Picture book
Encyclopedia
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives 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.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
(established 1938) and Kate Greenaway Medal
(established 1955) are awarded annually for illustrations in children's literature. From the mid-1960s several children's literature awards include a category for picture books.
There are several subgenres among picture books including concept books, nursery rhymes, toy books, alphabet books and early readers. Picture books also cover a wide variety of themes and are also 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. Board book
s are picture books published on a hard cardboard
. Board books are often intended for small children to use and play with. Cardboard is used for the cover as well as the pages, and is intended to be more durable. Pop-up book
s employ paper engineering to make parts of the page pop up or stand up when pages are opened. More broadly books using similar techniques are known as movable books. The Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinsky
is one example of a bestseller pop-up picture book. Often the author and illustrator are two different people. Once an editor in a publishing house has accepted a manuscript for a text from an author, the editor selects an illustrator.
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 woodcut
s. A Little Pretty Pocket-Book
from 1744 by John Newbery
was the earliest illustrated storybook marketed as pleasure reading in English. The German children's book Struwwelpeter
(literally "Shaggy-Peter") from 1845 by Heinrich Hoffmann
was one of the earliest examples of modern picturebook design. Collections of Fairy tale
s from early nineteenth century, like those by the Brothers Grimm
or Hans Christian Andersen
were sparsely illustrated, but beginning in the middle of the century, collections were published with images by illustrators like Gustave Doré
, George Cruikshank
, 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 Adventures in Wonderland
, illustrated by John Tenniel
in 1866 was one of the first highly successful entertainment books for children.
Toy book
s were introduced in the latter half of the 19th century, small paperbound 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. The best of these were illustrated by the triumvirate of English illustrators Randolph Caldecott
, Walter Crane
, and Kate Greenaway
whose association with colour printer and wood engraver Edmund Evans produced books of great quality. In the late 19th and early 20th century a small number of American and British artists made their living illustrating children's books, like Rose O'Neill
, Arthur Rackham
, Cicely Mary Barker
, Willy Pogany
, Edmund Dulac
, W. Heath Robinson
, Howard Pyle
, or Charles Robinson
. Generally, these illustrated books had eight to twelve pages of illustrated pictures or plates accompanying a classic children's storybook.
Beatrix Potter
's The Tale of Peter Rabbit
was published in 1902 to immediate success. Peter Rabbit was Potter's first of many The Tale of..., including The Tale of Squirrel 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
published between 1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among others Henry J. Ford
and Lancelot Speed
.
In the US, illustrated 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 Bannerman
'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.
L. Frank Baum
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
was published in 1900, and Baum created a number of other successful Oz-oriented books in the period from 1904 to 1920. In 1910, American 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 Kewpies 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 Stories. Other Gruelle books included Beloved Belinda, Eddie 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 illustrated 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 Travels of Babar then Babar The King. In 1930, Marjorie Flack
authored and illustrated Angus and the Ducks, followed in 1931 by Angus And The Cats, then in 1932, Angus Lost. Flack authored another book in 1933, The 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 paraphernalia and coined the refrain "I think I can! I think I can!". In 1936, Munro Leaf
's The Story of Ferdinand
was published, illustrated by Robert Lawson
. Ferdinand was the first picture book to crossover into pop culture
. Walt Disney
produced an animated feature film along with corresponding 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 selected 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 series, The Poky Little Puppy
, is the top selling children's book of all time. Many of the books were bestsellers including The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle
, Scuffy the Tugboat
, 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 picture book classics as Make Way for Ducklings
, The Little House
, Curious George
, and Eloise
, had all been published. 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 Mulberry Street
. It was immediately successful, and Seuss followed up with The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
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.
Because of the success of The Cat In The Hat an independent publishing company was formed, called Beginner Books
. The second book in the series was nearly as popular, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, published in 1958. Other books in the series were Sam and the Firefly
(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.
began his career working on the Little Golden Books
series. His Best Word Book Ever
from 1963 has sold 4 million copies. In total Scarry wrote and illustrated more than 250 books and more than 100 million of his books have been sold worldwide. In 1963, Where The Wild Things Are
by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak
was published. It has been adapted into other media 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. 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. Fujikawa is recognized for being the earliest mainstream illustrator of picture books to include children of many races in her work.
Most of the Moomin
books by Finnish author Tove Jansson
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
.
Japanese author and illustrator Mitsumasa Anno
has published a number of picture books beginning in 1968 with Mysterious Pictures. In his "Journey" books a tiny character travels through depictions of the culture of various countries. Everyone Poops
was first published in Japan
in 1977, written and illustrated by the prolific children'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 several 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.
