pictures and words

The Little Fireman, text by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Esphyr Slobodkina, 1938

Been diving into this rather archaic compendium as of late; an expansive look at the picturebook throughout American history. I love the restraint and simplicity of the spreads above, and am reminded of the power of a well-designed book. Designers, after all, are also storytellers; creators of wonderment and curiosity; soothsayers of the unseen and the intangible...

"A picturebook is text, illustrations, total design; an item of manufacture and a commercial product; a social, cultural, historical document; and, foremost, an experience for a child.

As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the page.

On it's own terms its possibilities are limitless."

–American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within, by Barbara Bader