television, multimedia and other activities.
As these “habits of mind” come to be preferred and form part of social and behavioural
learning, there had not been concurrent development in the area of linguistic skills
acquisition. Countering such disconcerting studies, Ezell and Justice (2000) in Justice and
Kaderavek (2002) report that large-sized and noticeable text encourages children at emergent
literacy ages of four years to interact with print during reading, while “engaging” and
“appealing” pictures are clear motivators in reading activity, and directly fosters literacy
development, including the ability to verbalise what they read as print (p.11). Justice and
Kaderavek (2009) surmised that print-based referencing accelerates children performance in
alphabet knowledge, word awareness as they develop stronger attention and interest in print
from storybook reading interactions. A recent example (Figure 4) is the collaboration
between Bob Shea and Lane Smith, Big Plans (2008).
Figure 4: Bob Shea’s Big Plans (2008), with cover illustration by Lane Smith
Illustrations are arguably important for children because visual storytelling is an
entertaining method of developing visual thinking. Fonts, colours, lines, emotions, gestures
and other symbolic cues, being intertextual in nature, are constructed to enlarge social
interactivity such as classroom learning initiatives. Thus, visual thinking lends meaningful
depth that may be missed if merely printed letters were used (Whitin, 1994).
Molly Bang, a strong advocate of visual literacy, notes that methods employed to
illustrate and visualise effectively improves the narrative’s aim to connect with children.
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According to Bang (2000), illustrations that apply correct visual principles such as shapes,
object placement, light and size contrasts, centring and corners, are especially important to
convey genuine feelings, enhancing the relationship between aesthetics and textual narratives,
particularly material for the emergent literacy stages of between two and eight years (Figure 5).
Avery (1996, cited by Jalongo et al, 2002: 168) states that contemporary exposure via
media such as computer screens, billboards and television has enabled children to view
visuals in books and respond independently of what adults would perceive. Beyond
understanding language, social or cultural experiences, visual thinking is initiated by signals
indicating the child’s motivation to observe and express ideas. Hence, CIB help children to
“recognise, interpret and express themselves through pictures long before they master print”
(Jalongo et al, 2002: 168). Literacy researcher Bette Goldstone (2001), furthering this
research continuum, traces the way children publications poke fun at society, question life’s
uncertainty and reinvent classics like Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs (Goldstone: 365).
Figure 5: Molly Bang (2008) uses repeated, pulsing lines to convey strong emotions
Postmodern teaching research in the past demonstrates that CIB help readers do a
reality check over trends, pressures, economic, social and political forces that once worked
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“constant and unchanged” (Goldstone: 369) in traditional societies, and in so doing, they
reinterpret their world and interconnections with others, and reconsider their own beliefs
about the world (Anstey, 2002: 456). In this functional sense, illustrative functions in
children stories today has to move beyond the “old literacy” practices of traditional, “black
and white” conceptualised picture books, and may indeed, help children of this era master the
literacy, communicative and social skills of the digital environment (Anstey: 445).
In a span of a few decades since the 1980’s, the range and quality of CIB has widened
greatly, a trend that aligns with parents’ and educators’ increased awareness of picture books
as symbolic tools of learning about their social environment. CIB has become more easily
available and accessible for every age group (McGlynn, 2011). Along with accessibility
comes an increasing ability to discern quality works from their lesser cousins. National and
community-level effort to bring literacy up to par with the needs of today’s rapid socio-
economic growth is crucial. The external factors which hamper children’s exposure to, and
interest in CIB, include costs, distribution logistics, ineffective curricula as well as static
educational pedagogy.
Parental engagement, innovation in educational pedagogies and better distribution are
factors to cultivate higher literacy immersion, even allowing promising new forms of visual
literacy to be introduced. Such goals are achievable if publishing companies sent out
researchers to identify and discover the kinds and range of books that children should have
access to; and to understand what teachers and librarians think would help in teaching and
communicating to children. Methodical analyses of these findings guide CIB sector on
publishing works that best serve these needs.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research for this study is conducted in two phases. In an attempt to address the three
earlier research questions, the focus of study presented in this paper will consist of textual
analysis of selected CIB publications to evaluate the illustration and art production methods
of contemporary illustrators and artists, and to what degree their approaches add contextual
depth that enables young readers to harness the potential of CIB as a literacy and linguistic
enhancement tool. The sample selection of publications was aimed at broadening the scope
of study, to enable better reflection on the role of visual in narrative augmentation in both
traditional and postmodern children publications.