(ALA) began presenting annually the Caldecott Medal
to the most distinguished children's book illustration published in the year. The Caldecott Medal was established as a sister award to the ALA's Newbery Medal
, which was awarded to a children's books "for the most distinguished 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 illustrator, Kate Greenaway
. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature
. 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 Danish 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 distinguished beginning reader book. The award is presented to both the author and illustrator, in "literary and artistic achievements to engage children in reading."
Heinrich Hoffmann (author)
Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter, an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving.- Early life and education:...
's Struwwelpeter
Struwwelpeter
Der Struwwelpeter is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the...
from 1845 and Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
's The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea...
from 1902. Some of the best-known picture books are Robert McCloskey
Robert McCloskey
Robert McCloskey was an American author and illustrator of children's books. McCloskey wrote and illustrated eight books, two of which won the Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's annual award of distinction for children's book illustration.Many of McCloskey's books were set on the...
's Make Way for Ducklings
Make Way For Ducklings
Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston,...
, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
' The Cat In The Hat
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. He also carries a pale blue umbrella...
, and Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
's Where the Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 , a 1980 opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film...
. The Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
(established 1938) and Kate Greenaway Medal
Kate Greenaway Medal
The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
(established 1955) are awarded annually for illustrations in children's literature. From the mid-1960s several children's literature awards include a category for picture books.
Characteristics
Any book that pairs a narrative format with pictures can be categorized as a picture book. "In the best picturebooks, the illustrations are as much a part of the experience with the book as the written text." 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 tend to have two functions in the lives of children: they are first read to young children by adults, and then children read them themselves once they begin to learn to read.There are several subgenres among picture books including concept books, nursery rhymes, toy books, alphabet books and early readers. Picture books also cover a wide variety of themes and are also published with content aimed at older children or even adults. Tibet: Through the Red Box by Peter Sis
Peter Sis
Peter Sís is an award-winning children's book writer and illustrator. Sís attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London...
is one example of a picture book aimed at an adult audience. Board book
Board book
A board book is a type of book printed on thick paperboard. The paperboard is printed and used for both the cover and the interior pages. Each page panel is a minimum of two plies of paperboard thickness. Unlike a typical paper book that is bound with saddle stitching or perfect binding, a...
s are picture books published on a hard cardboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
. Board books are often intended for small children to use and play with. Cardboard is used for the cover as well as the pages, and is intended to be more durable. Pop-up book
Pop-up book
The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner...
s employ paper engineering to make parts of the page pop up or stand up when pages are opened. More broadly books using similar techniques are known as movable books. The Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinsky
Paul O. Zelinsky
Paul O. Zelinsky is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1998 for his Rapunzel. The best-selling movable book The Wheels on the Bus is his most popular work.-Early life:...
is one example of a bestseller pop-up picture book. Often the author and illustrator are two different people. Once an editor in a publishing house has accepted a manuscript for a text from an author, the editor selects an illustrator.
Early picture books
Orbis Pictus
Orbis Pictus, or Orbis Sensualium Pictus is a textbook for children written by Czech educator Comenius and published in 1658...
from 1658 by John Amos Comenius was the earliest illustrated book specifically for children. It is something of a children's encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
and is illustrated by woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s. A Little Pretty Pocket-Book
A Little Pretty Pocket-Book
A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly with Two Letters from Jack the Giant Killer is the title of a 1744 children's book by British publisher John Newbery. It is generally considered the first children's book, and consists of simple...
from 1744 by John Newbery
John Newbery
John Newbery was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson...
was the earliest illustrated storybook marketed as pleasure reading in English. The German children's book Struwwelpeter
Struwwelpeter
Der Struwwelpeter is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the...
(literally "Shaggy-Peter") from 1845 by Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann (author)
Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter, an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving.- Early life and education:...
was one of the earliest examples of modern picturebook design. Collections of Fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s from early nineteenth century, like those by the Brothers Grimm
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
or Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
were sparsely illustrated, but beginning in the middle of the century, collections were published with images by illustrators like Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
, George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...
, Vilhelm Pedersen
Vilhelm Pedersen
Thomas Vilhelm Pedersen was a Danish artist best known for being the first artist to illustrate the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen....
, Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore....
and John Bauer. Andrew Lang's twelve Fairy Books
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books — also known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors — are a series of twelve collections of fairy tales, published between 1889 and 1910...
published between 1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among others Henry J. Ford
Henry J. Ford
-Gallery:Henry Justice Ford was a prolific and successful artist and illustrator, active from 1886 through to the late 1920s. Sometimes known as HJFord or Henry J Ford, he came to public attention when he provided the numerous beautiful illustrations for Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, which captured...
and Lancelot Speed
Lancelot Speed
Lancelot Speed was a famous Victorian illustrator of books, usually of a fantastical or romantic nature. He is probably most well-known for his illustrations for Andrew Lang's fairy story books. Speed is credited as the designer on the 1916 silent movie version of the novel She by H...
. Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, illustrated by John Tenniel
John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...
in 1866 was one of the first highly successful entertainment books for children.
Toy book
Toy book is a form of 19th century children's book which became popular in the second half of the century during the Victorian era in England. Toy books typically were paperbound books with six illustrated pages. Early toy books sold for sixpence, and later, more elaborate editions, for a shilling...
s were introduced in the latter half of the 19th century, small paperbound 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. The best of these were illustrated by the triumvirate of English illustrators Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced...
, Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
, and Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
whose association with colour printer and wood engraver Edmund Evans produced books of great quality. In the late 19th and early 20th century a small number of American and British artists made their living illustrating children's books, like Rose O'Neill
Rose O'Neill
Rose Cecil O'Neill was an illustrator who created a popular period comic called Kewpie.-Early life:...
, Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham was an English book illustrator.-Biography:Rackham was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.In 1892 he left his job and started working for The...
, Cicely Mary Barker
Cicely Mary Barker
Cicely Mary Barker was an English illustrator best known for a series of fantasy illustrations depicting fairies and flowers. Barker's art education began in girlhood with correspondence courses and instruction at the Croydon School of Art...
, Willy Pogany
Willy Pogany
William Andrew Pogany was a prolific Hungarian illustrator of children's and other books.-Biography:...
, Edmund Dulac
Edmund Dulac
Edmund Dulac was a French book illustrator.-Early life and career:Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts...
, W. Heath Robinson
W. Heath Robinson
William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of eccentric machines....
, Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
, or Charles Robinson
Charles Robinson (illustrator)
Charles Robinson was a prolific British book illustrator.Born in Islington in October 1870, London, he was the son of an illustrator and his brothers Thomas Heath Robinson and William Heath Robinson also became illustrators. He served an apprenticeship as a printer and took art lessons in the...
. Generally, these illustrated books had eight to twelve pages of illustrated pictures or plates accompanying a classic children's storybook.
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
's The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea...
was published in 1902 to immediate success. Peter Rabbit was Potter's first of many The Tale of..., including The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in August 1903. The story is about an impertinent red squirrel named Nutkin and his narrow escape from an owl called Old Brown. The book followed Potter's hugely...
, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to The Tale of Peter Rabbit , and tells of Peter's return to Mr. McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve...
, The Tale of Tom Kitten
The Tale of Tom Kitten
The Tale of Tom Kitten is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them. Tabitha Twitchit, a cat, invites friends for tea...
, and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1908. Potter composed the book at Hill Top, a working farm in the Lake District she bought in 1905...
, to name but a few which were published in the years leading up to 1910. Swedish author Elsa Beskow
Elsa Beskow
Elsa Beskow was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books...
wrote and illustrated some 40 children's stories and picture books between 1897–1952. Andrew Lang's twelve Fairy Books
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books
Andrew Lang's Fairy Books — also known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors — are a series of twelve collections of fairy tales, published between 1889 and 1910...
published between 1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among others Henry J. Ford
Henry J. Ford
-Gallery:Henry Justice Ford was a prolific and successful artist and illustrator, active from 1886 through to the late 1920s. Sometimes known as HJFord or Henry J Ford, he came to public attention when he provided the numerous beautiful illustrations for Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, which captured...
and Lancelot Speed
Lancelot Speed
Lancelot Speed was a famous Victorian illustrator of books, usually of a fantastical or romantic nature. He is probably most well-known for his illustrations for Andrew Lang's fairy story books. Speed is credited as the designer on the 1916 silent movie version of the novel She by H...
.
In the US, illustrated stories for children appeared in magazines like Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion was an American monthly publication, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s....
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 Bannerman
Helen Bannerman
Helen Bannerman was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most notable being Little Black Sambo. She was born in Edinburgh and, because women were not admitted as students into British Universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews and attained...
's Little Black Sambo
Little Black Sambo
The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children....
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
Dumpy books
The Dumpy Books for Children were a series of small-format books selected by E. V. Lucas and published by British publisher Grant Richards between 1897 and 1904. Subsequent books were published by Chatto & Windus.-Books in the collection:-External links:*...
, published by British publisher Grant Richards between 1897 and 1904.
Early to mid 20th century
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
was published in 1900, and Baum created a number of other successful Oz-oriented books in the period from 1904 to 1920. In 1910, American illustrator and author Rose O'Neill
Rose O'Neill
Rose Cecil O'Neill was an illustrator who created a popular period comic called Kewpie.-Early life:...
