Performance of Children's Literature Spring 2025

How We Read Images

How do we read images?

Watch: How Pictures Work

One of the images in the fairy tale slide show was from the illustrator Molly Bang. In this video, graphic design instructor, Jessie Tran, will take you through the images of Bang’s book Picture This: How Pictures Work and the creation of a visual Little Red Riding Hood variation.

Read and Watch: More Illustration Factors To Consider

The overall composition of a picture book is just as important as any single illustration.

How images and texts work together within that composition helps us read the images more complexly. We are reading with a visual vocabulary. Some of what gives us clues about what is being communicated are:

  • Framing – Does the picture exist as a separate framed piece away from the text, perhaps putting us at a distance? Does the illustration go to the edge of the page without a frame? Does this make the reader feel that they are part of the illustration or that it is more casual?
  • Line – As in the video above, Horizontal lines can indicate calmness and stability. Vertical lines can be used to indicate energy or barriers. Diagonal lines can indicate instability or even danger. Curvy lines indicate comfort and softness.
  • Page Composition: Where is our eye drawn toward? What is being given preference visually? Where is the text in relation to the image? Is it separate or incorporated? Is the image a full page? A double-page spread? Or, are there spot illustrations amongst the text? With or without a full background?
  • Color: The palette of a picture book helps us to read emotion.

With illustration, we also often read a depiction of visual body language in the characters.

Symmetrical Illustrations

In a picture book, the illustrations might be symmetrical meaning that the text and images are a match – for example, Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s Goodnight Moon, or here, in Ezra Jack’s Keats The Snowy Day.

Complementary Illustrations

In many cases, illustrations are complementary or enhancing, meaning that they reflect the text, but that by reading the image we gain something new. Take a look at this image from Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

When we read the image we see that Peter is not exactly listening, setting up the rest of the story. It enhances our understanding of why the next events happen.

Maurice Sendak uses a similar approach in Where the Wild Things Are.

Notice how we learn what kind of mischief Max is up to in the first few pages. As the story goes on Sendak changes the composition of the images to the text and they interact differently.

Counterpoint Illustrations

Illustrations and text can also appear in counterpoint. Sometimes, this is also called parallel storytelling. In this book, Phoebe Gilman’s Something from Nothing, see if you can follow the story of the mice under the floor.

The text never acknowledges the mice, but they have their own story.

Contradictory Illustrations

Sometimes the illustrations can in some way contradict the story or a part of the story. Two examples of this are Satoshi Kitamura’s Lily Takes A Walk and Marta Altés No!

What story is REALLY happening here? How do the illustrations tell two stories at once?

Think about one of your favorite picture books (maybe the one you read for your first assignment) what can you say about the illustrations? How do they interact with the text? What kind of visual vocabulary is the illustrator using?

Go Back to Illustration
Go on to Picture Books as Art

24 responses to “How We Read Images”

  1. Denise Warren Avatar
    Denise Warren

    In The Mitten by Jan Brett the picture does exist as a separate framed piece away from the text on each page. There are spot illustrations surrounding the actual illustrations that goes with the text. The spot illustrations goes to the edge of the page. It looks like one illustration within another. My eyes were drawn to the colorful framed images surrounding the bordered illustrations and text that matched the actual story. The illustrations are doubled-page. The text is incorporated into the actual illustrations (which does not take up the full page) that matches the text. The illustrations does seem to draw the reader in and the author uses a lot of detailed illustrations to help the readers understand the story being told, the genre, and emotions of the character in the story.

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  2. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    One of my favorite picture books, Giving Thanks with Max, has illustrations that are warm, colorful, and full of charm. The pictures interact with the text by visually showing the message of gratitude, showing Max’s expressions and actions as he learns about thankfulness. The illustrator uses soft, rounded shapes and bright colors, creating a friendly and inviting atmosphere that matches the tone of the story. The visual vocabulary is simple yet expressive, using clear imagery to help convey emotions like joy, appreciation, and connection, making it easy for children to relate to the theme.

    Reply
  3. Crystal Ebanks Avatar
    Crystal Ebanks

    One of my favorite picture books, The Snowy Day, uses abstract and vibrant pieces to convey the image of a child experiencing what seems to be their first snowy day. I remember really enjoying this story due to how bright the colors were in contrast to the snow depicted in the book, and also being able to relate; My first snowy day was extremely fun but eventually I was ready to come back inside and enjoy the warmth of my home. The lines in this book were very straight forward yet conveyed a lot of emotion for the reader by use of exclamation points, to differentiate the tone.

    Reply
  4. Amy Merino Avatar
    Amy Merino

    One of my favorite books as a kid was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the way that the text interacts with the text is that when it’s listing off the foods he ate it also shows the food in the flap. The visual vocabulary in this sense is the food. I think the book is so good for little kids who don’t know how to read yet because they can associate the words with the images and same for smaller kids learning to speak as well.

