The series contained three programs but I found the first two more relevant to me as they were both for children’s books aimed at under 10’s. The last program focussed on books which are aimed at children aged from 10 to teens, these books are much more elaborate and focus more on the imagination of the reader creating their own imagery. Very few, if any, images are needed. I also think that my developing style of illustration is better suited to the under 10’s.
When We Were Very Young
This program focuses on picture books aimed at the under 6’s. It starts off looking back to very early examples of children’s picture book illustration. In the eighteen hundreds children’s illustration was focussed mainly on traditional literature, such as fairytales and nursery rhymes. These stories have proved to have a timeless appeal to children. Early illustrations represented quite literally what was going on in the text. Randolph Caldecott was the first illustrator to play around with the relationship between words and pictures. He made the imagery fun and set a bench mark for future illustrators which exists to this day.
Beatrix Potter was the first notable illustrator to both write and illustrate her own books. The tales of Peter Rabbit and his friends have remained popular to this day, they have never been out of print. The memorable characters and the unique world which Beatrix Potter created have contributed to the popularity of the books.
Enid Blyton is a more recent example of a successful children’s book author. Her Noddy books came into creation around the 1950’s, they are a rare example of an author creating characters to fit an illustrators style. Harmsen Van der Beek illustrated the Noddy books, his style is very bright and cheerful. Children enjoy seeing the toy characters and hearing about their adventures because their toys are important to them. They are surrounded by toys so in a way the books animate their world. When I was reading into Bruno Bettelheims theories on the importance of fairytales for children I discovered that children believe inanimate objects have thoughts and feelings like our own, even if they are told otherwise. So children can relate with the Noddy books in a way that adults cannot.
Brian Wildsmith made an appearance on the program talking about his ABC book which he illustrated fresh out of art school. The riot of colours and textures was quite different to anything which been done before. Some said that the illustrations looked “unfinished” as there were areas where the paint crossed the lines or was smudged, but it is pointed out that these are qualities of children’s own pictures so they enjoy and relate to the images. Brian Wildsmith notes that the essential thing for children’s books is creativity.
Pat Hutchins is an author and illustrator who emerged around the same time as Brian Wildsmith. She created a book called Rosie’s walk, which she describes as being almost like a silent movie. The narrative describes the hen going for a walk through the barnyard. The illustrations show this but they also show the hen being stalked by a fox. The fox stumbles into a number of traps throughout the book whilst the hen carries on oblivious. Children enjoy seeing the villain stopped. The set up of this book also gives the child the upper hand. As the adult is reading the child can spot what is going on in the illustrations which then gives them something to point out to the reader. Rosie’s walk shows that even young children are capable of understanding quite complex visual storytelling. 
Janet and Allen Ahlberg are a husband and wife collaboration who create children’s books. Allen wrote the books and Janet illustrated them. This seems to be the next best thing than being an authorstrator, or could even work out better. The close collaboration enabled them create the book as they both wanted, with the author tweaking the text to best suit the illustrations and the illustrator tweaking the images to best suit the text. The close relationship enables the pair to knock the book back and forth until both are happy. Although this would mean making compromises it seems like a great way of making the most of a book, and pushing to get the best result possible. Ann and Paul Rand also collaborated within their marriage to create children’s books, I have shown some of the outcomes earlier in my blog.Janet and Allen Ahlberg created Each Peach Pear Plum which drew on traditional fairytales and nursery rhymes to become a modern classic. Children really enjoy listening to text that rhymes, even when they are very young, they like the way the words sound. So a rhyming narrative was another element which made the book a huge success. Along with the sense of play which is included in the illustrations, the readers are encouraged to search for elements within the pictures, this is something which makes the book much more fun.
Another book which borrowed from the folk tradition is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. He adapted the story from an old American folk song. Michael Rosen points out that “the folk tradition creates rhymes and stories that you can repeat over and over again.” Children like repetition within a story as they like to go back to something familiar. 
This program ends with a short formula for creating successful children’s picture books:-Good stories + great illustration + memorable characters + happy ending = :)
Now We Are Six
At this age children begin to read on their own. The illustrations become less dominant in the books for this age group, and the text becomes more complex and adventurous. Alice in Wonderland is the first example shown of successful literature for this age group. Lewis Carroll creates a fantasy world which begs to be illustrated, although at first the text had none, many have attempted it since. John Tenniel was the first to illustrate the book, he was a political cartoonist. His illustrations fit the text perfectly, they capture the strange qualities of the literature and the characters are very quirky. The book makes the young girl seem like the only sane character in a bizarre world of adults, which I’m sure many children can relate to.
Children are often the main characters in story books aimed at this age group. They are kept as recognizable characters who the reader can relate, and then the author tends to make the other elements within the book adventurous to make the child feel as though they are having the adventure. To take the child on the adventure the author must first liberate them from their parents so they are far away from home. One example which was talked about in the program was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The children are separated from their parents by war and the evacuation. Then a portal is used in the form of the wardrobe to transport the children to a different world. C S Lewis created a world heavily influenced by traditional fairytales. There is also a Christian allegory running throughout the story.Roald Dahl was also discussed in this program. I loved his books when I was young. He was perhaps the first author of note to stop thinking that a children’s book had to include some sort of message or lesson, he made them purely to entertain. And entertain he did. His long collaboration with Quentin Blake gave his books a recognizable style, as though he was illustrating them himself. I think this is a good idea as it’s nice to have a visual style which fits the literary style.
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