Picture book

For other uses, see Picture Book (disambiguation). tend to have two functions in the lives of children: they
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives are first read to young children by adults, and then chil-
dren read them themselves once they begin learning to
read.
Some picture books are published with content aimed at
older children or even adults. Tibet: Through the Red Box,
by Peter Sis, is one example of a picture book aimed at
an adult audience.

2 Subgenres
There are several subgenres among picture books, includ-
ing alphabet books, concept books, early readers, nursery
rhymes, and toy books. Board books - picture books pub-
lished on a hard cardboard - are often intended for small
children to use and play with; cardboard is used for the
cover as well as the pages, and is more durable than pa-
per. Another category is movable books, such as pop-up
books, which employ paper engineering to make parts of
the page pop up or stand up when pages are opened. The
Wheels on the Bus, by Paul O. Zelinsky, is one example
of a bestseller pop-up picture book.
Peter Rabbit with his family, from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by
Beatrix Potter, 1902
3 Early picture books
in a book format, most often aimed at young children.
The images in picture books use a range of media such as
oil paints, acrylics, watercolor, and pencil, among others.
Two of the earliest books with something like the format
picture books still retain now were Heinrich Hoffmann's
Struwwelpeter from 1845 and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of
Peter Rabbit from 1902. Some of the best-known picture
books are Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings,
Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat, and Maurice Sendak's
Where the Wild Things Are. The Caldecott Medal (es-
tablished 1938) and Kate Greenaway Medal (established
1955) are awarded annually for illustrations in children’s
literature. From the mid-1960s several children’s litera-
ture awards include a category for picture books.

A reprint of the 1658 illustrated Orbis Pictus

1 Target audiences
Picture books are most often aimed at young children,
and while some may have very basic language especially
designed to help children develop their reading skills,
most are written with vocabulary a child can understand
but not necessarily read. For this reason, picture books
Orbis Pictus from 1658 by John Amos Comenius was the
earliest illustrated book specifically for children. It is
something of a children’s encyclopedia and is illustrated
by woodcuts.[1] A Little Pretty Pocket-Book from 1744
by John Newbery was the earliest illustrated storybook
marketed as pleasure reading in English.[2] The German

1
2 4 EARLY TO MID 20TH CENTURY

children’s books Struwwelpeter (literally “Shaggy-Peter”) Barker, Willy Pogany, Edmund Dulac, W. Heath Robin-
from 1845 by Heinrich Hoffmann and Max and Moritz son, Howard Pyle, or Charles Robinson. Generally, these
from 1865 by Wilhelm Busch were among the earliest illustrated books had eight to twelve pages of illustrated
examples of modern picturebook design. Collections of pictures or plates accompanying a classic children’s sto-
Fairy tales from early nineteenth century, like those by rybook.
the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen were
sparsely illustrated, but beginning in the middle of the
century, collections were published with images by illus-
trators like Gustave Doré, Fedor Flinzer, George Cruik-
shank,[3] Vilhelm Pedersen, Ivan Bilibin and John Bauer.
Andrew Lang’s twelve Fairy Books published between
1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among others Henry J.
Ford and Lancelot Speed. Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adven-
tures in Wonderland, illustrated by John Tenniel in 1866
was one of the first highly successful entertainment books
for children.

Cover of Babes in the Wood, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott

Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published

Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
illustration by John Tenniel, 1866
Toy books were introduced in the latter half of the 19th
century, small paper bound books with art dominating
the text. These had a larger proportion of pictures to
words than earlier books, and many of their pictures
were in color.[4] The best of these were illustrated by
the triumvirate of English illustrators Randolph Calde-
cott, Walter Crane, and Kate Greenaway whose asso-
ciation with colour printer and wood engraver Edmund
Evans produced books of great quality.[5] In the late 4 Early to mid 20th century
19th and early 20th century a small number of American
and British artists made their living illustrating children’s L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was pub-
books, like Rose O'Neill, Arthur Rackham, Cicely Mary lished in 1900, and Baum created a number of other suc-
in 1902 to immediate success. Peter Rabbit was Potter’s
first of many The Tale of..., including The Tale of Squir-
rel Nutkin, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Tom
Kitten, and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, to name
but a few which were published in the years leading up to
1910. Swedish author Elsa Beskow wrote and illustrated
some 40 children’s stories and picture books between
1897–1952. Andrew Lang’s twelve Fairy Books pub-
lished between 1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among
others Henry J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. In the US, il-
lustrated stories for children appeared in magazines like
Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan,
Woman’s Home Companion intended for mothers to read
to their children. Some cheap periodicals appealing to
the juvenile reader started to appear in the early 20th
century, often with uncredited illustrations. Helen Ban-
nerman's Little Black Sambo was published in 1899, and
went through numerous printings and versions during the
first decade of the 20th century. Little Black Sambo was
part of a series of small-format books called The Dumpy
Books for Children, published by British publisher Grant
Richards between 1897 and 1904.

