More Words About Pictures: Current Research on Picture Books and Visual/Verbal Texts for Young People ed. by Naomi Hamer, Perry Nodelman, and Mavis Reimer (original) (raw)

Plot, picture and practice: comics, picture books and illustrated literary fiction

2014

Reporting on a January 2012 joint session of the Modern Language Association of America's Division on Children's Literature and the Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives, co-convener Charles Hatfield stated, "Scholars of the picture book (Nodelman; Spaulding; Nikolajeva & Scott; op de Beeck) have noted the aesthetics and reading demands of comics. Conversely, comics theorists (McCloud; Varnum & Gibbons) have suggested formal likenesses between [them]-including shared aesthetic resources, the relevance of word/image theory to both, and the growing prominence of comics in children's publishing and reading instruction." Session contributor Perry Nodelman stated that the formal definitions of each register continually contradict and confound each other, whilst Phillip Nel theorised that differences between picture books and comics result from particular author poesis, generating clustering, but not absolute, habits of form. Developing this idea, Joseph Thomas noted that each registers' governing conventions also dictate and direct the uses to which picture books and comics are put. Relationships between form and the conditions of production and use of books that utilise text and image also form the axis of a more recent paper by Joe Sutliff Sanders, who writes, "Despite the obvious differences between [picture books and comics], nearly all of the formal terms most commonly used to define one can also easily be applied to the other. Still, in one of the common observations about both forms-that words and images work together to create meaning-lies the first step in a path toward distinguishing the two." (84) These formal terms include the identification and generalisation of different types of plot transition (page to page in picture books, panel to panel in comics), the distribution of plot events, the frequency of page turns, the distribution and types of information provided by text and images and the shapes, proportions and production materials of both registers, to note only a few. SLIDE TWO-comic I should say immediately that this paper will consider only three types of book in which text and image are utilised to present the diegesis: comics for children and adult readers, SLIDE THREE-picture book Picture books for children and SLIDE FOUR-illustrated literary fiction Illustrated literary fiction for children and adult readers. Although some of the terms of my discussion plausibly find application in all text/image productions, for the purpose of this paper, I will set aside, for example, contemporary digital applications and 16 th and 17 th century emblem books to focus on the implications of making distinctions between these three. SLIDE FIVE-page and grid Both Sanders, Sophie Van der Linden and Natalie Op de Beek independently generalise the formal distinctions between comics and picture books in similar ways, arguing that, despite exceptions, "[…] comics tend to use multiple panels per page, with closure between them; picture books tend to use full-page or double-page images, with closure coming at the gutter or during the page turn.", for example, as Sanders writes

Why Comics Are and Are Not Picture Books: Introduction

Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 2012

Salisbury and Morag Styles, is the most recent and among the best of richly illustrated textbooks treating the aesthetics, history, and industry of the picture book. It has this to say about comics: The growth of interest in graphic novels in recent years has had considerable impact on children's picturebooks. In some instances, the boundaries between these and sequential "comic strip" art have become blurred: the use of multiple framed images and speech bubbles for four-to seven-year-olds is increasingly commonplace. Shaun Tan's The Arrival. .. has been particularly influential as it is wordless, sequential and difficult to pin down in terms of target audience. Such crossover books can cause problems for booksellers, who are often confused about where to place them. (98)

Picture Books and the Making of Readers: A New Trajectory. NCTE Concept Paper No. 7

1993

Picture books enable children to experience "reading" from a very early stage in their lives. Although readers in the early part of this century were trained to read heavy books full of fine print, nowadays readers are being trained to read using intellectually and emotionally challenging picture books. Such books (particularly those by John Burningham) enable young readers to tackle material beyond their normal repertoire. The concepts the picture books describe are very sophisticated, yet young children do not seem to have any problem coming to terms with them. Several scholars have investigated the complexities in picture books which even very early readers can begin to master. J. A. Appleyard emphasizes the strong element of play and the important transition small children make from the intimacy of being read to at home to the intensely social experience of school reading. Perry Nodelman describes the range and variety of conventions which picture-book authors and illustrators call into play. Judith Graham investigates what and how children learn from picture books about narrative processes and conventions. The vocabulary of Peter Rabinowitz lends itself to a more activist interpretation of what the reader does. Contemporary children's stories make use of new and different conventions, and in the process may well be creating new and different readers. Picture books give even extremely young children access to literary codes. Armed with this background, however vestigial, children can be readers. (Contains 37 references.) (RS)

