In Defense of Picture Books

So I’ve titled this blogpost “In Defense of Picture Books,” because I think picture books need defending. To be clear, I don’t think that there’s anyone actively combating picture books. I strongly suspect that the number of people with a personal vendetta against this genre is very, very low. But I do think that picture books are often overlooked and that people tend to dismiss them too easily without appreciating how wonderful these books are. So I’ve decided to do a video talking about how great picture books are.

But first, a brief history of picture books.

The origin of picture books can be found in medieval illuminated manuscripts. Often religious works, these manuscripts are when we first see bound books that have pictures in them. Then in 1658, the first illustrated children’s book is published. Titled Orbis Pictus (or Visible World in Pictures), it was written 
by Czech educator John Amos Comenius. Originally in Latin and German, the illustrations were woodcuttings and the book was similar to a children’s encyclopedia.

Also in the 17^th century, we have John Locke, the British philosopher. His views, especially his book Some Thoughts Concerning Education (published in 1693) influenced how the western world viewed children and their development. Locke believed in tabula rasa (or blank slate), the idea that children’s minds are empty at birth. Lock also thought that children were rational creatures. Therefore, according to Locke, early experience and education were very important. He believed it was imperative for children to enjoy learning and to be engaged in what they were learning. One way for this to happen, he said, is through books. A child should have easy, pleasant books with pictures in them. These type of books should have virtues in them for this is how children can develop from being a blank slate to being a rational adult.

On the other side of the world, during the Edo period (about 1661-1748), Japan had akahon, or “red books.” These were illustrated booklets for children. They were filled with folk tales, fairy tales, and children’s stories. Because these booklets were often a child’s first introduction to literature, they had lots of pictures and easy language.

That said, it wasn’t until the 1800s, that there started to be this concept of illustrated, bound books for children. These books were primarily concerned morals and fables and lessons and nursery rhymes and fairy tales and didn’t have quite the same “story-telling” element we typically expect when we hear the word picture books.

The 20^th century, however, is when we really begin to see picture books as we think of them today. One notable example is Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, published in 1902. And there are several reasons for this.

In the early 1900s there was a lot of social reform going on, and these reforms included the welfare of children. There’s this new emphasis on promoting children’s development and growth.

Additionally, this is around the time when Andrew Carnegie begins to donate money for the construction of libraries. The man Carnegie chooses to oversee this project, James Bertram, has criteria for these libraries. One of which is that these libraries need to have a children’s reading room.

Also, during the 20^th century, two awards for children’s books are introduced: the Newbery Award in 1922 and the Caldecott Award in 1937. These awards bring more prestige to children’s literature.

Post World War II, however, really brings about a boom in children’s literature. With the increase of children being born after World War II, there is a new, large demand for children’s books. While themes of picture books have differed throughout the years, for example, the 1950s saw an emphasis on idealistic picture books while the 1960s had more realistic topics, picture books have remained an integral element of literature.

One really cool benefit that picture books provide is that they help children see that books are not just for grown-ups or that it’s something only adults can do. Books are for everyone, even the youngest among us. Additionally, when someone can’t quite read yet or they are learning how to read, picture books can be a lot more exciting than books that only have words in them. Through picture books, children start to realize that reading can be enjoyable and that book aren’t boring. Picture books also help foster children’s imaginations and their creativity. One great example, is It Looked Like Spilt Milk, which shows how one thing can look like a lot of other things.

Beyond that, picture books also support language and math skills in children.

They not only introduce children with a broader vocabulary and richer language, picture books also provide complex grammatical formats. Or in other words, picture books allow children to become familiar with diverse sentence structures. One example I personally really like is The Mitten by Jan Brett. It does a masterful job of showing complicated sentences.

In terms of mathematics, one area in which picture books help children is with their geometric and spatial reasoning. The pictures often allow children to see certain settings from different angles, as well as see the same scene from a different distance. For example, in Virginia Burton’s book The Little House, we see the house get smaller and smaller the more skyscrapers surround it. Moreover, picture books can help with addition and subtraction. In Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, children are introduced to the idea that if you have a collection of objects, but then you take some of these objects out, you have less and, if you take all of them out, you can end up with nothing. Also, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown has a line that says, “Goodnight nobody,” which presents this idea that nothing (or zero) can exist.

Picture books also help children start to be able to identify sequence and these books help them build their predictive and inference skills. The pictures aid them in figuring out what is going on in the story and what might happen. Many picture books have a traditional story structure, a beginning, a middle, and an end. In many pictures books children are beginning to become acquainted with Act 1 of a story where the reader is introduced to the characters; Act 2 where there’s the rising action; and finally Act 3, where we see the climax and resolution. In The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, there’s the beginning where the train breaks down, the middle where the characters stranded and several other trains refuse to help, and the ending when a train finally does rescue the characters.

Another area that picture books help in children’s development is with their social-emotional skills. Because there are pictures in picture books, children can see a variety of people and see different cultures and see different ways of life, which can be much more impactful than simply hearing words spoken to them.

Picture books also present difficult concepts and ideas to children, who might have trouble understanding some of the sadder or unpleasant parts of life. One really great example is Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie DePaola. In this book, it talks about a grandfather who has a stroke and is no longer able to engage with his grandson like he used to. This story does a beautiful job of showing children that sometimes bad things happen to our older relatives and our loved ones, but that doesn’t mean that the love we have is gone.

Speaking of loved ones, picture books provide a great way for children to bond with their caregivers. Having brought this up, I do want to highlight that if you as an adult are reading with young children, it is important to be engaged with them and the book. Let them spend time looking at the pictures, allow them to go back to another part of the story, ask them questions. Talk about the illustrations and what’s happening in the story. Engaging with them really helps them to develop literacy skills and it helps bring the adult and child closer together.

Finally, picture books help children know and recognize culture references and common myths and folklore. For those of us in the Western World, or at least in the United States, we’re familiar with the stories of Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk and many of Aesop’s Fables. We know who King Arthur is and who Zeus and Hercules are. Picture books can introduce children to these timeless legends and stories, which increases their general knowledge as well as their ability to engage with the society and culture around them.

And you know what’s really awesome about all these ways that picture books help children? Is that these books, or at least the good ones, they do all of this without being preachy or boring or being painfully obvious with what they’re trying to do or teach. Let’s go back to Blueberries for Sal and how it can help children start to see the idea of subtraction. Robert McCloskey doesn’t say something like, “If you have a bucket of blueberries and you take some of them out of the bucket, there are fewer blueberries in the bucket now.” No, that’s boring. Instead, Sal is eating blueberries out of her mother’s bucket and her mother tells her to run along because otherwise there will be no more blueberries left. It just subtly brings up this concept that taking something away will mean there is less than the original.

This helps highlight just how complex picture books can be. They are often carefully created works of literature. The illustrations aren’t just an afterthought or pictures randomly added to a text. Both text and illustrations are woven together to make a story that’s appealing to children, and often adults, and these books, even if that wasn’t the goal of the author or illustrator, do so much to benefit children’s development and growth.

Picture books aren’t just dry boring textbooks blandly chock full of life lessons nor are they simply pretty plain postcard pictures. They are works of art that can positively change a young person’s life.

I love picture books. I think they’re wonderful and amazing and I hope you do too.