Title page from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
from 1900
cessful Oz-oriented books in the period from 1904 to
1920. Frank Baum wanted to create a modern day fairy
tale since he loved fairy tales as a child. In 1910, Ameri-
can illustrator and author Rose O'Neill's first children’s
book was published, The Kewpies and Dottie Darling.
More books in the Kewpie series followed: The Kew-
pies Their Book in 1912 and The Kewpie Primer 1916.
In 1918, Johnny Gruelle wrote and illustrated Raggedy
Ann and in 1920 followed up with Raggedy Andy Sto-
ries. Other Gruelle books included Beloved Belinda, Ed-
die Elephant, and Friendly Fairies.
In 1913, Cupples & Leon published a series of 15 All
About books, emulating the form and size of the Beatrix
Potter books, All About Peter Rabbit, All About The Three
Bears, All About Mother Goose, and All About Little Red
Hen. The latter, along with several others, was illus-
trated by Johnny Gruelle. Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats
was published in 1928 and became the first picture book
to receive a Newbery Medal runner-up award. Wanda
Gág followed with The Funny Thing in 1929, Snippy and
Snappy in 1931, and then The ABC Bunny in 1933, which
garnered her a second Newbery runner-up award.
In 1931, Jean de Brunhoff's first Babar book, The Story
Of Babar was published in France, followed by The Trav-
els of Babar then Babar The King. In 1930, Marjorie
Flack authored and illustrated Angus and the Ducks, fol- Because of the success of The Cat In The Hat an indepen-
lowed in 1931 by Angus And The Cats, then in 1932, dent publishing company was formed, called Beginner
Angus Lost. Flack authored another book in 1933, The Books. The second book in the series was nearly as
3
Story about Ping, illustrated by Kurt Wiese. The Elson
Basic Reader was published in 1930 and introduced the
public to Dick and Jane. In 1930 The Little Engine That
Could was published, illustrated by Lois Lenski. In 1954
it was illustrated anew by George and Doris Hauman. It
spawned an entire line of books and related parapherna-
lia and coined the refrain “I think I can! I think I can!".
In 1936, Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand was pub-
lished, illustrated by Robert Lawson. Ferdinand was the
first picture book to crossover into pop culture. Walt Dis-
ney produced an animated feature film along with corre-
sponding merchandising materials. In 1938 to Dorothy
Lathrop was awarded the first Caldecott Medal for her
illustrations in Animals of the Bible, written by Helen
Dean Fish. Thomas Handforth won the second Caldecott
Medal in 1939, for Mei Li, which he also wrote. Ludwig
Bemelmans' Madeline was published in 1939 and was se-
lected as a Caldecott Medal runner-up, today known as a
Caldecott Honor book.
In 1942, Simon & Schuster began publishing the Little
Golden Books, a series of inexpensive, well illustrated,
high quality children’s books. The eighth book in the se-
ries, The Poky Little Puppy, is the top selling children’s
book of all time.[6] Many of the books were bestsellers[7]
including The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, Scuffy the Tug-
boat, The Little Red Hen. Several of the illustrators for
the Little Golden Books later became staples within the
picture book industry. Corinne Malvern, Tibor Gergely,
Gustaf Tenggren, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry,
Eloise Wilkin, and Garth Williams. In 1947 Goodnight
Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated
by Clement Hurd was published. By 1955, such pic-
ture book classics as Make Way for Ducklings, The Lit-
tle House, Curious George, and Eloise, had all been pub-
lished. In 1955 the first book was published in the Miffy
series by Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna.
In 1937, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel,) at the time a
successful graphic artist and humorist, published his first
book for children, And to Think That I Saw It on Mul-
berry Street. It was immediately successful, and Seuss
followed up with The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cub-
bins in 1938, followed by The King’s Stilts in 1939, and
Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940, all published by Random
House. From 1947 to 1956 Seuss had twelve children’s
picture books published. Dr. Seuss created The Cat in
the Hat in reaction to a Life magazine article by John
Hersey in lamenting the unrealistic children in school
primers books. Seuss rigidly limited himself to a small
set of words from an elementary school vocabulary list,
then crafted a story based upon two randomly selected
words—cat and hat. Up until the mid-1950s, there was
a degree of separation between illustrated educational
books and illustrated picture books. That changed with
The Cat in the Hat in 1957.
4 7
popular, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, published in
1958. Other books in the series were Sam and the Fire-
fly (1958), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), Are You My
Mother? (1960), Go, Dog. Go! (1961), Hop on Pop
(1963), and Fox in Socks (1965). Creators in the Beginner
