From Cover to Cover (10 page)

PACE

While patterned language and predictability are especially important in books for two-and three-year-olds, pace is an important feature in picture books for all age levels. The best writing we find in picture-book texts takes advantage of this unique art form by acknowledging what has been called “the drama of turning the page.”

Margaret Wise Brown was so skilled at pacing picture-book texts that she could actually put a great deal of description into her books and still hold the attention of young listeners. To accomplish this, she broke her text up into meaningful segments, filled with words and images that appeal to children’s senses, and used the drama of turning the page to heighten tension. Her book,
The Little Island
(written under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald), for example, deals with an encounter between a kitten, who comes to a small island with people on a picnic, and the island itself. The first ten pages of text are devoted to
a description of the island before the kitten arrives. There are five pages of text dealing with a conversation between the kitten and the island and, after the kitten leaves, five more pages of description of the island by itself again. Notice how the text is broken into segments to create an appropriately undulating pace.

Each page describes a simple action of one of the natural inhabitants of the island. The author could just as easily have put the seals, kingfishers, gulls, and wild strawberries on one page, but instead she took her
time, drawing the description out over four double-page spreads. This has the effect of giving young listeners a sense of natural activity amid the soothing peacefulness of the island.

Due to the manner in which books are manufactured, the number of pages in any hardcover book is always divisible by eight. Most picture books are thirty-two pages long, though we occasionally see picture books that are forty or forty-eight pages. The writer must work within these confines. In the standard thirty-two-page book, there will generally be fifteen or sixteen segments of text. Each of these segments is rather like a chapter in a novel: Something must happen to move the story along or to add to the overall mood of the book. If too much happens in one segment, however, it can throw off the pace of the story. Who hasn’t had the experience of reading aloud to a young child who tires of a particular page before all the text has been read? This may be an indication of poor pacing. For that matter, who hasn’t had the experience of reading a picture book silently to oneself and feeling a strong urge to turn the page before reaching the end of the segment of text? That is definitely an indication of poor pacing! If the text doesn’t hold
your
attention, how do you expect it to hold the attention of a small child?

Think of this when you evaluate picture books. Do the pages seem to turn in the right places? Does the text flow naturally when you read it aloud? How does it sound? Do you notice elements of patterned language? Are there sentence or plot structures that make the story predictable?

PICTURES

Just as writers use sounds, rhythm, and words to express meaning, artists use
visual elements
. Artists must make decisions about
composition
, or how to arrange the elements on each page. They must determine which
medium
will be most effective for their work and which
style
to use. They
take all these factors into consideration, in addition to thinking of the story as a sequence of pictures.

VISUAL ELEMENTS

Visual elements are the components an artist uses in creating a picture: line, shape, texture, color, and value. Most or all these elements are combined into any one picture; however, often one element will dominate an artist’s work.

L
INE

There are only two types of line in art and in nature: straight and curved. These lines may be thick or thin, long or short. They can move in three possible directions: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Artists use directional lines for different effects. When horizontal lines dominate, they give a sense of orderly action that moves from left to right. Dominant vertical lines make a picture look still and static, giving it the photographic effect of a moment captured in time. Diagonal lines suggest spontaneous action and excitement, such as that of a person rolling down a hill. Artists use line to guide the viewer’s eye across the page. They may also use line to point subtly to the objects in a picture they want the viewer to look at.

S
HAPE

By shape we mean a two-dimensional pattern that is a clear representation of an object (realism), a distorted but still recognizable object (abstraction), or a shape that’s an unrecognizable object (nonobjective). Shapes fall into two broad categories: curved or angular. Curved shapes are used to represent objects in nature (people, animals, foliage, the moon, etc.), while angular (especially rectangular) shapes represent artificial, man-made objects (buildings, boxes, trains, books, etc.). Artists
may use curved shapes for man-made objects for a desired purpose. For example, Virginia Lee Burton used curved shapes to paint the house in
The Little House
to characterize it as human and to make it look out of place in an urban environment.

T
EXTURE

Texture is the nature of the surface of shapes in a picture. Texture is best determined by the sense of touch; however, artists can communicate three types of texture visually: smooth (hard), rough, and soft with the medium used to create a picture (oils, pastels, pencil, etc.) or the medium that receives it (textured paper, wood, etc.). Because texture appeals to our tactile sense, it can be used to give a strong sensual feeling to artwork.

C
OLOR

We can speak about color in terms of its
hue
(the name by which we distinguish it, such as “red,” “blue”), its
value
(darkness or lightness of any hue, such as “dark red,” “light blue”), and
chroma
(brightness or intensity).
Achromatic colors
are the shades of gray from white to black, and
monochromatic colors
are the various values of one color.
Primary
colors (red, yellow, and blue) can be mixed with each other to produce
secondary
colors (green, purple, and orange). Together they are divided into two groups.
Complementary
colors are two opposing hues such as red and green or blue and orange, while
analogous
colors are two related hues such as red and orange or green and yellow. In addition, people often speak of colors as
warm
(red, yellow, orange) or
cool
(blue, green).

V
ALUE

Value refers to the lightness or darkness of any color. A hue is mixed with black to give it a darker value or with white (or water) to give it
a lighter value. Value is used in black-and-white illustrations to give a sense of depth and volume. In color artwork it can be used to project a mood or to represent the passage of time. When color artwork shows no variation in value, we describe it as
flat
.

