The important books : children's picture books as art and literature / Joseph Stanton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stanton, Joseph, 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Illustrated children's books--United States.

Illustrated children's books.

Illustration of books--United States--20th century.

Illustration of books.

United States.

Physical Description:

88 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2005.

Summary:

The children's picture book is an important form of literary visual art. In this volume, Joseph Stanton disposes of some of the assumptions that have obscured this genre's achievements. While focusing on books that are distinguished by some degree of originality in both word and image, the author points out that picture books are not primarily pedagogical. They are not intended to serve as "dumbed down" versions of young adult or adult novels, and the audience is not solely children-the book must appeal to the parent or teacher to be successful. Because the children's picture book is designed to provide the context for an intimate transaction involving the imaginations of both parent and child, the resulting social value lends a special poignancy to the pleasure it provides.

The Important Books takes a look at some of the most significant and talked-about authors, illustrators, and titles in the genre. The insight of the author shows that these books feed a hunger not only for great stories but also for great art.

Contents:

Introduction

"Goodnight nobody" : comfort and the vast dark in the picture-poems of Margaret Wise Brown and her collaborators

Straight man and clown in the picture books of Arnold Lobel

The cycle of the seasons in Hall and Cooney's Ox-cart man

The New York City picture books of Maurice Sendak

Dashing heroes and eccentric families in William Joyce's picture sagas of our common culture

Surrealism and the strange tale in the picture books of Chris Van Allsburg.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0810851768

OCLC:

59818634