Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books

by Perry Nodelman

A pioneering study of a unique narrative form, Words about Pictures examines the special qualities of picture books--books intended to educate or tell stories to young children. Drawing from a number of aesthetic and literary sources, Perry Nodelman explores the ways in which the interplay of the verbal and visual aspects of picture books conveys more narrative information and stimulation than either medium could achieve alone. Moving from "baby" books, alphabet books, and word books to such well-known children's picture books as Nancy Ekholm Burkert's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , Gerald McDermott's Arrow to the Sun , Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are , and Chris Van Allsburg's The Garden of Abdul Gasazi , Nodelman reveals how picture-book narrative is affected by the exclusively visual information of picture-book design and illustration as well as by the relationships between pictures and their complementary texts.

Genres: Nonfiction, Criticism, Theory, Childrens, Art, Academic, Education

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ця вже класична у сфері досліджень книжок-картинок розвідка (1988 рік, на неї всі посилаються в усіх новіших статтях) - це своєрідна граматика візуальної оповіді. Так само як з природньою мовою, яку ми здатні розуміти і використовувати, навіть не знаючи, які задіяні граматичні правила, а коли дізнаємося про них, то думаємо: "о, точно, саме так це і працює, ніколи про це не думав" - так і ця розвідка розбирає на прикладі декількох класичних (англомовних) книжок-картинок, як працює цей жанр як виражальна мова - хоча воно на нас цілком працює і без формального знання. Оскільки я до дослідницького міркування на тему книжок-картинок прийшла чисто з літературознавчого бекґраунду, то це все дуже помічно. Це не перше, що я читаю у Нодельмана про дитячу літературу, і він завжди підходить через те, що "ну добре, зараз ми будемо проговорювати речі, які всім здавалися само собою зрозумілими, і вийдемо через це на нові горизонти". Попутно дізналася про купу виражально цікавих книжок-картинок, які на заході вважаються класичними. (На щастя, щоб зрозуміти, які візуальні аспекти автор обговорює у прикладах, більшість цих старіших книжок можна знайти або на archive.org, або "начитаними" на ютьюбі.)

[Susanna]

I think that this book had good points throughout. But I hated this book. The author was very repetitive and took 20 pages each time to get the point across. Also, the title, Words About Pictures, is just that. There are very few images in this book to depict what the author is trying to say.

[Doni · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most thought-provoking part was an analysis of books for very young children. Even books with only pictures often expect the reader to understand that sequence moves from left to right (for English readers), that pictures can come in one or two page spreads, that perspective and size can change from page to page. I hadn't ever considered this subtleties.

[Sarz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for MA Children's Lit

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating discussion of how pictures work, using many familiar titles but especially WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. I was particularly struck by the chapter on the rhythms of picture book narrative, the back-and-forth movement between words and pictures. It made me wonder about the different ways we might now read informational books, so much more extensively illustrated than they were even in 1988 when he wrote this.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Good picture books, then, offer us what all good art offers us: greater consciousness--the opportunity, in other words, to be more human. That means to be less innocent, more wise. It also means both to feel more objectively and to think with more involvement...allows us first to know the world and then to love the world we know."

[Cara Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like everything else Nodelman has written, I found _Words about Pictures_ to be really interesting, very readable, and just fun to read.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In a single day, how many non-signifying fields do we cross?"

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imprescindible