How to understand the concept and characteristics of picture books

Picture books are also called picture books. The word "picture book" comes from Japanese and is equivalent to "picture book" in English. Generally speaking, picture books or picture books refer to the same object, that is, those books with close combination of pictures and texts. Interestingly, the word picture book is generally understood as a book specially created for children in the world, but in Chinese mainland, the initial popularity of the word picture book is related to the picture book specially created for adults, although people of insight in China have made a lot of conscious efforts for the creation, editing and promotion of children's picture books before that. The "picture books" mentioned in this paper do not include books written for adults, although I do not object to adults reading picture books specially created for children, nor do I think that the readers of picture books specially created for children are limited to a younger age range.

As a comprehensive art form, picture books originate from the author's intuition and grasp things as a whole with the help of the author's spiritual strength. Intuition is characterized by images, which can only be used to express the author's intuitive feelings. Creation is vivid and concrete, and concepts are rational and logical. It is a kind of difficulty to summarize vivid and highly personalized creation in rational and logical language. Theory can never accurately refer to the object itself. The picture book itself is a process of continuous development and change. It is colorful and meaningful. Every theory is limited by history and can only be defined from a specific point. It is also difficult for a fixed and limited concept to explain the creation and development process of picture books. This is also the reason why it is difficult to accurately grasp the concept of picture books.

In recent years, because of my work and my father's reasons, I have contacted, bought and read a large number of picture books for my children, so before I started writing, countless picture books appeared in my mind immediately. Each one is a unique expression of the author's personal life experience and artistic experience. They are so artistic that they can be widely circulated beyond the author's time. They carry many values shared by human beings, and at the same time they are presented in a way that children can accept and love. Every picture book provides a unique travel world for children. The author believes that to explore the characteristics and multiple values of picture books, we should start from each book and carefully analyze each picture book, instead of just trying to seek the concept, characteristics and value of "universal" picture books.

In the following text, you will also see that countless masters have done work at all levels in the field of world picture book creation, publishing and research, but their work has not been understood by more people. If more colleagues can understand the efforts of these masters and the value of their works through this article, so as to bring this magical gift to children through teachers and parents, this is probably the most valuable effort this article can make; On the other hand, although picture books are so difficult to explain, it may not be possible to give the final definition of picture books, but this paper tries to understand and describe some characteristics of picture books from several different angles, such as the composition and presentation form of picture books, the historical investigation of picture books as children's books (especially as children's literature), and the birth and development of modern picture books, hoping to inspire colleagues who are interested in this.

Structure and expression of picture books

Pictures in picture books

"There are excellent articles and excellent pictures in the picture book." (Song Juzhi), from the perspective of book structure, picture books have words and pictures (wordless books are a special form of expression). But picture books are different from books with words and pictures; The relationship between pictures, words and pictures in picture books has specific requirements. Peng Yi, a children's writer, pointed out in his new book Reading and Classics of Picture Books, "Picture books tell a complete story with pictures and words, which is an ensemble of pictures and texts. In picture books, pictures are no longer vassals of words, but the life of books, and even many picture books are wordless books without a word. "

Therefore, as far as picture books are concerned, "painting" is its lifeline. Children can use pictures to read the context of stories or understand the knowledge and information provided by pictures. Therefore, picture book painting is not an illustration, it is not only to show what the words have already expressed, nor to appear as an "assistant" of the words. It is a complete creation in itself, and its connotation is even richer than the words. Picture books attract children through vision. The pictures in picture books can be appreciated as independent pictures, but not only by the coordination of lines and colors or the aesthetics of composition and form to please children. The relationship between children and paintings in picture books is to see the stories or knowledge and information on the paintings. For him, this is the initial entrance to reading, and painting interests children. If the picture shows a story, the child's eyes will find it.

When talking about the requirements for pictures, Mr. Song Juzhi said: "The criterion I choose is whether his paintings can tell stories. It is not enough for him to draw this plot. He must be able to understand the plot and relate to the background of the story. " Therefore, the pictures in the picture book should be able to "speak", express the content, theme and details of the book, have artistic expression, have rich details for children to discover, be able to connect with their existing life experiences, stimulate their reading interest and arouse their * * *. The pictures in the picture book can not be regarded as an independent painting art, nor can children just enjoy painting. It should let children enter another world with painting as a clue and create a three-dimensional world in their hearts. The function of picture books to tell pictures, or the function of language, and the ability to tell stories without words are the basic requirements of picture books for pictures.

