As a picture book writer, I often wish I had the talent of those author/ illustrators who can write and illustrate. They have a superpower in that they can mix and match the words and pictures, adding layers and making choices to balance out the story so it is just right.
But, if you’re ‘just’ a writer, you have to allow space for the illustrator and then sit back and wait for the layouts to unfold into a fully-formed picture book that is just right. It’s an exercise in trust and letting go. The results are often hugely gratifying, but it can be a scary process.
Will the illustrator capture the author’s vision?
What if they miss a key element or get it ‘wrong’?
The temptation can be to want to take control and to over-write or art-direct with illustration notes.
In traditional publishing, authors work with a skilled team – a designer and an editor, and sometimes also the publisher and art director – who are incredibly experienced and knowledgeable in the art of making picture books. They help to pull together all the elements to create a seamless picture book that will captivate young readers. A lot of time, careful thought and revision goes into this process, including choosing the right illustrator for each story.
What’s interesting is that often illustrators add whole new storylines in the pictures – Pippa Goodhart recently blogged about this in her ‘The Joy of Visual Sub-Plots’ post. These sub-plots are filled with lots of fabulous details to spot and mini-storylines to follow, making the book one to which young readers will return to again and again.
Something else spectacular often happens, though, when authors let go of their words and create space for illustrators:
Layers and depth!
The layers are created when illustrators springboard off the text to imagine the story on the page – the key plot turning points, the setting and the characters, complete with individual personalities. Illustrators deepen the themes by attributing to them a visual representation, making them accessible and relevant to young readers, who are often astute visual thinkers.
Interpreting Themes:
When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler
WHEN YOU ARE BRAVE: Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler is the story of being brave when you have to do things in life that you’re much rather not do. The author’s words for the opening:
“Some days, when everything around you seems scary,
you have to be brave.
“Brave as a bird that steps from its nest . . .
hoping to soar through the sky.
“Brave as a dog that wanders for miles . . .
searching for a well-known light.
“Brave as a caterpillar that builds a bed . . .
wondering where it will wake.
Because some days are full of things you’d rather not do.”
These phrases could have been illustrated in so many different ways. Eliza Wheeler depicts the situation as a girl’s family moving home
From When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler 
From When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler
and creates a neat segue between the metaphorical, lyrical words by illustrating a physical bird, dog, and caterpillar as the girl’s precious stuffed toys. Thus, Eliza helps to make the abstract more concrete and relatable for young readers.
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| From When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler |
In THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO ARTHUR by Tim Hopgood, David Tazzyman must depict what a completely abstract character (The Truth) looks like and give it a personality.
The Truth According to Arthur by Tim Hopgood and David Tazzyman.
He deftly imagines the situations in which the boy bends, stretches, ignores and covers up The Truth.
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| The Truth According to Arthur by Tim Hopgood and David Tazzyman. |
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| The Truth According to Arthur by Tim Hopgood and David Tazzyman. |
In I AM NEFERTITI by Annemarie Anang, Natelle Quek also artfully captures an abstract element – music.
I Am Nefertiti by Annemarie Anang and Natelle Quek
Natelle shows how the band feels and sounds when it makes music that is discordant and harmonious, even adding different colours for each instrument.
From I Am Nefertiti by Annemarie Anang and Natelle Quek
The main character, Nefertiti, is the drummer, who keeps the all-important beat in the band. But when her teacher shortens her name to ‘Nef’ because it’s easier to pronounce, something shrinks inside her – both literally and figuratively. In order to make this idea accessible to young readers, Natelle needed to show Nefertiti’s physical transformation as well as how it felt. To convey this, she positioned the main character tiny amongst the looming drums:
From I Am Nefertiti by Annemarie Anang and Natelle Quek
Characters & Their Worlds :
I AM NEFERTITI is a story about identity and belonging; the multicultural, diverse cast of band members is intrinsic to the narrative. Working from the starting point of the author’s text (just the characters' names and their instruments), the illustrator and editorial and design team worked closely together to envision what each child should look like:
From I Am Nefertiti by Annemarie Anang and Natelle Quek
In James Catchpole’s WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?, Karen George also creates an authentic group of children, and sets them in the playground, cleverly juxtaposing the real with the imaginary using blocks of solid colour.
What Happened to You? by James Catchpole and Karen George
The main character, Joe, says, “And there are sharks down here, too.
They especially like to eat pirates.”
If you look closely at this scene, Karen George adds all the drama of different children’s reactions to the pretend play in their well-observed expressions and body language. This is intuited in the dialogue between Joe and the curious children, but not written explicitly into the text. It is more powerful this way.
From What Happened to You? by James Catchpole and Karen George
In LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET by Matt de la Pe and Christian Robinson, a boy sets out on a bus journey with his grandma.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pe and Christian Robinson
Readers are introduced to the people they meet, among them, a blind man and guide dog, a musician, and a woman with butterflies in a jar. The illustrator has to decide: what kind of dog? What ages, ethnicities and backgrounds will the people be? What should they wear? How will young readers engage with the pictures. Will they see themselves and their backgrounds represented? And so much more!
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| Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pe and Christian Robinson |
Similarly, in MY DADDIES! by Gareth Peter, the illustrator, Garry Parsons, imagines what this family looks like and how they act and react in each scene.
My Daddies! by Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons
The illustrator must imagine situations to best convey the layers and flesh out the accompanying words. For instance:
“They’re not the best at everything . . .
(one dad is not a particularly good artist)
but I don’t really care.”
(one dad is not a particularly good cook)
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| From My Daddies! by Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons |
It’s almost as if the words are ‘coming true’.
Especially poignant, is the double-paged spread, where the child’s adoption story is lovingly imagined and portrayed from babyhood to new, two-dad family home.
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| From My Daddies! by Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons |
The illustrator is essentially adding a 3-D version of the author’s words, envisioning the child’s adoption journey and the family’s home life, and making it feel real and relatable to every young reader.
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| The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald |
In THE BAD SEED by Jory John, Pete Oswald envisions what a ‘bad’ seed might look like:
From The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald
And what the seed might do when lying:
From The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald
Or in which situation the seed might cut in line:
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| From The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald |
And what other bad things the seed might do:
From The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald
And what the seed might do when turned nice:
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| From The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald |
In essence, Pete Oswald has envisioned the ‘bad’ seed’s entire world and background, and made important choices about how to convey the emotional journey of the main character as readers turn the pages. This isn’t written into the author’s words per se, but as a finished picture book, it is so much richer with the illustrator’s contributions.
Finally, sometimes, the layers and depth of the message emerge in the form of a visual punchline, such as in SUSAN LAUGHS by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross.
Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
In this
book, the space evoked by the words is filled with the pictures of Susan
enjoying life just as any able-bodied child might. The detail in the pictures adds context about Susan's family, friends, and the activities she enjoys - for example "Susan flies" could have been interpreted in many different ways!
From Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
The final page shows Susan is in her wheelchair, and together with the preceding images, a picture of the whole suddenly emerges – Susan as a child just like every other.
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| From Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross |
Next time, you’re tempted to be wordy, to add too much description, or even to over-art-direct a book, have faith. Think: could the illustrator add those layers? Time to trust!
It’s totally worth it, and you’ll end up with a richer book as a result.
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Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor, Coach and MentorNatascha is the author of the award-winning The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, winner of the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children's Books, and selected as a best STEM Book 2020. Editor of numerous prize-winning books, she runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission, and is the Editorial Director for Five Quills. Find out about her new picture book webinar courses! She is Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com
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