1. Chapter 4 Artists and Their Illustrations
Guiding Questions:
How do teachers evaluate illustrations in children’s literature?
How do artists develop literary elements?
What kinds of media are used in children’s literature?
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Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.1

2. Evaluating Illustrations
The use of visual elements should complement the literary elements and the text (When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry…)
The design of the illustrations should convey a sense of unity
The artistic style should match the author’s literary style
The illustrations should be accurate in historical, cultural, and geographical detail
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.2

3. Artists Use Visual Elements
Line
Used to suggest direction, motion, energy, and mood
Lines can be thin or wide, light or heavy, feathery or jagged, straight or curved.
Vertical – Lack movement
Horizontal – Calm, sleep, stability, absence of strife
Connecting horizontal and two vertical lines – Feeling of solid , safe place
Diagonal – Loss of balance, uncontrolled motion
Triangle on horizontal base – Safety
Jagged lines - Breakdown and destruction – danger
Curved lines – Less definite and predictable.
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.3

4. Artists Use Visual Elements
Shape
Lines join and intersect to suggest shapes and each carries a different connotation
Intersecting lines suggest shapes, and areas of color meet to produce shapes.
Organic shapes, irregular and curving, are common in nature and in handmade objects.
Geometric shapes have mechanical origins – exact, rigid and often rectangular
Organic shapes – convey anything from receptivity and imagination to frightening unpredictability.
Geometic shapes – connote complexity, stability, assertion, or severity.
Shape can also show mood.
Symmetrical shapes – rectangles, squares, circles, ovals – calm and solid
Asymmetrical shapes – unbalanced, irregular, and dynamic.
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th Edition. ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Artists Use Visual Elements
Color
Creates sensuous and emotional appeal
Color – Creates mood and emotions.
Reds, yellow, and oranges – Warm or hot connotations. Fire, sun, blood.- friendliness, high energy, anger.
Blues, greens, some violets – Cool colors – air, water, plant life - suggest moods and emotions from tranquility to melancholy.
Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th Edition. ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. Artists Use Visual Elements
Texture
Created by line, color, and shape to make the reader want to touch the page
Line, color, and shape is used to create textural imagery.
When children touch rough bark, smooth skin, sharp thorns, and soft fur, they become able to imagine how something feels without touching it.
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th Edition. ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Perspective
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th Edition. ©2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. Organizing the Visual Elements
Most formal
Text placed opposite illustrations on adjacent pages
Formal
Text positioned above or beneath illustrations
Informal
Text shaped with irregular boundaries to fit inside, between, around, and beside illustrations
Very informal
Text combined in two or more of these arrangements
Most informal
Absence of text
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.4

9. Artistic Media used in Children’s Books
Lines and washes
Watercolors, acrylics, pastels, and oils
Woodcuts
Collage
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.5

10. Outstanding Illustrators of Children’s Books
Barbara Cooney
Tomie dePaola
Leo and Diane Dillon
Ezra Jack Keats
Robert McCloskey
Alice and Martin Provensen
Maurice Sendak
Chris Van Allsburg
David Wiesner
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.6

11. Viewer’s Response Approach
Respond
Reflection
Research
Revisit
Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child: 8e ©2004, 2007, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN:
4.7