Book series were Stan and Jan Berenstain, P. D. Eastman,
Roy McKie, and Helen Palmer Geisel (Seuss’ wife). The
Beginner Books dominated the children’s picture book
market of the 1960s.
Between 1957 and 1960 Harper & Brothers published a
series of sixteen “I Can Read” books. Little Bear was the
first of the series. Written by Else Holmelund Minarik
and illustrated by a then relatively unknown Maurice
Sendak, the two collaborated on three other “I Can Read”
books over the next three years. From 1958 to 1960,
Syd Hoff wrote and illustrated four “I Can Read” books:
Danny and the Dinosaur, Sammy The Seal, Julius, and
Oliver.
5 Mid to late 20th century
In 1949 American writer and illustrator Richard Scarry
began his career working on the Little Golden Books se-
ries. His Best Word Book Ever from 1963 has sold 4 mil-
lion copies. In total Scarry wrote and illustrated more
than 250 books and more than 100 million of his books
have been sold worldwide.[8] In 1963, Where The Wild
Things Are by American writer and illustrator Maurice
Sendak was published. It has been adapted into other me-
dia several times, including an animated short in 1973,
a 1980 opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film
adaptation directed by Spike Jonze. By 2008 it had sold
over 19 million copies worldwide.[9] American illustrator
and author Gyo Fujikawa created more than 50 books
between 1963 and 1990. Her work has been translated
into 17 languages and published in 22 countries. Her
most popular books, Babies and Baby Animals, have sold
over 1.7 million copies in the U.S.[10] Fujikawa is rec-
ognized for being the earliest mainstream illustrator of
picture books to include children of many races in her
work.[11][12][13]
Most of the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jans-
son were novels, but several Moomin picture books were
also published between 1952 and 1980, like Who Will
Comfort Toffle? (1960) and The Dangerous Journey
(1977). The Barbapapa series of books by Annette Tison
and Talus Taylor was published in France in the 1970s.
They feature the shapeshifting pink blob Barbapapa and
his numerous colorful children. The Mr. Men series of
40-some books by English author and illustrated Roger
Hargreaves started in 1971. The Snowman by Raymond
Briggs was published in Britain in 1978 and was entirely
wordless. It was made into an Oscar nominated animated
cartoon that has been shown every year since on British
television.
REFERENCES
Japanese author and illustrator Mitsumasa Anno has pub-
lished a number of picture books beginning in 1968 with
Mysterious Pictures. In his “Journey” books a tiny char-
acter travels through depictions of the culture of var-
ious countries. Everyone Poops was first published in
Japan in 1977, written and illustrated by the prolific chil-
dren’s author Tarō Gomi. It has been translated into
several languages. Australian author Margaret Wild has
written more than 40 books since 1984 and won sev-
eral awards. In 1987 the first book was published in
the Where’s Wally? (known as Where’s Waldo? in the
United States and Canada) series by the British illustrator
Martin Handford. The books were translated into many
languages and the franchise also spawned a TV series, a
comic strip and a series of video games. Since 1989 over
20 books have been created in the Elmer the Patchwork
Elephant series by the British author David McKee. They
have been translated in 40 languages and adapted into a
children’s TV series.
6 Awards
In 1938, the American Library Association (ALA) be-
gan presenting annually the Caldecott Medal to the most
distinguished children’s book illustration published in the
year. The Caldecott Medal was established as a sis-
ter award to the ALA’s Newbery Medal, which was
awarded to a children’s books “for the most distin-
guished American children’s book published the previous
year” and presented annually beginning in 1922. During
the mid-forties to early-fifties honorees included Marcia
Brown, Barbara Cooney, Roger Duvoisin, Berta and
Elmer Hader, Robert Lawson, Robert McCloskey, Dr.
Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire,
Leo Politi, Tasha Tudor, and Leonard Weisgard.
The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United
Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children’s illustra-
tor, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to
an outstanding work of illustration in children’s litera-
ture. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library
and Information Professionals (CILIP). Since 1965 the
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth literature
prize) includes a category for picture books. The IBBY
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration has been
awarded since 1966. The Boston Globe-Horn Book
Award, first presented in 1967, includes a category for
picture books. In 2006, the ALA started awarding the
Geisel Award, named after Dr. Seuss, to the most distin-
guished beginning reader book. The award is presented
to both the author and illustrator, in “literary and artistic
achievements to engage children in reading.”
7 References
[1] Hunt, p. 217
 5