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The second phase is to gather clear understanding of the increasingly professional
realm of book illustration careers, which has created the need to foster quality authorship and
creative thinking in collaborative children books. The publication of children illustrated
books (CIB) engages a range of occupational sectors including writers, linguists, social
scientists, psychologists, speech specialists, graphic artists, designers, illustrators, publishers,
marketers, distributors, and etc. Since training in language arts, humanities and early
childhood education are essential criteria for illustrators, the study then seeks to understand
the processes in the publication of CIB, and to trace the methods by which illustrators have
emerged from being backend support to gaining recognition among parents, educators and
audiences alike.
The textual narrative, descriptive nature of qualitative analysis combined with reliable
organisation of selected CIB publications from a variety of sources provides a meaningful
way to explore and understand visual-based thinking. By examining the reactions and
interpretation of emergent visual literacy, a better understanding of the use of illustrations as
reinforcement tools in the developmental reading process for the young readers will be
obtained.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS
CIB serves an important purpose, but society as a whole may be unable to identify the
group of stakeholders involved creating children books. Most adults perceive content and
message as the focal point, language awareness perceived as more beneficial and significant,
compared to visual accompaniments in picture books. Nevertheless, the contributions of
illustrators should not be slighted: an illustrated book is the sum output of both illustrators
and writers setting out to convey their message in words and imaginings.
The Process of CIB Publishing
The process of publication normally begins with manuscript writing, followed by
choosing a representing publisher, distribution agent and specified medium. The artist or
illustrator is a cost factored in, while expense and profit-sharing negotiations can be a
laborious stage when a number of collaborators are involved. To “live in fear and awe of
them children” (Carthage College Center for Children’s Literature, 2010), the editorial and
agency panels sift through literal mountains of scripts to find the right work that engages
them enough that they would “fall in love” with it.
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Overarching the various planning stages is the choice of script ideas that fits the
overall vision and mission of the publishing company. A valuable differentiator in this
process is the research for target readership and market feasibility study as the audience’s
psychographic and demographic profiles supplies insight.
The initial process usually involves manuscript submissions to the publisher, then
authors and illustrators are invited to meet the project team comprising managers, editors,
agents and distributors. Fruitful meetings are important as key individuals frame every aspect
of decision and contribution mutually. Authoring CIB collaboratively is a laborious process,
and both creative and commercial outcomes can be expected in the journey from story or idea
drafting, manuscript revision, illustration, printing and finally, publication and marketing.
Illustrators occupy several positions: they unify the book’s objectives, recount the
author’s experiences, interpret its moods, expand, uplift and add pleasure to the text (Booker,
2012). Devising self-referential illustrations that “fall off the page, jump out at [readers]” and
accentuate the fictional aspects of the story are often used in postmodern CIB (Booker, 2012:
p.ii, citing Swaggerty, 2009). Successful collaborative outcomes may inspire illustrators to
turn their hands to writing stories with a view to publication (Alderman and Clayton, 1994).
Whether the project derives from commercial aspirations or experimental objectives, the
elements of clear communication must be present in every aspect of production.
Though most CIB productions involve scores of parties, some independent publishers
have proven their tenacity in working with resource and network limitations. Some
collaboration can turn out unique tales that resonate with specific audiences. Australian
author Bambi Gordon collaborated with Malaysian-born Joi Murugavell for the Oodlies
series (That Book You Like, 2013), to connect with children struggling with self-esteem. On
the other hand, others like Kadir Nelson, believe that the creative space is the artist’s domain
(Figure 6), and it would not work for collaborations to start with authors telling illustrators
“this is what I think it should look like” (Buchanan, 2015).