's first children’s book was published, The Kewpies and Dottie Darling. More books in the Kewpie series followed: The Kewpies Their Book in 1912 and The Kewpie Primer 1916. In 1918, Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator . He is known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy...
wrote and illustrated Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and has a triangle nose...
and in 1920 followed up with Raggedy Andy Stories. Other Gruelle books included Beloved Belinda, Eddie 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
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
books, All About Peter Rabbit, All About The Three Bears, All About Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
, and All About Little Red Hen
The Little Red Hen
The Little Red Hen is an old folk tale, most likely of Russian origin. The best known version in the United States is that popularized by Little Golden Books, a series of children's books published for the mass market since the 1940s. The story is applied in teaching children the virtues of the...
. The latter, along with several others, was illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle
Johnny Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator . He is known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy...
. Wanda Gág
Wanda Gág
Wanda Hazel Gág was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother and father were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent...
's Millions of Cats
Millions of Cats
Millions of Cats is a picture book written and illustrated by Wanda Gág in 1928. The book won a Newbery Honor award in 1929, one of the few picture books to do so. Millions of Cats is the oldest American picture book still in print....
was published in 1928 and became the first picture book to receive a Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
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.
Jean de Brunhoff
Jean de Brunhoff was a French writer and illustrator known for creating the Babar books, the first of which appeared in 1931. He was the fourth and youngest child of Maurice de Brunhoff, a publisher, and his wife Marguerite. He attended Protestant schools, including the prestigious Ecole Alsacienne...
's first Babar
Babar the Elephant
Babar the Elephant is a French children's fictional character who first appeared in Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 and enjoyed immediate success. An English language version, entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Britain and also in the United States. The book is based on...
book, The Story Of Babar was published in France, followed by The Travels of Babar then Babar The King. In 1930, Marjorie Flack
Marjorie Flack
Marjorie Flack was an award-winning artist and writer of children's picture books. Flack was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York in 1897. She was best known for The Story about Ping , popularized by Captain Kangaroo, and for her stories of an insatiably curious Scottish terrier named Angus,...
authored and illustrated Angus and the Ducks, followed in 1931 by Angus And The Cats, then in 1932, Angus Lost. Flack authored another book in 1933, The Story about Ping
The Story about Ping
The Story About Ping is a popular children's book. First published in 1933, Ping is a colorfully illustrated story about a domesticated Chinese duck lost on the Yangtze River.-Publication information:...
, illustrated by Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese was an award-winning German-born book illustrator. Wiese wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors.- Biography :Wiese was born in Minden, Germany...
. The Elson Basic Reader was published in 1930 and introduced the public to Dick and Jane
Dick and Jane
Dick and Jane were the main characters in popular basal readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp and published by Scott Foresman, that were used to teach children to read from the 1930s through to the 1970s in the United States...
. In 1930 The Little Engine That Could
The Little Engine That Could
The Little Engine that Could is a children's story that appeared in the United States of America. The book is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work...
was published, illustrated by Lois Lenski
Lois Lenski
Lois Lenski was a popular and prolific American writer of children's and young adult fiction.One of her projects was a collection of regional novels about children across the United States...
. In 1954 it was illustrated anew by George and Doris Hauman
George and Doris Hauman
George and Doris Hauman were illustrators of children's books. They illustrated the 1961 edition of The Little Engine That Could....
. It spawned an entire line of books and related paraphernalia and coined the refrain "I think I can! I think I can!". In 1936, Munro Leaf
Munro Leaf
Wilbur Monroe Leaf , was an American author of children's literature who wrote and illustrated nearly 40 books during his 40-year career. He is best known for The Story of Ferdinand , a children's classic which he wrote on a yellow legal-length pad in less than an hour...
's The Story of Ferdinand
The Story of Ferdinand
The Story of Ferdinand is the best known work written by American author Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson. The children's book tells the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights...
was published, illustrated by Robert Lawson
Robert Lawson (author)
Robert Lawson was an American author and illustrator of children's books. During World War I, he also served as a camouflage artist.-Background:Born in New York City, Lawson spent his early life in Montclair, New Jersey...
. Ferdinand was the first picture book to crossover into pop culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
produced an animated feature film along with corresponding merchandising materials. In 1938 to Dorothy Lathrop
Dorothy P. Lathrop
Dorothy Pulis Lathrop was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Lathrop was born April 16, 1891 in Albany, New York...
was awarded the first Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible
Animals of the Bible
Animals of the Bible is a book illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop with text compiled by Helen Dean Fish. Released by J. B. Lippincott Company, it was the first recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1938....