[2] Hunt, p. 668

[3] Hunt, p. 221

[4] Whalley, p.

[5] Hunt, p. 674

[6] according to a 2001 list of bestselling children’s hardback

books compiled by Publishers Weekly.

[7] Four of the top eight books on the Publishers Weekly list
are Little Golden Books.

[8] New York Times obituary of Richard Scarry

[9] Thornton, Matthew (February 4, 2008) “Wild Things All

Over”. Publishers Weekly

[10] Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 23 April 2007.

[11] Gyo Fujikawa, a Children’s Illustrator Forging the Way,

Dr. Andrea Wyman. Versed, Sept. 2005. URL accessed
21 July 2009.

[12] Penguin Group Diversity. URL accessed 23 April 2007.

[13] Ask Art:Gyo Fujikawa. URL accessed 23 April 2007.

8 Sources
• Kiefer, Barbara Z. (2010). Charlotte Huck’s Chil-
dren’s Literature.New York, McGraw-Hill. ISBN
978-0-07-337856-5

• Ray, Gordon Norton (1991). The Illustrator and the

book in England from 1790 to 1914. New York:
Dover. ISBN 0-486-26955-8. Retrieved 2010-02-
28.

• Hunt, Peter; Sheila Ray (1996). International Com-

panion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature. Lon-
don: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-16812-7. Retrieved
2010-03-01.
• Zielinski, Linda & Stan; “Children’s Picture book
Price Guide”, Chap. 1: Today’s Golden Era Of Pic-
ture books; Flying Moose Books; 2006. ISBN 0-
9779394-0-5

9 External links
• Children’s Picture Book Database at Miami Univer-
sity
• Children’s Picture Book Collection in Malaysia
6 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1 Text
• Picture book Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_book?oldid=676945078 Contributors: William Avery, Oliver Pereira, Zan-
imum, Freechild, Bearcat, Bkell, Gtrmp, Andycjp, The Singing Badger, Joyous!, MakeRocketGoNow, Rfl, AliveFreeHappy, Deborah-
jl, Wareh, Carcharoth, Mandarax, Graham87, Feydey, Ldnew, YurikBot, Pigman, Stephenb, Pseudomonas, GHcool, TheSeer, Phgao,
Icedog, TLSuda, SmackBot, SmartGuy Old, Bluebot, Matchups, Aldaron, Peggysemingson, Valenciano, Msp0, Lionni, Marcus Brute,
Stefan2, The Man in Question, JHunterJ, FairuseBot, Juhachi, WeggeBot, After Midnight, Zalgo, Siawase, Just Chilling, Mutt Lunker,
Turgidson, Robina Fox, Bevkrueger, Pernod, Lucyin, Froid, KConWiki, EagleFan, Spellmaster, Ultraviolet scissor flame, R'n'B, Com-
monsDelinker, J.delanoy, Warut, Knulclunk, RJASE1, VolkovBot, UrbanGrill, SherryLRogers, Mr. Absurd, Alexei9736, Stan Zielinski,
Brianga, Pengyanan, JSpung, Sfan00 IMG, ClueBot, Mild Bill Hiccup, Speed CG, Eeekster, Muhandes, Mentor364, Aitias, DumZiBoT,
Nakiuk, DrCLN, Addbot, AVand, Asphatasawhale, Mentisock, Favonian, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Victoriaearle, THEN WHO WAS
PHONE?, Magog the Ogre, AnomieBOT, Ipatrol, Materialscientist, Capricorn42, Gfadfgfgfhgft, Clarueda, VS6507, Yip manxD, OgreBot,
Pinethicket, Lotje, Mean as custard, EmausBot, GeneralCheese, John of Reading, RenamedUser01302013, Flowerandthegiant, ZéroBot,
Jesseyoung, Ksamp123, Sonicyouth86, ClueBot NG, MMandeville, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, Reddogsix, IluvatarBot, Idiotbooks, Ci-
tationCleanerBot, Denee12345, Snow Blizzard, HullIntegrity, JennRio2394, Alexiszerflin, Delilyanar, Monkbot, Zw6822, Samuelrowland,
Olivier toppin, Olivier toppins, Gigicoll123, KasparBot and Anonymous: 75

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tributors: ? Original artist: ?
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main Contributors: Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here Original artist: User User: on en.wikipedia

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