Picture+Storybooks+Defined

What are picture storybooks?
Click the Edit button (far right side of screen) and paste your content in the space below. Make sure to Save changes before exiting. What is a picture storybook? added by Marcia Bernard

A picture storybook is a book in which the illustrations and text both play an essential role in telling the story. More than merely depicting scenes from a story, a picture storybook uses illustrations to move the story forward in a way that text alone could not. The combination of text and illustration allow the reader to fully realize the meaning of the story.

An excellent example of a picture storybook is Mark Teague’s //Dear Mrs. La Rue: Letters from Obedience School.// While we read about the horrible treatment Ike La Rue is receiving at Brotweiler Canine Academy and see the black and white renditions of his account, the color illustrations on the facing page show the reality that this pup has it pretty good! The illustrations let us in on the real story and the reader can begin to see the truth and the humor that lies in Ike’s version of his “prison.”

Likewise, David Wiesner’s Caldecott winner //The Three Pigs// requires the reader to use both text and illustration to understand what happens to the pigs once they are huffed and puffed right out of the story. Through fonts, different illustration styles and color, Wiesner masterfully weaves the story through both mediums. The text alone cannot tell this story, nor can the illustrations. It is the marriage of the two that allows us to enjoy the pigs’ journey.

Patricia Polacco’s //Emma Kate// tells the story of an imaginary friendship between a girl and an elephant. Contrasting the black and white line-drawn elephant and Emma Kate’s bright red dress the illustrations lay clues that move us forward to a surprising conclusion. What we see on the page does not fully mesh with the text we are reading; the reader is forced to synthesize the two to fully understand the plot.

It is in the merging of the two mediums: text and illustration, that the full story of a picture storybook is achieved.

Polacco, Patricia. //Emma Kate//. New York: Puffin, 2008.

Wiesner, David. //The Three Pigs//. New York: Clarion, 2001.
added by: Kathleen Marcoux Picture story books don’t always contain words as the illustrations sometimes tell the story for you. There are three ways to find a picture story book. They are format, illustrations and content. One main thing about them is the format of the book. Usually a picture story book’s format will have an unusual size and shape. These story books have a sensory appeal element which can include visual, tactile, sound, smell, or taste. The end papers at the beginning and end of the book sets the mood for the story. The illustrations in a picture story book are not just decorations but are part of telling the story. The media used can be oil, pencil, charcoal or photographs. The media matches the text and is essential to telling the story. A picture story book’s content is always a love story. It always has an authentic element which captures the reader’s attention. Situations, conflicts, coping, and resolutions are also part of this type of book’s format. Poems sometimes tell the story.