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  5. Rachel Wong Avatar
    Rachel Wong

    When I was reading Horton Hatches the Egg, I noticed some of the text follows the corresponding action that was happening. When Horton first sat on the egg, the text, “and he sat” was repeated multiple times in a way it was going down the stairs. Despite the fact that Horton was sitting on the egg almost the whole storybook, it was filled with action due to the chaos around him. The illustrations really helped visualize and understand all the chaos moving around Horton whilst he was trying to stay on the egg.

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  6. Jada Williams Avatar
    Jada Williams

    In the “Three Little Pigs” by Sarah Prince the illustrations are framed side by side on separate pages from the text. They are full page illustrations with natural and neutral colors. This gives off a welcoming friendly vibe. The beginning of the text where the pigs and houses are shown the pigs are at the bottom and the houses are more centralized. They are at a good size and distance to see the relevance and importance of each character and the house. As we become introduced to the wolf he is set bigger and have on dark colors. As Molly’s bang mentions in the video pointed shapes can have a scary set up and the color red can represent fire or blood. Here the wolf’s handkerchief is a triangle shape and red and he has black sharp nails. As he blows down the houses they shift from vertical lines to diagonal. In addition the wolf becomes centralized as the pig will become smaller hidden in the bushes far out in the back. In the scene where the pigs are in the brick house the building is horizontal showing a sense of stability. I also noticed that in the scene the pigs were in the upper half of the picture in the window of the brick house which Molly states represents freedom and spirited, while the bottom half was where the wolf was trying to come in.

    Reply
  7. Kajol Victoria Singh Avatar
    Kajol Victoria Singh

    Based on my memory, I remember the illustrations of “What Was I Scared of” following a theme of green and some dabbles of other colors. It added to the funny mystery of the pants that had been following the main character. The drawings of the landscapes had also given the story a light mysterious feel.

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  8. Aleksandra A Grala Avatar
    Aleksandra A Grala

    One of my favorite picture books growing up was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin Jr. The illustrations in that book are bold, colorful, and simple, making them perfect for young readers. The textured, collage-style artwork gives the animals a unique, handmade look that feels playful and engaging. The images follow the text and have repeatition in the story. Each page introduces a new animal, helping children predict what comes next while keeping them visually engaged. Eric Carle uses a strong visual vocabulary with bright primary colors and simple shapes. This makes the animals easily recognizable and memorable, supporting early learning and making the book visually appealing to kids.

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  9. cindy ambrosio Avatar
    cindy ambrosio

    The book “Alexander, who used to be rich last Sunday” has a black and white illustration that seems more like a very detailed sketch rather than a colorful cartoon. This is still appealing to the eye because of the way they depict the persons and objects. Most of the page is white, and the drawings are black and gray which make it pop. The words are written on the top of the pages with some phrases written mid page, which places more emphasis on certain words/phrases.

    Reply
  10. Layla Ettu Avatar
    Layla Ettu

    The book that I completed for the first assignment, which was Grandma’s Tiny House, when looking at the illustrations in the book, I felt that the book had very detailed colorful drawings. The pictures and the text went along hand-in-hand. Every set of words that was on the page matched with the illustrations for that page. What type of visual vocabulary that the illustrator was using was framing. The author had the illustrations go from edge to edge, so it really makes you feel like you were a part of the illustration.

    Reply
  11. Sophia Awad Avatar
    Sophia Awad

    My favorite picture book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle, as I did my first presentation on it. As I mentioned in my first presentation, the illustrations of this book are by far my favorite. They are so beautiful and give a welcoming and warm feeling to the children reading it. They directly associate with the repetition of the text and the main purpose of the book, which is to learn the names of colors and animals as illustrated. The kind of visual vocabulary used by Eric Carle was definitely symmetrical illustrations, as the images matched the text exactly. Carle also used simple, bold lines and vibrant colors, keeping the images as the main focal point of the book.

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  12. Synphanie Mojica Avatar
    Synphanie Mojica

    “Let’s Be Enemies” illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is done in spot illustrations where there aren’t full images but only ones that take up some parts of the page. This book also has symmetrical Illustrations that depict exactly what the text is saying. What draws people’s attention into this text is the color palette. It is on a white background, while the drawings are in color. The illustrations are done by using the same pattern that shows green, black, and red over and over, so it’s simple to follow. Sometimes the pictures go beyond the borders, such as one in which the little boy’s umbrella seems to be going past the page, like it’s about to come out of the book. Another interesting aspect is the shading of the characters and objects, it has a crayon-like quality (like in the texture of one boy’s hair), which provides a soft hue to the pictures, and makes them appear warmer. Overall, the pictures complement the text and help to engage the audience in this book.