COMPOSITION

An artist must carefully plan how to arrange the visual elements on a page to create the desired mood or effect. This is rarely done without a lot of thought. In fact, if you look carefully at the composition of an illustration, you can generally see several
design principles
at work. While it is entirely possible for an artist to apply any one of the following design principles to all the visual elements in a single picture, it is not necessary for him or her to do so.

D
OMINANCE

Dominance gives a sense of order by drawing the eye to certain reference points in a picture. If there are several shapes in a picture, one will dominate. If there are many colors, one will be more important. Artists create dominance by:

Making more of something.
If an artist wants a rough texture to dominate, for example, he will make more of the surfaces appear to be rough.

Making something larger.
To make a particular shape stand out in a picture, an artist can make it appear a lot bigger than the other shapes.

Making something brighter.
Even a small shape will stand out as dominant if it’s more brightly colored than the shapes around it.

Giving something more value contrast.
Darker objects stand out among light and lighter objects stand out among dark.

B
ALANCE

Balance gives a sense of comfort by making one part of the picture equal the other. A
formal
, or
symmetrical
, balance is one with an even distribution of shapes that would produce a mirrorlike image if the picture were vertically divided into two halves. An
informal
, or
asymmetrical
, balance results from an irregular distribution of shapes—for example, a large shape placed closer to the center of a picture balances a small shape placed closer to the edge. Colors can also be balanced visually: Smaller areas of bright color balance with larger areas of weaker ones.

C
ONTRAST

Contrast adds excitement to a picture by making an abrupt change in a visual element. An artist may contrast thin lines with thick lines, for example, or an angular shape with a rounded one.

G
RADATION

Gradation adds familiarity by reflecting the sorts of gradual change we see in everyday life. A gradation in color shows the gradual change from one color to another, as we see in nature when the sun sets. Gradation in size can give the illusion of depth. Gradation in shape reflects growth and movement.

A
LTERNATION

Alternation establishes a regular pattern by alternating between two or more types of the same element—for example, two thin lines alternating repeatedly with a thick line. In picture books we see this technique used most often in decorative borders. It is also used as pattern in depicting things such as wallpaper, curtains, or clothing. Because it consists of a
regular repeated pattern, a lot of alternation inspires boredom; however, used judiciously, it can have a striking effect.

V
ARIATION

Variation makes an overall composition more complex and engaging by changing elements in line, texture, shape, color, and value.

H
ARMONY

Harmony gives a feeling of subtle change and continuity by repeating any of the visual elements with only a slight variation. Harmony can be used to slow down the pace without becoming static or boring.

U
NITY

Unity makes the pieces of a picture fit together as a whole so that any smaller part of a picture looks like the rest of it. One way to achieve unity is to repeat or echo one element in another part of the picture.

The artistic elements and principles of design work together to express meaning in picture-book illustrations. This may range from a simple representation of characters and action in a story to a deeper psychological interpretation of meaning conveyed through mood and emotions. A critical look at any picture’s components and how they are related will help you to think about an artist’s intent. It will add depth to your evaluation of a picture book. Many reviewers focus on
what
happens in a picture book without paying much attention to
how
it happens. But if you understand the elements and the principles of design, you can begin to think more critically about the art in picture books, and you can articulate your observations.

When you look at an illustration, think about the elements and how they are used. What do you notice about the use of line? Does a
certain type of line dominate? What effect does this have? Why did the artist strive for this effect? What do you notice about shapes? Are they mostly rounded or are they mostly angular? Does one shape dominate a picture? Why do you think the artist wants to draw your attention to this shape? How is texture used? Does it give a distinctive feeling to the scene? What colors are used? Are they warm or cool? Do they express particular emotions, such as anger (red) or serenity (blue)? How are colors balanced in the picture?

As you turn the pages of a picture book, think about the pictures as they relate to one another. Do you notice continuity or variation in the use of elements? How does this reflect the mood or the action in the story? Do the pictures follow a logical or predictable sequence? Is there a natural movement from one page to the next? Is there an overall sense of unity or harmony in the illustrations?

Finally, think about the illustrations as they fit into the book as a whole. How do they relate to the story? Do they complement, extend, or highlight the text? Do they provide crucial details that are not present in the text but are an important part of the story? Do they clarify in such a way that they take the story beyond its words?

I will demonstrate how this sort of evaluation works by using a book that is familiar to almost everyone—
Goodnight Moon
, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. On the surface, it appears to be a simple bedtime story, and yet the fact that it has persisted as a favorite book among several generations of young children suggests that there is more to it. In terms of its writing, it has all the important features mentioned in the discussion of text: patterned language, predictability, and a perfect pace. Add to that Clement Hurd’s magnificent illustrations, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But what exactly is it about the illustrations that make them outstanding? Or are they outstanding? Today, amid the eye-catching new
picture books on the “plateau of high performance,” the illustrations in
Goodnight Moon
seem to be rather plain and humble. But the elements and design principles have not changed: Good art is good art, no matter the era. Let’s apply our understanding of visual elements and composition to Hurd’s well-loved and familiar pictures to see what they reveal.