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November 29, 2007 by Travis Jonker

… Or Should They Be Called “Visual Books”?

November 29, 2007 by Travis Jonker   Leave a Comment

Well pull up a chair! Slate Magazine has gone all children’s lit and published a visual history of picture book illustration. Here’s an excerpt:

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“During the 18th century and for much of the 19th, there wasn’t a whole lot of American literature for children. And when children’s books did get published, they weren’t designed for pleasure. Books were for schooling or for teaching religious and moral lessons—with properly serious illustrations chaperoning the text. This somber mode continued through the Civil War. And then it went poof, dispelled by artists who became children’s illustrators by happenstance. By the end of the 19th century, the art in kids’ books had become madcap and zany and irreverent.”

And a handy slide show to boot.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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