, written by Helen Dean Fish. Thomas Handforth
Thomas Handforth
Thomas Scofield Handforth was an American artist and etcher. He wrote and illustrated the book Mei Li about his personal experiences in China and won the 1939 Caldecott Medal. Born in Tacoma, Washington, he studied at the University of Washington.Today, Mei Li is a reissue of a book originally...
won the second Caldecott Medal in 1939, for Mei Li
Mei Li
Mei Li is a book by Thomas Handforth. Released by Doubleday, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1939....
, which he also wrote. Ludwig Bemelmans
Ludwig Bemelmans
Ludwig Bemelmans was an Austrian author, an internationally known gourmet, and a writer and illustrator of children's books. He is most noted today for his Madeline books, six of which were published from 1939-1961...
' Madeline
Madeline
Madeline is a children's book series written by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film...
was published in 1939 and was selected as a Caldecott Medal runner-up, today known as a Caldecott Honor book.
In 1942, Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
began publishing the Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...
, a series of inexpensive, well illustrated, high quality children's books. The eighth book in the series, The Poky Little Puppy
The Poky Little Puppy
The Poky Little Puppy is a children's book written by Texas author Janette Sebring Lowrey and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren. It was first published in 1942 as one of the first 12 books in the Simon and Schuster series Little Golden Books...
, is the top selling children's book of all time. Many of the books were bestsellers including The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle
Tootle
Tootle is a children's book written by Gertrude Crampton and illustrated by Tibor Gergely in 1945. It is part of Simon and Schuster's Little Golden Books series...
, Scuffy the Tugboat
Scuffy the Tugboat
Scuffy the Tugboat is a children's book written by Gertrude Crampton and illustrated by Tibor Gergely. The book was first published in 1946 as part of the Little Golden Books series....
, The Little Red Hen
The Little Red Hen
The Little Red Hen is an old folk tale, most likely of Russian origin. The best known version in the United States is that popularized by Little Golden Books, a series of children's books published for the mass market since the 1940s. The story is applied in teaching children the virtues of the...
. Several of the illustrators for the Little Golden Books later became staples within the picture book industry. Corinne Malvern
Corinne Malvern
Corinne Malvern was an American commercial artist, active as a fashion advertising artist and illustrator of children's books between the early 1930s and her death in 1956. She painted magazine covers and worked as Art Editor of Ladies Home Journal magazine...
, Tibor Gergely
Tibor Gergely
Tibor Gergely was an artist best known for his work in several popular children's books. Born in Budapest in 1900, he studied art briefly in Vienna before emigrating to the United States in 1939, where he settled in New York City. Largely a self-taught artist, he also contributed several covers...
, Gustaf Tenggren
Gustaf Tenggren
Gustaf Adolf Tenggren was a Swedish-American illustrator. He is known for his Arthur Rackham-influenced fairy-tale style and use of silhouetted figures with caricatured faces...
, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry
Richard Scarry
Richard McClure Scarry was a popular American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million units worldwide....
, Eloise Wilkin
Eloise Wilkin
Eloise Margaret Wilkin, born Eloise Margaret Burns , was an award-winning American illustrator, best known as an illustrator of Little Golden Books. Many of the picture books she illustrated have become classics of American children's literature...
, and Garth Williams
Garth Williams
Garth Montgomery Williams was an American artist who came to prominence in the American postwar era as an illustrator of children's books...
. In 1947 Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Moon is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was first published in 1947, and is a highly acclaimed example of a bedtime story. It is about a child saying goodnight to everything around: "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight...
written by Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown was a prolific American author of children's literature, including the books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, both illustrated by Clement Hurd.-Biography:...
and illustrated by Clement Hurd
Clement Hurd
Clement G. Hurd was an American illustrator of children's books. He is best known for his collaborations with author Margaret Wise Brown, including Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny...
was published. By 1955, such picture book classics as Make Way for Ducklings
Make Way For Ducklings
Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston,...
, The Little House
The Little House
The Little House is the title of a 1942 book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton.-Inspiration:Author Virginia Lee Burton has stated that "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into "a field of daisies with apple trees growing around." Burton...
, Curious George
Curious George
Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books by the same name, written by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. The books feature a curious brown monkey named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man with The Yellow Hat" to live with him in a big city.When...
, and Eloise
Eloise (books)
Eloise is the name of the protagonist in a series of children's books written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight.Eloise is a six-year-old girl who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel in New York with her Nanny, her pug dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee. A...
, had all been published. In 1955 the first book was published in the Miffy
Miffy
Miffy is a small female rabbit in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Miffy's original Dutch name is Nijntje which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit"....
series by Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna is a Dutch author, artist, illustrator and graphic designer.Bruna is best known for his children's books which he authored and illustrated, now numbering over 200. His best known creation is Miffy , a small rabbit drawn with heavy graphic lines, simple shapes and primary colors...