Picture books also emphasize the continuity of pictures, that is, the connection and continuity between pictures. Within dozens of pages, the picture should form a continuous visual image, which plays a role in promoting the story and bringing readers into the development of the plot. At the same time, in order to continuously unfold the story, it is necessary to constantly maintain and develop the image, and pay attention to burying clues between pictures. Painting must be able to tell stories with rich expressions, vividly unfold the plot, and also have movements and rhythms. These requirements, especially in "wordless books", are particularly prominent. Without the help of words, wordless books challenge the author's ability to tell stories to children simply with pictures: to prevent wordless books from becoming picture books, wordless books must be rigorous in image time and space and story structure, stimulate emotions or stimulate thinking and imagination, and take into account the fun of children's discovery.

Cadillac Award in the United States and kate greenaway Award in the United Kingdom are the world's authoritative picture book awards. We can further understand the requirements of picture books for "pictures" from their criteria for selecting excellent picture books. Cadillac Award Criteria: Did you use excellent artistic skills? Can pictures skillfully present the story, theme or concept of this book? Is the style of the picture very suitable for the story, theme or idea of this book? Can you convey the story, characters, atmosphere and information in the book completely through the picture? Kate greenaway Prize Criteria: Are the media materials selected for the pictures appropriate? Is the painter's personal style creative and unique? Is style conducive to expressing the theme? Is the painting style consistent throughout the book?

The Relationship between Picture and Text in Picture Books

Different scholars have different expressions about the relationship between pictures and texts in picture books: "pictures and texts are interdependent", "pictures and texts are intertwined" and "pictures and texts share narrative responsibility". In my picture book, Mr. Song Juzhi has an image expression of "words multiplied by pictures" instead of "words plus pictures". This multiplication symbol not only shows the internal relationship between pictures and texts in picture books, for example, the painting method and style of painting should be selected according to the requirements of stories or content, and it should serve the content, which has inherent consistency requirements, or a harmonious, harmonious and harmonious relationship; For example, pictures and texts complement each other, reflecting and even comparing. At the same time, it is also a requirement for their external presentation. From the cover to the ring lining, the title page, the text and the back cover, the relationship between pictures and texts should meet the requirements of "beauty" or "art", and pay attention to details, which is helpful to the theme and content to be expressed. Gong Huiying, a senior picture book editor of Oriental Doll magazine, believes that "a good picture book is a perfect marriage." In other words, a good picture book is a combination of words and pictures. As David Lewis summed up in the introduction of Reading Contemporary Picture Books: Picture Book Text, "For a long time, we have a wide understanding of the basic characteristics of this form of picture books, that is, it combines two different expressions-pictures and words-into a composite test." Perry Nordemann said in The Joy of Reading Children's Literature: "A picture book contains at least three kinds of stories: stories told in words, stories implied in pictures, and stories produced by combining the two." As for the relationship between graphics and text, the criteria for judging the kate greenaway Prize in Britain are: How integrated are graphics and text in typesetting? Does the picture and text echo? Are pictures helpful to explain the text, or are they just decorative? There must be information in the book. Is the picture correct and clear?

Overall design of picture books

As a complete book art, it is not enough to focus only on pictures and words. As Song Juzhi said, "I think picture books are a kind of plastic arts with various shapes. A picture book must choose the right shape according to the story. Besides, The weight and printing are different. .............................................................................................................................................. ......................... Although the key of picture books lies in the creative combination of words and pictures, as a material form, books are related to many issues, such as size, format, paper, shape, weight, binding, printing, binding and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the characteristics of picture books from the comprehensive perspective of words, pictures and production, that is, the artistic requirements for the overall production, so that children can truly feel the charm of books. Or take the standard of the British kate greenaway Prize as an example: Is the format (font, font, spacing) appropriate? Does this format help to concentrate (or distract) the reader's attention? Is this book the right size? What is the function of cover, title page and title? Does the visual impression of reading bring new experience to readers? Or can it reflect the reader's existing experience? What is the quality of visual art? What's the overall impression on readers?

Therefore, from the perspective of the elements contained in picture books and their relationships, picture books are a unique material form that combines language and painting in a specific form in a creative way.