Illustrations, Text, and the Child Reader: What are Pictures in Children's Storybooks for

Picture books are profusely illustrated books in which the illustrations are, to varying degrees, essential to the en joyment and understanding of the story (Tomlinson and Lynch-Brown, 1996). As the most characteristic form of children's literature (Nodelman, 1996), picture books hold a prominent place in children's literature because of the juxtaposition of pictures and words. Thanks to the public's acute awareness of the importance of childhood in human devel opment, to professional critical evaluation of children's literature, as well as to the advances in printing technology and art reproduction, children's literature has witnessed a dramatic increase in wellillustrated picture books. ^fe Illustrations, Text, and the Child Reader: What are Pictures in Childrenfs Storybooks for? Zhihui Fang Picture books are profusely illustrated books in which the illustrations are, to varying degrees, essential to the en joyment and understanding of the story (Tomlinson and Lynch-Brown, 1996). As the most characteristic form of chil dren's literature (Nodelman, 1996), picture books hold a prominent place in children's literature because of the juxta position of pictures and words. Thanks to the public's acute awareness of the importance of childhood in human devel opment, to professional critical evaluation of children's litera ture, as well as to the advances in printing technology and art reproduction, children's literature has witnessed a dramatic increase in well-illustrated picture books.

Picture/Text Relationships: An Investigation of Literary Elements in Picturebooks

Literacy Research and Instruction, 2012

The major research question was: How do pictures and texts function in developing literary elements in picturebooks for younger readers and picturebooks for older readers? We examined 30 picturebooks for younger readers and 30 picturebooks for older readers to determine how pictures and text work to develop plot, character, setting, and mood. Findings reveal that in books for younger readers,

Watch this space: childhood, picturebooks and comics

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2014

This is a special issue of Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics exploring the relationships of picturebooks and comics with notions of childhood. There have been productive readings in relation to the mechanics of both these media such as Maria Nikoljeva and Carole Scott's How Picturebooks Work (2001) and Thierry Groensteen's The System of Comics (2007), as well as extensive research on the history and specific creators of children's picturebooks. However, much less attention has been paid to the intersection between these comics, picturebooks and constructions of childhood. This is an area that is potentially significant, as the understandings and definitions of childhood held by creators, publishers, teachers and others shape both what is offered to actual child readers and how children are depicted in texts. We believe, then, that focusing on constructions of childhood, rather than education, or reading for pleasure, is an important area of enquiry that opens the fields of childhood studies and visual culture to new debates. Focusing on the links across illustration, graphic narratives and visual culture, this special issue offers interventions in the fields of comics and picturebooks. It is perhaps worth noting that comics and picturebooks are not typically considered together, with some rare exceptions such as Mel Gibson's (2010) work in 'Graphic Novels, Comics and Picturebooks' and David Lewis's (1998) work on 'knowingness' in relation to Colin McNaughton's work. Perhaps one material difference between comics and picturebooks is the traditionally serial nature of the former compared with the relatively infrequent production process for the latter. While comics such as Little Nemo in Slumberland (1902-1914), Calvin and Hobbes (1985-1995) and the long-running The Katzenjammer Kids (1912-1949) were produced in weekly, if not daily, newspapers, picturebooks and graphic novels such as Raymond Briggs's (1978) The Snowman, Maurice Sendak's (1963) Where the Wild Things Are, or even the Dr Seuss corpus might be regarded as more 'singular' publication events. This is not to suggest that picturebooks are somehow more valuable, but only to draw attention to some of the material specificities surrounding each genre. While both genres have spawned their own kinds of adaptations, spin-offs and readerships, there are several links between them that might fruitfully be considered. For example, in relation to audience (a focus in Lewis), comics and picturebooks have frequently been associated with younger readers, despite the two being very flexible media that can be used to address readers of all ages on any topic. When such assumptions are dominant, this is usually related to perceptions of what might be 'appropriate' content. As the artist and illustrator Shaun Tan commented in an interview, 'I'm not sure if there is a conflict across different audiences, but like to think that