.
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
(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 Mulberry Street
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is a book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss and Robert Carington, first published in 1937. It was Seuss's first children's book, originally titled "A Story That No One Can Beat," the manuscript was rejected by over 43 publishing companies but was...
. It was immediately successful, and Seuss followed up with The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins is a children's book, written by Dr. Seuss and published by Vanguard in 1938. Unlike the majority of Dr. Seuss's books, it is written in prose rather than rhyming and metered verse...
in 1938, followed by The King's Stilts
The King's Stilts
The King's Stilts is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, published in 1939 by Random House. Unlike many of Dr. Seuss's books, it is narrated in prose rather than verse....
in 1939, and Horton Hatches the Egg
Horton Hatches the Egg
Horton Hatches the Egg is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published in 1940. The character Horton appeared again in Horton Hears a Who!, published in 1954...
in 1940, all published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. From 1947 to 1956 Seuss had twelve children's picture books published. Dr. Seuss created The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. He also carries a pale blue umbrella...
in reaction to a Life magazine
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
article by John Hersey
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
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.
Because of the success of The Cat In The Hat an independent publishing company was formed, called Beginner Books
Beginner Books
Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 4-8, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel.Their first book was Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat...
. The second book in the series was nearly as popular, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, published in 1958. Other books in the series were Sam and the Firefly
Sam and the Firefly
- Plot :Sam, an owl, wakes up one night looking for someone to play with. However, since it is the middle of the night, all the creatures are asleep. Sam then comes across a series of flying lights, one of which hits Sam in the head. It is Gus, the firefly. Gus shows Sam the trick he can do,...
(1958), Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham is a best-selling and critically acclaimed book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2001, according to Publishers Weekly, it was the fourth-best-selling English-language children's book of all time....
(1960), Are You My Mother?
Are You My Mother?
Are You My Mother? is a children's book by P. D. Eastman published by Random House Books for Young Readers on June 12, 1960 as part of their Beginner Books series.-Plot summary:...
(1960), Go, Dog. Go!
Go, Dog. Go!
Go, Dog. Go! is a 1961 children's book written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman.The book describes the actions and interactions of a group of highly mobile dogs, who operate cars and other conveyances in pursuit of work, play, and a final mysterious goal: a dog party.The book introduces concepts...
(1961), Hop on Pop
Hop on Pop
Hop on Pop is a 1963 children's picture book by Dr. Seuss . It was published as part of the Random House Beginner Books series, and is subtitled "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use"...
(1963), and Fox in Socks
Fox in Socks
Fox in Socks is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published in 1965. It features two main characters, Fox and Knox, who speak almost entirely in densely rhyming tongue-twisters....
(1965). Creators in the Beginner Book series were Stan and Jan Berenstain
Stan and Jan Berenstain
Stan and Jan Berenstain were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book series the Berenstain Bears....
, P. D. Eastman
Philip D. Eastman
Philip Dey "Phil" Eastman was an American screenwriter, children's author, and illustrator. As an author, he is known primarily as P. D. Eastman.-Early life:...
, Roy McKie
Roy McKie
Roy McKie was an illustrator of children's books, most notably under the Dr. Seuss imprint. He illustrated many books penned by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Theo...
, and Helen Palmer Geisel
Helen Palmer Geisel
Helen Palmer Geisel was an American actress and author and the first wife of children's book writer Dr. Seuss. Her most well known book is Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?, published in 1963...
(Seuss' wife). The Beginner Books dominated the children's picture book market of the 1960s.
Between 1957 and 1960 Harper & Brothers
Harper & Brothers
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins.-History:James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business J. & J. Harper in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesley Harper and Fletcher Harper, joined them...
published a series of sixteen "I Can Read" books. Little Bear
Little Bear (book)
Little Bear is a series of children's books, primarily involving the interaction of Little Bear and Mother Bear . The first book in the series was published in 1957, written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak...
was the first of the series. Written by Else Holmelund Minarik
Else Holmelund Minarik
Else Holmelund Minarik is the author of the Little Bear series of children's books, which were successful as books, and were also made into a successful children's TV series...
and illustrated by a then relatively unknown Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
, the two collaborated on three other "I Can Read" books over the next three years. From 1958 to 1960, Syd Hoff
Syd Hoff
Syd Hoff was a Jewish-American cartoonist and children's book author. Although best known for his classic early reader Danny and the Dinosaur, his cartoons appeared in a multitude of genres, including advertising commissions for such companies as Eveready Batteries, Jell-O, S.O.S Pads, Rambler,...
wrote and illustrated four "I Can Read" books: Danny and the Dinosaur
Danny and the Dinosaur
Danny and the Dinosaur is a popular children's book by Syd Hoff, first published by Harper & Row in 1958. It has sold over six million copies and has been translated into a dozen languages. The book inspired two sequels by Syd Hoff: Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur! and Danny and the Dinosaur...