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Figure 6: Kadir Nelson authored and painted If You Plant a Seed (2015)
From an agent’s perspective, CIB partnerships involving “husband-wife, sibling or
even best friend teams where one party is a professional illustrator and the other writes”
(Sterry, 2011) could result in outstanding production, but issues which mar likelihood of
acceptance include ineffective pitching during submission, lack of talent credentials, haste,
and lack of persistence are factors distinguishing strong from flawed submissions. From the
illustrator’s perspective, a good editorial matching between the author and artist begins with a
common understanding of what the illustrator must do to expand the story’s themes and
moods, besides having a grasp of the peripherals that are relevant to storytelling.
Drawing on New Forms of Visual Interactivity
From the foregoing, we can advance the view that clarity of purpose and vibrancy are
the new currencies of CIB, educational or otherwise, in raising reader interest. With both
fictitious and reality-based literature often depending on the power of pictures and
illustrations to carry a plot, provide temporal and spatial settings, drive momentum, convey
experiences and historical narratives (Booker, 2012), the challenge that illustrators face is to
understand the value of visual images being increasingly exploited within the fabric of
‘intertextuality’. The function of pictures in traditional CIB has mostly been a theme of
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subjective discussion, but in the postmodern age, visuals which support texts such as
storybooks, poems or comic anthologies have been embraced through regarding a child’s
standpoint as the yardstick to interpret a multiplicity of complex meanings in language, oral,
spatial and semiotic systems of society and culture (Bull and Anstey, 2010). Following
Anstey (2002), today’s new literacies is a result from a scope of global influences and greater
technological access, creating a desire among groups in societies to respond to symbolic
cultural ideation, and digital platforms (Figure 7) available for parent-children interaction
with story characters and narration include publishing group Penguin’s Storytime Hangout
webcam application (app) on Google+ (Dredge, 2013).
Further, since intertextuality now involves every source of text and media that bears
symbolic communication, meaning making and expressions, this elicits the need for authors
and illustrators to work collaboratively to deliver rich textual value to children whose native
language disables them from processing and constructing meanings when working in other
languages (Rowe, 1987, cited in Whitin 1994). CIB design execution is increasingly
uncomplicated, with software programmes being used in publication formatting. Illustrators
and authors must aim for stretch goal through new kinds of collaborative mediums and
intertextual media applications.
Figure 7: Three Billy Goats Gruff, children story app created by Penguin Digital (2013)
In tapping this relatively unexplored area, artists could apply traditional drawing or
painting skills in new media, embracing updated production techniques such as multimedia,
animation and applications, leading to the development of new skills beyond basic graphic art
training and designing knowledge. An exemplar is former cartoonist, sculptor and painter
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Raghava KK (TED, 2011) who produces digital artwork which challenges children’s
thinking, by literally ‘shaking up’ their notions of identity, social status, conformity, and
gender orientation. Raghava is behind Pop-it, an interactive iPad book designed to explore
the concept of an ideal family (Figure 8), with playful features incorporating drawing as well
as moving and shaking the screen to get different results (Inspir3d, 2011).
Cultural outreach approaches and methods must also be considered in the publication
of children reading material online, to suit the urban populace who prefer new informational
tools and media technologies. CIB publishers could introduce their books in other languages,
including neighbouring markets with similar preferences. Interactive visual learning could
involve larger, more encompassing ventures. In cooperation with government institutions,
local or international NGO’s and community schools, literacy-enabling programmes may be
the longer term answer.
As societies orientate towards active learning and engagement in digital
communication, and technological usage increases, technological design manipulation has
become an almost inseparable notion in tandem with the argument that traditional learning
models do not work anymore. In short, as the younger generation articulate their digital self-
identities online, encounter Web-based published materials, and share their media
experiences with a globally networked audience, innovative visual concepts represent an
aspect of the N-Gen (youth and children of the Internet generation), as described by Tapscott
(1998) in his book, Growing Up Digital, the self that is focused, articulate, creative, curious,
analytical, self-reliant, social, fluent, and bored with television (Egnatoff, 1999).
Open libraries, educational play stores or museums showcasing interactive
installations are worthy ways to connect children with visual-based learning. Such
programmes and dedicated spaces would involve resources, costs, trained staff, and
infrastructure and evaluative frameworks to promote CIB engagement, at the same time
provide artists, illustrators and instructors the opportunity to develop and improve the quality
of their offerings.
