What does the world's first picture story book mean?

World Picture is regarded as the first picture story book in the world.

Yes,

The world's first picture story book,

Comenius is a recognized Czech educator.

When it comes to picture books, the first thing that comes to mind is illustrations. They usually have different styles and bright colors, but not every illustrated book can be called a picture book.

Illustrator Martin Salisbury believes that picture books are a visual art used to tell stories. Here, illustrations are no longer decorations to embellish words, but become the main tool to convey content.

However, the development of picture books is always accompanied by many controversies and uncertainties. Many people will ask, how to balance the graphic proportion of picture books? What is the relationship between picture books and children and adults? What kind of picture book style is most attractive to children? There is no standard answer to this series of questions.

The origin of picture books

"Drawing pictures and telling stories" is nothing new. Its origin can be traced back to the cave mural period. If we compare it to an experienced old man, then a picture book under 140 is at most an infant.

146 1 year, the Swiss writer Ulrich Boner published the book "Gemstones" (German: Der Edelstein), which is generally regarded as the first book of "combining pictures and texts".

Edelstein Daily (146 1)

1658, Orbis Sensualium Pictus by Yang Ames Comenius came out, which is also recognized as the "embryonic form of children's picture book" because it is the first illustrated book specially designed for children in history.

Beautiful Orbis (1658)

The birth of modern picture books

It was not until the 1930s of 19 that color publishing gradually entered people's field of vision thanks to the development of printing technology. In the Victorian era (1837- 190 1), Rudolf Cadic, Walter Klein and Kate Greenway were called1the three great artists in the picture book circle in the 9th century. They have cooperated with Edmund Evans, a famous publisher, and produced a series of representative works with good reputation, including "".

Among them, Randolf Kadik took pictures as the main carrier of story telling for the first time, thus being known as "the father of modern picture books".

Randolph Cadic (1846- 1886)

Maurice sendak, a writer and illustrator of children's picture books, once commented on Kaidik:

Kaidik's works pioneered modern picture books, and he skillfully combined illustrations with words, which is an unprecedented historical turning point. Where the text is omitted, there are illustrations to tell it, and the contents omitted in the illustrations are expressed in words. In the field of picture book creation, Cadic's achievements are unparalleled ... His works should be included in every child's first choice book list.

However, the publishing industry is like a coin, with two sides. There are always wonderful performances, and arguments are inevitable. Especially in the field of children's book publishing, it is often difficult for artists who can't survive without creativity and all publishers who take marketability as the criterion to reach a consensus. The tear between them is like a never-ending spit conference.

Walter Klein once wrote in his book: "Illustration, like painting and sculpture, is an art … Capitalism distorts people's artistic creativity, and they often pursue their own material interests at the expense of artistic beauty". He described the capitalist system as a "stimulus to corruption" and thought that the capital environment could only breed cheap commercial art, which Walter called a "worthless sin".

Illustrator and picture book writer: Walter Crane

Walter also talked openly about his publishing partner Edmund Evans. This is what he said:

"... we don't agree with some publishers. They always think that monotonous colors and vulgar designs can attract more readers, so the price should be higher ... "

An Early Attempt at Text Visualization The Story of the Mouse (1865)

golden age

19 At the end of the 20th century, printing technology was upgraded again, people's attitude towards the concept of "childhood" changed, and a number of outstanding artists began to emerge, thus the "golden age" in the history of picture books began.

During this period, a large number of classic works came out one after another, such as George the Curious Monkey and Baba the Elephant. French writer and illustrator Jean de Brunov's series of picture books "Baby Elephant Baba" is an innovation in the field of picture books. Different from previous picture books, Baby Elephant Baba takes the lead in adopting handwriting style and color layout, and its illustration style is simple and natural, with a childlike and pure taste.

Baby elephant Baba (193 1)

In 1950s, a peculiar cultural trend gradually emerged, and many famous designers began to set foot in the field of picture books. They are both writers and illustrators, trying to explore more possibilities related to visual thinking. One person we have to mention here is paul rand.

