What+is+a+picture+storybook?

===What is a picture storybook? How is a picture storybook different than a picture book or an illustrated book? What are some important considerations when selecting picture storybooks? === Click the Edit button (far right side of screen) and paste your content in the space below. Make sure to Save changes before exiting.

**Picture Story Books**

Picture storybooks are books that combine pictures, or illustrations, and text, or writing, to tell a story. In picture storybooks, the illustrations set the mood and setting of the written story, provide clues about what will happen later in the story (foreshadowing), help develop the characters, and expand on or enhance the written story. In some picture storybooks, the illustrations may include an entire story of their own within the larger, written story. In a well written picture storybook, it is not possible to fully understand the story from what is written or from the illustrations alone. The text and illustrations play an equally important role in telling the story. Examples of picture storybooks are Mary Ann Hoberman’s //The Seven Silly Eaters//, Mini Grey’s //Traction Man is Here!// , and Susanna Pitzer’s //Not Afraid of Dogs//.

//The Seven Silly Eaters// is a perfect example of how text and illustrations work together to tell a story. The jacket and title page give children immediate clues about the story. The jacket depicts seven children happily eating seven different foods. The title page provides the setting, where we see a young couple admiring a house they have just purchased. The passage of time is reflected in the illustrations by the arrival of additional children, the changing seasons, and small details like a cat that has kittens. The written text creates a rhythm that moves the reader through the book. The characters are developed simply – each child is defined solely by what food they will eat. Mrs. Peter’s growing frustration is depicted in the text – “Mrs. Peters was a wreck” and enhanced by an accompanying illustration of Mrs. Peters having a melt down in a chaotic kitchen surrounded by her attempts to keep up with each of her children’s particular tastes. The book culminates with the children combining their special foods to create a birthday cake for Mrs. Peters, and her joy at the surprise of it is aptly depicted in a two page spread where she dance around with each child as they tell her what part their special food played in the cake. The book ends with the entire family eating the same food – the cake.

//Traction Man is Here// tells the relatively simple story of a boy who receives the action figure he adores as a Christmas present. The jacket shows Traction Man in his box with a boy’s hand grasping it. The title page shows the boy’s handwritten note to Santa requesting the toy, and a picture drawn by the boy of the figure. We know from the perspective of the jacket illustration and the title page that this story will be told from the boy’s perspective. The story is one of Traction Man’s varied adventures they occur within the boy’s house and yard. The text tells the story as if it is a comic book or cartoon narration, showcasing the boy’s imagined adventures for his hero. The pictures make clear that the boy is using common household items and situations – a sneaker as car, doing the dishes, taking a bath – in a fantastical way. The text tells us “Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush are in the Giant Intergalactic People Mover” … “They are put into suspended animation for some of the Journey” while the illustrations make clear the boy and his family are on their way to grandma’s house, and that they fall asleep on the way.

//Not Afraid of Dogs// addresses a common childhood fear – dogs. The jacket gives readers the first visual evidence of how afraid Daniel is of dogs, showing him clinging to a lamp post to avoid a group of dogs being walked by a woman and her daughter. The story begins by telling about Daniel’s fear of dogs and his actions to avoid them. Although in the text Daniel explains that he is not afraid of dogs, the illustrations make clear that he is terrified of dogs. This is accomplished by showing him running away while casting nervous glances over his shoulder whenever he encounters a dog, while the dogs he seeks to avoid are completely uninterested in him and posing no threat. When an aunt leaves her dog with the family for a few days, Daniel hides from it until one night a thunderstorm upsets the dog, and Daniel and the dog meet up in the bathroom. At first Daniel and the dog both try to hide – Daniel from the dog, the dog from the thunder – in the bathtub. Daniel bravely holds the dog and realizes that it won’t hurt him. The story ends with Daniel comforting the dog, congratulating himself on being brave, and deciding he does, in fact, like dogs.

Some considerations in choosing picture storybooks are characterization, theme, plot, and style. Because small children have shorter attention spans, all of these factors should be simple. In the books described above the children are defined by one trait – picky eater, imaginative play with an action figure, and fear of dogs. Themes should be ones readily recognizable to children – such as resistance to trying new foods, the longing for a particular toy and imaginative play, and fear of dogs. Plot must develop quickly. In each of the stories above, the plot – a family of picky eaters, receiving a much anticipated toy, and overcoming the fear of dogs – is clear from the jacket, title page, and first pages. The style of the writing should capture and hold a child’s attention. Hoberman accomplishes this through a flowing verse, Grey through brief, child written comic book style narration, and Pitzer by telling a story that often conflicts with the visual evidence. Other, more practical considerations, include the durability of the binding, the choice of font used (is it reader friendly? does it fit with the theme?), and size. Is the book too small or two large for its subject and or audience?

**Activity (grades 7-8)** Over the next week, pick out three or four picture storybooks and read them. Pick the one you feel represents a picture storybook that will appeal to small children. Write a one page essay. This essay should include the following:


 * 1) A brief summary of the book that you chose.
 * 2) How the illustrations are necessary to understanding the story.
 * 3) Why the written text will capture and hold a child’s attention.
 * 4) Why the theme is appropriate to, or will appeal to, young children.
 * 5) How the plot and characters are developed in a way that are appropriate to young children.

**Sources** Ehlert, Lois. //Color Farm//. New York: Harper Collins. 1990.

Grey, Mini. //Traction Man is Here//. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. //The Seven Silly Eaters//. Illus. Marla Frazee. San Diego: Gulliver Books Harcourt Inc. 1997.

Huck, Charlotte S. and Susan Helper and Janet Hickman. //Children’s Literature in the Elementary School.// 5th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. 1993.

Lee, Suzy. //Wave//. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 2008.

Norton, Donna E. //Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature//. 7th ed. Pearson: N.J. 2007.

Pitzer, Susanna. //Not Afraid of Dogs.// Illus. Larry Day. New York: Walker & Company. 2006.