    Reply
  13. Shania Smith Avatar
    Shania Smith

    The favorite picture book growing up was the Hungry Caterpillar because I was always a foodie and anything with food in it interested me. I think the pictures in the book really made the story come alive. The small holes that the caterpillar ate through the food in the book was fun to see and made me more interested. You could actually hear the texture of the foods the caterpillar ate with the descriptive words the author used.

    Reply
  14. D'Ella Brown Avatar
    D’Ella Brown

    My favorite children’s book is Corduroy and I specifically remember the illustrations from that book. The page where Corduroy realizes he lost his button and looks down with a surprise felt like visual vocabulary. As a child i was looking at pictures before reading the words and was able to see what happened before I read it.

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  15. Isabel Belasoto Avatar
    Isabel Belasoto

    There is not that many renditions of the ugly duckling where the art work really stands out in my head, only one scene that really sticks out is when the ducking ends up becoming a swan. That scene would always differ from book to book but mostly because it is the climax of the story. I like a book with a lot of different colors and textures like No, David! and The Hungry Caterpillar.

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  16. Salma Avatar
    Salma

    One of my favorite picture books is Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall. The illustrations feel soft and detailed, making the story feel warm and nostalgic. They match the text perfectly, showing the changing seasons and the daily life inside the lighthouse. The artwork has a gentle, old-fashioned style that makes the book feel like a timeless story.

    Reply
  17. Calista Spezio Avatar
    Calista Spezio

    The illustrations in Corduroy have always stuck with me because of how warm and comfortable they have always made me feel. I really like his soft, painterly style, it was different from anything I saw. The dark yet inviting feel of this book creates so much emotion and depth. His illustrations feel very comforting to me.

    Reply
  18. Aliviya Iskhakova Avatar
    Aliviya Iskhakova

    Corduroy is the picture book I remember most vividly from my childhood because of the illustrations. That book features symmetrical illustrations, meaning what is happening in the text is directly reflected in the illustrations. The artist uses a lot of bright and warm colors in order to give the book a cheery tone. Additionally, in a lot of the illustrations Corduroy is positioned in the middle of the page to have us focus on him even if there’s a lot going on in the background. His bright green overalls also help him standout. The illustrator also uses depth perception in order to make us understand how small of a bear he is. When he’s far away from view, he’s much smaller than everything surrounding him.

    Reply
  19. Zoe Davis Avatar
    Zoe Davis

    One of my favorite picture books is “Where the Wild Things Are.” The illustrations were one of my favorite parts of the book. They are otherworldly (that’s the best word I can think of to describe it). They use a pallette that feels nostalgic. I remember there being a lot of blues and grays and greens.

    Reply
  20. Leslie Talavera Avatar
    Leslie Talavera

    One of my first favorite books was Zomo the rabbit by Gerald Mcdermott which was about a rabbit who went on a quest from the gods to know why he was the fastest animals. the way it was illustrated was colorful and eye catching since it was mainly bright yellow pages.

    Reply
  21. Jacklyn Serrano Avatar
    Jacklyn Serrano

    Room on the Broom is one of my favorite picture books because the illustrations add so much to the story. The pictures are playful and you can see little hints of what’s about to happen before the words say it, like the witch’s hat flying off. The style is fun and matches the silly, magical vibe of the story. The pictures and text work together perfectly to make it exciting and easy to follow.

    Reply
  22. Malissa Solon Avatar
    Malissa Solon

    One of my favorite picture books is Please baby Please by Spike Lee.What i liked about the book is that it had a colored girl and it very cute pictures.Everytime I read that books the class knows what going by the pictures.

    Reply
  23. chadeary park Avatar
    chadeary park

    One of my favorite picture books is Where the Wild Things Are. The illustrations work with the story in a way that feels natural and expressive. The colors and shapes shift as Max’s emotions change, and the monsters are drawn in a way that makes them feel huge but also kind of lovable. You can see how the illustrator uses size, placement, and spacing to show how Max’s world is growing and shrinking with his feelings. The visual vocabulary gives you more than the words do on their own, it helps you feel what Max is going through without needing it spelled out.

    Reply
  24. Jairy Arana Avatar
    Jairy Arana

    One of my favorite picture books is “The Ugly Duckling”, and the illustrations really bring the story to life. The artist uses soft, gentle colors and delicate lines that make the characters feel tender and real. The pictures show the duckling’s sadness and loneliness in a way that words alone can’t, like how he looks small and out of place among the other animals. The illustrator uses nature scenes and changing seasons to show the passing of time and the duckling’s growth. This visual style helps me feel the story’s message about being different and finding where you belong.

    Reply

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