, Sammy The Seal, Julius, and Oliver.
Mid to late 20th century
In 1949 American writer and illustrator Richard ScarryRichard Scarry
Richard McClure Scarry was a popular American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million units worldwide....
began his career working on the Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...
series. His Best Word Book Ever
Best Word Book Ever
Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever was published in 1963 and became a best-selling children's book. Scarry had been illustrating children's books since 1950, but this was his first as both author and illustrator and started him on the "Best Ever" series.The book contains over 1,400 labelled...
from 1963 has sold 4 million copies. In total Scarry wrote and illustrated more than 250 books and more than 100 million of his books have been sold worldwide. In 1963, Where The Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 , a 1980 opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film...
by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
was published. It has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973, a 1980 opera
Where the Wild Things Are (opera)
Where the Wild Things Are is a 'fantasy' opera in one act by Oliver Knussen, his Opus 20, to a libretto by Maurice Sendak, based on Sendak's own children's book of the same title...
, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film adaptation
Where the Wild Things Are (film)
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 American fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonze and adapted from Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book Where the Wild Things Are. It combines live action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery...
directed by Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
. By 2008 it had sold over 19 million copies worldwide. American illustrator and author Gyo Fujikawa
Gyo Fujikawa
Gyo Fujikawa was an American illustrator and children's book author. A prolific creator of more than 50 books for children, her work is regularly in reprint and has been translated into 17 languages and published in 22 countries. Her most popular books, Babies and Baby Animals, have sold over 1.7...
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. Fujikawa is recognized for being the earliest mainstream illustrator of picture books to include children of many races in her work.
Most of the Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
books by Finnish author Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
were novels, but several Moomin picture books were also published between 1952 and 1980, like Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Who Will Comfort Toffle? is the second picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was first published in 1960. It was first translated into English by Kingsley Hart....
(1960) and The Dangerous Journey
The Dangerous Journey
The Dangerous Journey is a children's picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was published in 1977...
(1977). The Barbapapa
Barbapapa
Barbapapa is both the title character, and name of the "species" of said character, of a series of children's books written in the 1970s by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, who resided in Paris, France. The books were originally written in French , and were later translated into over 30 languages...
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
Mr. Men
Mr. Men is a series of 49 children's books by Roger Hargreaves commencing in 1971. Two of these books were not published in English. The series features characters with names such as Mr. Tickle and Mr. Happy who have personalities based on their names...
series of 40-some books by English author and illustrated Roger Hargreaves
Roger Hargreaves
Charles Roger Hargreaves was an English author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, intended for very young readers...
started in 1971. The Snowman
The Snowman
The Snowman is a children's book by English author Raymond Briggs, published in 1978. In 1982, this book was turned into a 26-minute animated movie by Dianne Jackson for the fledgling Channel 4. It was first shown on Channel 4 late on Christmas Eve in 1982 and was an immediate success. The film was...
by Raymond Briggs
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
was published in Britain in 1978 and was entirely wordless. It was made into an Oscar nominated
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
animated cartoon
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
that has been shown every year since on British television
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
.
Japanese author and illustrator Mitsumasa Anno
Mitsumasa Anno
is a Japanese author and illustrator of children's books.-Background:Anno was born in 1926 in Japan, and grew up in the small town of Tsuwano. As a student at a regional high school, he studied art, drawing, and the writings of Hermann Hesse. During World War II, Anno was drafted into the...
has published a number of picture books beginning in 1968 with Mysterious Pictures. In his "Journey" books a tiny character travels through depictions of the culture of various countries. Everyone Poops
Everyone Poops
Everyone Poops is the title of US editions of the English translation of , a Japanese children's book written and illustrated by the prolific children's author Tarō Gomi and 1st published in Japan by Fukuinkan Shoten in 1977 within the series Kagaku no Tomo Kessaku-shū Everyone Poops is the title...
was first published in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1977, written and illustrated by the prolific children's author Tarō Gomi
Taro Gomi
is one of Japan's most prolific children's book illustrators and writers. He has published over 400 books in Japan and his work has been widely translated into other languages...
. It has been translated into several languages. Australian author Margaret Wild
Margaret Wild
Margaret Wild is an Australian author. She was born in 1948 in Eschew, a small town in South Africa, and came to Australia in 1972. She now lives in Sydney. Before becoming a fulltime writer, Margaret was a journalist for newspapers and magazines and then she worked for sixteen years as a book...
has written more than 40 books since 1984 and won several awards. In 1987 the first book was published in the Where's Wally?
