Customer Reviews

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a children's book author and editor, I know that no one understands picture books better than Uri Shulevitz, and no one is more articulate about how they work. Most books about writing for children focus on young novels or on straightforward picture book stories. This book inspires you to think beyond those predictable formats and instead embrace the poetry of a good picture book, the magic of a good collaboration between text and art which is necessary whether you are working on a story book or a concept book or a nonfiction book. An intelligent and inspiring guide to the art of good bookmaking.

I found this very readable book to be very well thought out in its explanation of what makes for a successful children's book. It has the most examples of illustrations of any book on writing children's books I have seen, with many illustrations showing why some methods work and others fail. Uri is vary clear and benevolent in his sharing the princeiples for successfully creating a book for children. It was like being in workshop. With this book I feel prepared to pursue creating a kids' book!

This review is condensed from a longer review on my web site, The Purple Crayon.

The author of Writing with Pictures is a Caldecott medalist, and he gives the reader a master's class in the theory and the practicalities of picture book illustration in particular and of illustration more generally.

CONTENTS: This is a substantial book, large format, 272 pages, with over 600 illustrations (mostly black and white, many of them small). Shulevitz breaks it down into four sections: Telling the Story, Planning the Book, Creating the Pictures, and Preparing for Reproduction. There is also an appendix with advice on finding a publisher, a short bibliography, and a useful index.

Telling the Story: In this section, Shulevitz opens with the difference between a picture book and a story book. He then goes on to explain his theory of "visual storytelling," using many visual examples. He also demonstrates how text and illustration work together in a picture book, and closes with a discussion of the characteristics of a picture book, such as "linear continuity" and rhythm and repetition.

Planning the Book: In this section, Shulevitz shows the steps an illustrator goes through to create a book: starting with a story board; moving on to a dummy; working with text in a layout; playing with many possibilities of size, scale, shape; and dealing with the structure of a printed book. Step-by-step visual illustrations make this easy to follow.

Creating the Pictures: This section starts with theory: the purpose of illustration is to clarify or even illuminate the text, and thus the illustrator must at least make the pictures "readable." He then focuses on creating illustrations themselves. It covers such topics as drawing figures and objects, using visual references, composition, technique, and style, with copious examples.

Preparing for Reproduction: The book was originally published in 1985, and this is the only section that has become badly dated, as it focuses on the way to create pre-separated art, which used to be the predominant method used in children's books. Today, of course, almost all picture books are made by scanning original full-color art.

COMMENTS: It's not over-praising this book to say that there's no other book like it, and that it's an unmatched resource for anyone involved with children's book illustration. I've had a copy for several years, and I learn something every time I open it. Of course, I'm an editor, but the illustrators I know tell me the same.

If you want to understand the nitty-gritty of creating a picture book, from text to final illustrations and layout, there is no other book out there.

Shulevitz presents a clear, complete guide to the basics of creating a book for children. It starts with a brief discussion of plot, development, and resolution - maybe not what you remember about an illustrated children's book, but you know it when they're not well worked out. Given a story, the next step is in creating its pictures. Narrative illustration, the kind that contains a story and moves the reader through it, is a lot more than just the individual panels that make it up. Pictures may spotlight a few key events in the text, or they may take on the real load of the story-teller's task. It depends not only on the artistic decisions of the illustrator and writer (often different people), but also on the age range of the intended audience.

Next, the author starts getting into some of the mechanics of contemporary book construction. That includes the size and shape of the book, but also the number of pages (usually 32 or 48), including front matter. With that, Shulevitz discusses storyboards and dummies, where the art and story start to come to life. The book's longest section covers the artwork itself: media, composition, style, and all the mechanics of creating the images. Although worthwhile, this material may be more basic than the aspiring children's illustrator needs. This book gets back on track in the last section, on how printing is done and what that means to the book's creator.

