In a Children’s book, Illustrations are as important as the story itself. It is the first impression of the story which the kids will make about the book. You may notice kids around you, before purchasing a book, the first thing they will look at are the illustrations in them, and then they will begin to read it. The illustrations assist the children in understanding the story better.
The kids also pick up things which are illustrated in the scene to make a sequence of the story. And that’s the reason publishers and authors give a lot of importance to putting illustrations in their books. Young kids cannot fully understand a story just by reading words, they do need pictures to help them understand the scene and the story better.
From a sales perspective also, a great written children book story may not get the deserved attention in a book store but a wonderfully illustrated book will definitely get the attention from children and their guardians thus increasing the sales.
Role of Children book illustrations in development of children
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Illustrations help children develop their analytical skills and ability to visualize.
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Children learn to appreciate art at a younger age.
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Children learn to interpret things, situations, emotions through the illustrations.
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Children learn to imagine as they move from one page to another. After looking at page 1, they will have their own imagination for page 2.
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Children learn to investigate the details and ask questions which further enhances their knowledge on various aspects of life and world.
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Illustrations help children develop their Vocabulary as they read and see the same objects.
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Illustrations are rich in expression and they help children understand the moral values, family-relationships and other social aspects better.
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Illustrations in a story book makes kids more independent as they are able to understand the story better with pictures themselves.
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Kids learn about their world through the illustrations. Indeed the first lesson is indeed through illustrations only, for example when they begin to learn the alphabets, the illustrated objects are as important as the alphabet itself.
A good illustration for a children’s book
For a beginner who wants to illustrate a children’s book, it’s important that he understands the importance of illustrations in a picture book before learning any technique or skill. Once an illustrator understands the expectation of the readers and the publishers, he qualifies the first requisite of a good children’s book illustrator. It is advisable that you do your research and check out some of the best children’s book illustrations for inspiration
. Have a look at some classic children book illustrator’s portfolios. All of them will show you some common attributes which a good illustration should possess. Larger than life characters and expressions is one very important quality of a good children’s book illustration. Illustrations must be able to communicate the message in the story clearly. They should have details and be highly engaging for kids. And later comes the sketching and the coloring technique which varies for everyone and all of them are equally loved.
This week I have great pleasure in introducing you to Emma Middleton who is here to discuss illustrations in picture books as tools for analysis, enjoyment and interpretation.
Emma is a picture book author, illustrator, children’s performer and former ballerina who lives near Noosa, Queensland. After a career in performing arts, during which time she danced for the Vienna Ballet, she returned to Australia to direct and teach at The Brighton Dance Academy.