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Figure 8: Raghava KK Inc’s iPad book that takes a quirk look at ‘parent-child
relationships’ CONCLUSION
Famed American writer and cartoonist Dr Seuss noted that children craved constantly
for the very things adults desire: “To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and
delighted”. CIB are awakening repositories of imaginative ideas, wit, poetry, rhymes, plots
and the celebration of our sensorial and cognitive beings. Through storytelling, children
enhance understanding of concepts and cultural environments. However, the dictates of the
young target audience, parents’ and educators’ desire for literacy material that encourages
critical thinking and builds social interactions should be the basis for creating children books
today. These form the core mission of visual communicators involved in publishing children
books.
Notwithstanding that teaching is not the job of either illustrators or children writers,
their roles in enhancing children’s cognitive and literacy development cannot be overlooked.
Whether the focus in on commercial book production or serving young people training to
become professional writers and illustrators, producers, publishers, authors and illustrators of
CIB must attempt to inform and build their potential through lifelong interactive habits, and
set the stage for further improvement in an increasingly discerning and appreciative
publishing market. It is also true that writers and artists are subject to the publishing
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205 www.jiarm.com
industry’s constant demands for reinvention, and in the final say, key audiences – children
and parents, would be the stakeholders to please before manuscripts are considered for viable
publication. Experience in CIB show the genre is gaining intense appreciation, and industry
players play mutually supportive key roles to define, discuss and describe their achievements
in this promising field. At the same time, the movement to use CIB beneficially to enhance
school-based curricula is emerging, along with the promotion of collaborations that showcase
the wide range of recent CIB, founded on teamwork and strategic investment of knowledge
and experiences by stakeholder parties, from parents to teaching practitioners, authors,
illustrators and publishers.
To ensure relevance of CIB to current educational practices, visual-based learning
must aim at supporting literacy improvement, with CIB as part of enrichment activities
towards that end. Lastly, the storytelling community’s enthusiasm to capture and uplift the
imagination of children must take into account the national literacy goals of society in
developing cultural patterns of intertextual understanding that shapes young readers. Visual
literacy aids in understanding and evaluating children’s thinking and their sense making
about the world, about others and most of all, about themselves. The answer to these
challenges may just be found in CIB.
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Bibliography of Books Cited, Illustrators& Image Credits
1. Bang, M. (2008) When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry. New York: Blue Sky Press/Scholastic Inc.Figure 5: Illustrator: Molly Bang. Image retrieved from: http://www.mollybang.com/Images/sophie.jpg
2. Nelson, K. (2015) If You Plant a Seed. New York. N.Y.: HarperCollins Publishers .Figure 6: Illustrator: Kadir Nelson. Image retrieved from https://www.readingrainbow.com/site/blog/2015/03/04/plant-picture-award-winning-illustrator-kadir-nelson-childrens-books-discovery-illustrative-process/
3. Raghava KK. (2011) Pop-It at Home with Appa and Dad. iPad App. Product site: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pop-it/id447608431?mt=8 Figure 8: Image retrieved from http://www.raghavakk.com/pop-it.html
4. Ryan, P. M. (2002) When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. New York: Scholastic Press.Figure 1: Illustrator: Brian Selznick. Image retrieved from http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41c8BO82VvL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
5. Sarnoff, J. (1979) Light the Candles! Beat the Drums! A Book of Holidays. New York: Scribner/Simon & Schuster. Figure 2: Illustrator: Reynold Ruffins. Image retrieved from https://singbookswithemily.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/light-the-candles-scribners.jpg
6. Sendak, M. (1963) Where The Wild Things Are. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins Publ. Figure 3: Illustrator: Maurice Sendak. Image retrieved from http://www.philnel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/MauriceSendak-Where-theWild-Things-Are-16.jpg
7. Shea, B. (2008) Big Plans. New York: Hyperion Books. Figure 4: Illustrator: Lane Smith. Image retrieved from http://bobshea.com/?p=22
8. Storytime Hangout (n.d.) Penguin Digital: Penguin Books Ltd. Product site: http://www.storytimehangout.com/Figure 7: Illustrator: Marcia Brown. Image retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2013/may/29/penguin-storytime-hangout-google
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