Examples and Historical Overview

These are a few examples of other childrens book covers that are similar designs and subject I am thinking of doing with my own.

I chose this book for one of my examples as I really liked the way they have drawn the animals. Especially the cow, as the first time I drew 'Mooseman' it is kind of the same style. Having all the animals looking towards the title makes the reader focus inwards to where they are all looking. This is a very clever way of making the title stand out.

Historical Overview

Early precursors

• First painting on cave wall are over 30,00 -60,000 years old. In this day, image would be the most important means of communication.
• The oldest surviving illustrated book is an Egyptian papyrus roll from around 1980 BC.
• Words and pictures were inscribed on to the perishable materials, such as, wood, leaves, leather and early forms of paper.
• Fifteenth century printer and sculptor - Leonardo da Vinci

The printing books from 15th to 19th century

• The invention of printing in the 15th cnetury meant that education in the west began more available to more than just the wealthy few.
• Block printing by Johannes Gutenburg in the 1430's
• Ulrich Boner's 'Der Edelstein' (1461) is the first example of a book with type and image printed together.
• Comenius' Orbis (Sensualium pictus) (The visible world) published in Nuremburg in (1658). Which was the first childrens picturebook.

Colour printing in the 19th century

• Until the 1830's colour was added by hand.
• Printing colour from woodblocks invented by George Baxter and Charles Knight
• Heinrich Hoffmann had a modern influence around 1848.

The birth of the modern picturebook in the late 19th century

• 'A book of nonesense' was published and the most important figure in picturebooks
• Randolph Cadlecott was known as the 'Father' of the picture book
• Maurice Sendak, was possibly the greatest author of visual literature.
• Cadlecott tends to be bracketed with two other artists (Walter Crane and Kate Greenway) and printer Edmund Evans
• Crane comments in his Reminiscenes of 1907 on Evans' more 'tasteful' approach to printing:

'...but it was not without protest from the publishers who thought the raw, coarse colours and vulgar designs usually current, appealed to a larger public and therefore, better paid...'

From the golden age of illustration

• Latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century are known as the 'Golden age' of childrens books.
• Sir John Tenniel's drawings for Lewis Caroll's  'Alices Adventures in Wonderland' published by MacMillian in 1865.
• In the early 20th century experimentation with art was more adventurous and advanced in France than in Britain.

The 1930's

• 'Barbar the elephant' first came about in 'The Story of Barbar' in 1931. Published in France by Conde Nast. He was the creation of Jean de Brunhoff, a painter from Paris who's father was a publisher.
• Large colourful format and handwritten text.
• Edward Ardizzone's books were printed in a large 9 x 13 inch format with full colour throughout (although only one sided)
• Mervyn Peake an imaginative/ original artist in the 1930 he did both visual and verbal texts.
• His books were published in 1939 shortly before World War II
• 'Curious George' published in 1941 in New York by Margaret and H.A Rey.

Puffin Picture books, Autolithography and the European influence

• Editor and publisher 'Noel Carriongton' is a well known figure in London publishing in the 1930's
• Imprint owned by George Newnes
• 'High street' published in 1938, a 20th century illustrated book, lithography by 'Eric Ravilioui'
• 32 pages with a 7 x 9 inch format
• Created by printing a whole book on one large sheet of paper with colour on the one side.
• Printed by W.S Cowell of Ipswich
• Puffin picture books produced in vast numbers though 1940's, 1950's and 1960's.
• Among artists who showed great skills showing their work through autolithography were Stanley Badmin, Clack Hutton, Kathleen Hale and Edward Bawden.

The post war years

• Autolithography continued to be a popular means of production and Noel Carrington's influence in Britain.
• Introduced artists such as Susan Einzig
• Susan Einzig illustrated Philippa Pearce's 'Tom's midnight garden' (Oxford University Press) (1958)
• The 'Little Red Engine' books produced through Autolithography.
• Originally illustrations by Diana Ross and produced by Lewitt-Him
• Lewitt-Him = a partnership made of Jan Lew Witt and George Him, who arrived in England from Poland in 1937

The 1950's and Visual thinking

• Suddenly  books showed an unified approach to concept
• Image and typeography were appearing
• Works became fewer as an understanding of the potential of the page as a multimodal visual stage grew.
• English language picturebooks benefited from the influence of a number of authorial artists of European or Latin origin (displaced by war) or had arrived in the United States as immigrants.
• Including : Antonio Frasconi, Roger Duvoisin, Leo Lionni and Miroslaw Sasek.
• Influenced American designer Paul Rand's first pictruebook written by his wife, Ann Rand 'I know alot of things' published by Harcourt Brace in 1956.
• Antonio Fransconi's 'See and Say' introduced children into four languages, first appeared in 1955.
• Roger Duvoisin's first successful series 'The Happy Lion' appeared in 1945 and was also writen by his wife, Louise Fatio.
• Leo Lionni brought Holland, Belgium, New York and Italy, another key figure in children's books emerged from a background in design in the late 1950's

The 1960's

• Brain Wildsmith, Charles Keeping, Raymond Briggs and John Burmingham.
• Wildsmith and Keeping = Mabel George an editor at Oxford University Press.
• George = Passionate advocated of their work
• Wildsmith, had an Art Museum in Izukogen, south of Tokyo which was established in 1994.
• 1960's publication of  'The Tiger who came to tea' by Judith Kerr (also author of 'Mog' books.
• Introduced the double-page spread
• The 'This is...' series by Miroslav Sasek began with 'This is Paris' in 1958
• Sasek could be the greatest illustrator of all time
• 'Where the wild things are' published by Harper & Row in 1963
• Tomi Ungerer another influenced artist
• 2007 he opened the 'Musee Tomi Ungerer' in his home town of Stasbourg, France. This museum houses his work but also the work of Ronald Searles and Andre Francois
• 'Moon man' published in 1966 is possibly one of the most famous books.

The 1970's onwards

• Ray Gerrard author/ illustrator in the late 1970's : 'The Favershams' 1982, and 'Joncasta Carr, Movie Star' 1992.
• Anthony Browne (2009-11) Briatins Chidlren's Laureate
• Janet Ahlberg creative partnership with her husband All Ahlberg. Until her untimely death at age 50. Their collaberative work included 'The Jolly Postman' 1986 and 'Each Peach Pear Plum' 1978.

Picturebooks in the 21st century

• Lane Smith's collaberation with writer Jon Scieszka and designer Molly Leach. 'The true story of the three little pigs' was published in 1989
• The three little pigs was not written by so-called author Alexander T.Wolf.
• Jimmy Liao's work was extremely successful in his hometown of Taiwan. 'A fish with a smile' and Secret woods' both published in the late 1990's
• Alot of his work has been translated to theatre
• Jutta Bauer's picturebooks also deal with philosophical themes 'Granpa's angel' (2005)