Remember Dr. Seuss's flat expanses of one or two solid colors? They were required by the affordable printing processes of his time, up to about twenty years before this book was written (1985). Printing processes advanced in the twenty years since then, too, so some of the technical advice may be out of date for today's readers. Also, this book predates home computers capable of handling serious artwork - its computer-free tone may look quaint to today's readers. My real problem with this book, though, is that it assumes all children's books are fiction. Children's nonfiction, including histories, how-to books, and a lot more, simply are not addressed. Whatever else early readers might be, they are curious, intelligent people with many interests. Shulevitz's omission of what's real in favor of what isn't fails to serve the whole of the young and growing mind.

Still, it's a worthwhile reference. It lays out the basics, and encourages the reader to try an illustrated book of their own. For anyone with a color printer at home, it could be a thought to pursue.

//wiredweird

Uri Shulevitz's book Writing With Pictures is a treasure trove of valuable information concerning writing/illustrating children's books. For those with no interest whatsoever in illustration, the book explains how illustrations enhance and fulfill the promise of the text. For those only interested in illustration, the book describes how to correctly construct illustrations so that they illuminate, rather than repeat, the prose.

The book is divided in four parts. Part one defines/contrasts picture books and story books; two, describes how to plan the book; three, explains the construction and purpose of illustrations; and four, provides instruction on how to prepare illustrations for reproduction for publishing.

Although the book could be used for college courses in both art and literature, it is easily readable, enjoyable and informative. For individuals serious about writing and/or illustrating books for children, this book is a must-have resource. It's a keeper!

I have read quite a few books on writing and illustrating for children, and in my opinion, this one is far and away the best. Uri Schulevitz communicates the essential elements of outstanding writing and illustration for children so clearly that I had one of those "light bulb" moments. He uses an abundance of examples (his own work and others) to explain what he means. Off and on for years, I have been working on several books for children, but certain aspects didn't seem to work. I knew my work needed refining, but I was unable to define specific solutions. Schulevitz has broken down the process so well that I have finally been able to clarify my story lines and flow. Although printing processes have changed immensely since this book was published (especially in pre-production such as scanning artwork), making that portion out-of-date, the other information is timeless. This is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in writing for children.

As a 'gallery' artist moving more into illustration, I needed a text that really told me how to illustrate- what makes books different to gallery works, the psychology of composition, how to plan a book and incorporate words and pictures etc and this book has really done that for me. I found the section on composition and picture space particularly helpful.

This is the book for you if you want a book that tells you how and why. The author hasn't held back information but explains everything with lots of drawn examples. I bought another book on illustration at the same time - Exploring Illustration by Michael Fleishman- which like so many modern textbooks goes on about theory instead of telling you real technical information. It has served to show me just how good Writing With Pictures is and how generous the author is in giving information.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

I have read criticism that it doesn't have enough computer-related information but that isn't something all illustrators need. This deals with the real skills of the craft and to me, with so many programs out there you are better getting guides on every program you want to use to really master them than have the broad, undetailed cross-section inevitable in books about this size.

I chose this book (largely based on reviews here) since I'm beginning work on writing and illustrating children's books.

I've learned a lot of solid and useful relevant information from the book, hence the 4 stars. However, be aware that despite the 1997 publication date the text actually dates from the 80's according to the in-book publication data and I found the material very dated in some chapters.

For example, I found absolutely no mention of anything related to digital techniques. Even the laborious chapter on color preseparation gives the reader no clue that this type of work is nearly obsolete and can be done vastly better and more precisely with software.

I was also disappointed that there was not more variety amongst the hundreds of example images throughout the book. A very large portion of them are repeated or very similar images from Uri's own talented hand. A wider variety of illustrations in the examples and more use of and discussion of color would improve the book.

This has all the fundamentals in it for the aspiring and working children's book writer. the only reason i give it 4 instead of 5 stars is because the print quality is not so hot...

BUT still absolutely worth it for the wealth of knowledge contained therein :)

great book, great condition, it has really helped me with my first children's book! so great!!
I recommend this for all new illustrators.