As a legend in the picture book industry, Paul not only has extraordinary painting talent, but also has a bad temper, which is also a well-known fact. From 1950s to 1970s, Paul and his wife created Sparkle and Spin (1957), Little 1 (1962) and Listen! Listen! (1970), these works present the relationship between words and pictures, images, sounds and thoughts in an interesting and subtle form. At the same time, the Italian novelist and philosopher Alberto Eco also suggested that children should learn symbols and signs (semiotics) from an early age.

Paul rand (19 14- 1996)

1956, the crocodile's tears created by French illustrator Andre Francois was successfully published. The picture book uses exaggerated horizontal paper as the presentation form to emphasize the protagonist of the story-crocodile, which is also Andre's first work as a writer and illustrator.

Crocodile tears (1956)

The artist's rebellion

In 1960s, with the rise of a new generation of British artists, picture books entered a new era of "bright colors and bold design". Many artists try to combine painting style with illustration creation as a means to make a living, including andy warhol, a commercial illustrator.

It was also during this period that a number of most influential picture books were born, such as maurice sendak's Country of Beasts and Miloslav Sasek's This is …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Country of Beasts (1963)

Maurice sendak is probably one of the greatest illustrators of children. As the forerunner of the picture book revolution, he undoubtedly had an impact on the whole society, including educators, scholars, children, parents and art groups. Animal Country is not Sandak's first work, but it is the first picture book that has a profound impact on children and parents at the same time. Interestingly, Beast Country caused great controversy as soon as it came out, because many critics worried that it would scare children.

Contemporary picture books

Since 2 1 century, the theme of picture book creation has become more diverse and rich. 20 10 Harper Collins published an alternative picture book, Hip Hop Puppy. The perfect combination of Vladimir Radarsky's unrestrained painting style and Chris Lashkar's rap lyrics has to be said to be a "wonderful flower" in the contemporary picture book world.

Hip-hop puppy (20 10)

No matter how readers like this picture book, its biggest feature lies in the discussion that "children's reading standards are always changing despite the constraints of various social factors". Picture books are no longer simple "silly and sweet", but will involve many topics, including violence, sex, death, human rights violations, etc., and then become a powerful and universal cross-border story media. Even the most popular story books in history, such as Grimm's Fairy Tales and Arabian Nights, contain some dark themes (even cruelty).

Unfortunately, traditional booksellers and publishers still hold "prejudice". They strictly define the classification and sales methods of picture books, and classify them into children's literature without exception. For example, the picture book Man by the French illustrator Blexbolex is excellent in content, clear in logic and thought-provoking. Not only children are interesting to read, but adults also find it enlightening. However, it has been lying in the children's reading area of the bookstore since its listing.

People (20 1 1)

In addition to the content, the style of picture books often becomes the focus of debate. What kind of artistic style is best for children to enjoy and read? Many publishers and critics have different views on this. However, up to now, no research can tell us what kind of pictures are the most attractive or effective media for children.

The problem is that children often can't express their feelings in words, and what they say is often the result of intentional guidance from adults. Therefore, no matter what kind of research we do, there are always some things in children's world that adults can't understand.

Where is tomorrow?

In the digital age, everything has become within reach, and picture books seem to be getting closer and closer to our children. Whenever and wherever, children can enjoy picture books from all over the world as long as they move their fingers and click on picture book apps such as kangaroo jumping or reading. However, does this mean that there is no tomorrow for paper picture books?

Jon Skuse, a child illustrator who used to be a game developer, said:

"E-books and paper books are not a battle of winning or losing, but an adventure and an experience, just like reading a pop-up book. Now many publishers have not realized that all they do is copy picture books from offline to online, but it can't bring any benefits, just like reading an ordinary PDF book. The children slipped away. Reading paper picture books is a unique personal experience. You can revisit it, share it with others, and restart this wonderful picture book tour at any time. Therefore, if electronic picture books want to go further, they must first explore a way to give full play to their own advantages. "

Where will paper picture books go in the future? Maybe we as prophets can't point out the right direction. Let's enjoy the following video first, maybe you will get some inspiration from it.