We are delighted to welcome author and illustrator David Barrow to our blog.  David is the winner of the Sebastian Walker Award and his first book Have You Seen Elephant? Was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize.  In this lively, thought-provoking blog, David discusses the art of picture books and introduces his brilliant new book Have You Seen Dinosaur?

I love poring over a picture book, reading and rereading a story, constantly noticing new things. People sometimes think picture books are simple things, easy to write and easy to read. But with a picture book you only have 14 or so spreads to create a whole believable environment, with well-rounded engaging characters. It’s get in and get out. Bang!

Picture book makers use many tips and tricks to cram in unspoken details, to expand the world of the narrative, to create this illusion of a fully formed world in a short space of time. Readers may not notice, but the brain does – and children surely do.

Within the simple stories of a picture book, other more tacit storylines are taking place.

In my first book Have You Seen Elephant? I had no time to introduce my characters, the action needed to start immediately! But I was able to provide somewhat of a backstory through family portraits and photos presented in the background on the front and back endpapers. These give the reader insight into our protagonist and his family, so we may feel some connection to him from the get-go.

In The Liszts, a book by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Júlia Sardà, each family member has their own page and one line of description. But the illustrations wholly elaborate on their characters, giving us a visual description of their psyche that transcends the text.

As a child I was captivated by the books of David McKee and Richard Scarry. So much is happening as we traverse Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town. In David McKee’s Charlotte’s Piggy Bank, there are numerous visual subplots that run alongside the main story. Punks buy shoes, two people fall in love. None of this is important to the reader’s understanding of the tale being told. But their inclusion creates a viable, vibrant world, full of excitement and activity – it’s a world we can believe our characters actually live in.

Picture book makers direct readers’ emotions using colour, texture and composition. In The Hidden House (written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Angela Barrett), three beautiful dolls are abandoned in a cottage in the woods when their maker passes away. As the house deteriorates, the colours shift from warm browns to cold blues to mirror the despondency of the dolls. Then when they are rediscovered by a new family, the images burst into vivid yellows and pinks and fill the page. These changes are subtle yet exponentially heighten the emotional impact of the story.

The concept of being aware of what is happening around us was a major consideration when I was writing Have You Seen Elephant? The protagonist’s implied obliviousness to the massive elephant in the room perhaps served to reward the reader for noticing the very big elephant.

It was an absurd exaggeration of the idea that you see more if you pay close attention (the dog always knows where to look).

In Have You Seen Dinosaur?, the new adventure for the main characters of child, elephant, and dog, I attempted to take this to the next level. This time, a whole city refuses to acknowledge the giant dinosaur roaming their streets. I guess it’s a metaphor for our inclination to get wrapped up in our own existence and miss what is happening all around us.

When we look at images in picture books it pays to recognise all the minutiae. The more we take notice, the more we get.

So, let’s start looking! Let’s get to meet the inhabitants and dive into the worlds that picture book makers create. Picture book makers love building these universes that exist within a small number of pages. We love providing readers with context, however subtle, to make readers’ many visits more enjoyable. The elephant – and now, the dinosaur – is right there to spot!

And they both love to be noticed.

Image Gallery

Image One: The Lizsts, Júlia Sardà

Image Two: Busy, Busy Town, Richard Scarry

Image Three: Charlotte's Piggy Bank, David McKee

Image Four: The Hidden House, illustrated by Angela Barrett, written by Martin Waddell

A big thank you to David Barrow for the guest blog and to Gecko Press for the opportunity