Children's Picturebooks: The Art of Visual Storytelling Paperback – February 8, 2012

Nothing like it. Great as a survey, intro, & resource for people interested in learning more about the history, variation, and industry of picture books. Fantastic purchase all around.

Of all the books I have found on the subject this has been the most complete, interesting, and helpful. I appreciate the coverage of historical shifts and wonderful visuals.

It's just perfect, it was as expected and as described in the picture. No complains so far. It is great material to begin with.

Reviewer LINDA ROBINSON(Michigan) did a superb & insightful review on this book giving it FIVE STARS. She mentioned FONT SIZE near the end of her review & looks forward to the book being available for KINDLE & ebooks so she could read the book with ease. For one, given the subject of this book: the authors should have known better! USE OF EMPTY SPACE is a given in ADVERTISING...but not at the sacrifice of the MESSAGE. The FONT SIZE for the TEXT & for the ILLUSTRATIONS borders on the absurd and to me is a very strange & major flaw for a book otherwise of such timely insight! I highly recommend that you read Review by LINDA ROBINSON(Michigan) in conjunction with my red flag re font sizes here. Apparently she did not purchase the book but she is very conscientious in her review. I DID purchase the book. And I need to know what it says...so I am suffering along even using a MAGNIFYING GLASS at times & writing profuse notes in the space the authors left available by robbing the text & notes on illustrations of FONT SIZE. Given this warning...that you may want to wait for this book to be available for ebook reading, the authors have done a brilliant job & the book is superb.

10 stars. I will buy this book when the coin is in my pocket. Picturebooks are not children's illustrated books. Picturebooks are a singular genre, people who make picturebooks are picturebook makers. This hybrid realm of the book arts is new and developing according to the authors. Think of Chinese iconography, where each character tells a story. Children learn about the world with pictures first, then words. In an increasingly digital world, we will learn the skills of "looking, appreciating and interpreting visual material, including its design." Just as we did when first viewing a reindeer on a cave wall. Today's picturebooks can be metafictive, wherein the book fabric and materiality contribute to the storytelling, and there are "mischievous subversions of the normal conventions." I put holds on as many of the examples shown as I could find in our library system. Although there are well-loved/known picturebook makers in the global arts, not all are translated, or available for an American audience. I was thrilled to find a plate of a book by Shaun Tan, whose "The Arrival" took our breath away when we first touched it at Everybody Reads! in Lansing, MI. With a quick thorough history of the visual arts and printing in the front of the book, this is a keeper with value for a lifetime. Be warned: the text is small. Wish it was available as a digital book, so I could read the words with ease.

I am just learning about how to conceive and construct children's books. I found this title listed as a textbook reference for a college class, and it is everything I was looking for. It begins by exploring what kinds of stories work for children and how to construct them. My favorite sections are those on illustrating because this is where I need the most help with my projects. The entire process from start to finish is covered in this book, and it will be helpful to anyone thinking about writing a story to those who are well underway in their project. Even those who have published will find value in many sections of this book.

I bought this as a gift for my husband and he loved it. This is not actually a children's book but rather a very interesting book of history of the art illustrations we find in the children's books and which are the most significant part of the books.I love it too.

A bit outdated but interesting none the less.

This book has simply put me into orbit about an online course I am studying on Children's Book Ilustration.A very informative book that has opened my eyes about illustrating. I know I will always keep it as it has reassured me that you do not have to be able to draw everything anatomically correctly for example, and that flights of the imagination are an absolutely vital ingredient to the child's book.Also it promotes the total need for sketchbook work where the illustrator over time can develop his own personal visual style....not that a defined style is essential but it allows artists to play on paper and that is where the joy of creativity and good ideas lie.

just plain very good

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a thorough study and analysis of children's picturebooks from their history and development, to artists', publishers', educators' and - of course - children's approach to picturebooks.The book - a 360° coverage of the subject matter - is well written, well thought and constructed, rich of samples and bibliography, and it comes with a nice layout and very good quality print.

Ein ganz tolles Buch, Wissen wird hier mit tollen Bildern vermittelt und verknüpft. Eine wahre Freude und man muss immer wieder rein schauen.

It is a compilation of different illustrators. It actually needs more information on the actual illustration process... not as helpful as I thought it would be.