Where's Wally?
Where's Wally?, published in the United States and Canada as Where's Waldo?, is a series of children's books created by British illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things...
(known as Where's Waldo? in the United States and Canada) series by the British illustrator Martin Handford
Martin Handford
Martin Handford is an English children's author and illustrator who gained worldwide fame in the mid-1980s with his Where's Wally? creation ....
. The books were translated into many languages and the franchise also spawned a TV series
Where's Waldo? (TV series)
Where's Wally?: The Animated Series was a joint venture between American/Canadian/British animated television series productions, distributed by DiC Entertainment and The Waldo Film Company...
, a comic strip and a series of video games. Since 1989 over 20 books have been created in the Elmer the Patchwork Elephant
Elmer the Patchwork Elephant
Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is a children's picture book series by the British author David McKee. They are published in the United Kingdom by Andersen Press. Over 20 book titles have been created since 1989, and it has sold nearly 5 million copies in 40 languages around the world. The Japanese...
series by the British author David McKee
David McKee
David McKee is a British author and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. He has used the pseudonym Violet Easton. He is frequently referenced as David McKee.-Biography:...
. They have been translated in 40 languages and adapted into a children's TV series.
Awards
In 1938, the American Library AssociationAmerican Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
(ALA) began presenting annually the Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
to the most distinguished children's book illustration published in the year. The Caldecott Medal was established as a sister award to the ALA's Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
, which was awarded to a children's books "for the most distinguished 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
Marcia Brown
Marcia Joan Brown is an American children's author and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. She has won the Caldecott Medal three times, the only person to do so until David Wiesner in 2007. She is also the winner of the 1977 Regina Medal, a six-time recipient of the Caldecott Honor, and...
, Barbara Cooney
Barbara Cooney
Barbara Cooney was an American children's author and illustrator of more than 200 books and double Caldecott Medalist. She has written books for six decades...
, Roger Duvoisin
Roger Duvoisin
Roger Duvoisin was a Swiss-American author and illustrator. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, his first job was making textiles. He moved to New York City in 1927 where he wrote his first book.-Books and awards:...
, Berta and Elmer Hader
Berta and Elmer Hader
Berta Hoerner and Elmer Stanley Hader were a husband-and-wife team that illustrated more than 70 children's books, about half of which they also wrote...
, Robert Lawson
Robert Lawson (author)
Robert Lawson was an American author and illustrator of children's books. During World War I, he also served as a camouflage artist.-Background:Born in New York City, Lawson spent his early life in Montclair, New Jersey...
, Robert McCloskey
Robert McCloskey
Robert McCloskey was an American author and illustrator of children's books. McCloskey wrote and illustrated eight books, two of which won the Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's annual award of distinction for children's book illustration.Many of McCloskey's books were set on the...
, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Leo Politi
Leo Politi
Leo Politi was an Italian-American artist and author who wrote and illustrated some 20 children's books, as well as Bunker Hill, Los Angeles , intended for adults...
, Tasha Tudor, and Leonard Weisgard
Leonard Weisgard
Leonard Joseph Weisgard was an award-winning American author and illustrator of more than 200 children's books, most famous for his collaborations with Margaret Wise Brown. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and spent most of his childhood in England.Weisgard studied art at the Pratt Institute...
.
The Kate Greenaway Medal
Kate Greenaway Medal
The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
was established in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is a professional body representing librarians and other information professionals in the United Kingdom.-History:...
(CILIP). Since 1965 the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
(German Youth literature prize) includes a category for picture books. The Danish Hans Christian Andersen Award
Hans Christian Andersen Award
The Hans Christian Andersen Award, sometimes known as the "Nobel Prize for children's literature", is an international award given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature"...
for Illustration has been awarded since 1966. The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards were first presented by The Boston Globe and Horn Book Magazine in 1967. They are among the most prestigious honors in the United States in the field of children’s and young adult literature...
, first presented in 1967, includes a category for picture books. In 2006, the ALA started awarding the Geisel Award
Geisel Award
Established in 2004, the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The winner receive a bronze medal at the ALA Annual Conference...
, named after Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, to the most distinguished beginning reader book. The award is presented to both the author and illustrator, in "literary and artistic achievements to engage children in reading."
Source
- Kiefer, Barbara Z. (2010). Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature.New York, McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-337856-5
- Zielinski, Linda & Stan; "Children's Picturebook Price Guide", Chap. 1: Today's Golden Era Of Picturebooks; Flying Moose Books; 2006. ISBN 0977939405
External links
- Children's Picture Book Database at Miami UniversityMiami UniversityMiami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...