One wonders why artists continued to illustrate picture books in black and white when printing in color was an option. Black and white publications can be less expensive than color, but black and white has many other benefits. “Black-and-white illustrations provide us with a chance to focus on visual elements such as lines, shape, texture, and composition as well as how the artist arranges these elements on the page for the desired effect” (Horning, 2012, p. 10). Several Caldecott Award winning illustrators have employed monochromatic palettes to create strange, magical, and mysterious dreamscapes, sometimes in cinematic style.
Of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, (Caldecott Medal, 2008), author/illustrator Brian Selznick said, “I wanted to create a novel that read like a movie (Selznick, 2008, p. 11). At 534 pages, it looks more like a novel than a picture book, yet the almost 300 illustrations convey as much of the narrative as the text.
Since this is a book about the cinema, Selznick said, “… it seemed to make sense to use pictures rather than words, to tell the story in the manner of silent movies” (Carey, 2008, para. 7). The full-color book jacket contrasts with the black-and-white illustrations within the book.
Sequencing of the illustrations as well as the zooming effects utilize cinematographic techniques. (See slide show example here.) Every page has a black border like a film frame. Working under a magnifying glass, Selznick’s drawings started out very small, only 3” x 5” (Carey, 2008, para. 8). The black and white pencil illustrations (ALSC, 2020, p. 108) were then enlarged adding graininess and revealing the cross-hatching that created texture and shading. This also blurred the lines, softening the contrast, and lending an atmospheric quality to evoke the 1930’s setting. The movie “Hugo” based on the book met with much acclaim and won five Academy Awards (IMBd, 2011).
Author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg also thinks of movies when making his picture books. “I … see the stories I create play out in my mind’s eye a bit like a film” (Van Allsburg & Heller, 2004, p. 52). Not surprisingly, his book Jumanji (Caldecott Medal, 1982) was made into a movie, and the movie rites for Van Allsburg’s first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (Caldecott Honor, 1980), were purchased by Fox/Disney in 2019 (Fleming, 2019).
Van Allsburg’s mastery of light and shadow, achieved through the technique of chiaroscuro, contrasting light and dark with light brightening one side of an object while the other side is darkened in shadow, gives his somewhat formal photographic illustrations a feeling of three dimensions. Pencil and the grindings from the pencil rubbed with cotton (McElmeel, 2000, 487) create soft velvety textures and differing values that make the surrealistic illustrations of Jumanji appear realistic. Dramatic and varying perspectives mimic camera angles of film in both books. Whether it’s a game coming to life or a magician turning a dog into a duck, Van Allsburg makes the impossible seem possible in strange and mysterious ways. He is quoted as saying, “The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what’s fascinating to me” (Wynne-Jones, 2007, p. 61).
Lacking some of the mystery or dreamlike qualities of the preceding books, David Macaulay’s Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction (Caldecott Honor, 1974) and Castle (Caldecott Honor, 1978) are a striking contrast. The stark and extremely detailed pen and ink drawings (ALSC, 2020, pp. 134, 137) appeal equally to children and adults. Macaulay has a degree in architecture, and the books accurately depict the step-by-step building of both a medieval cathedral and castle while Macaulay weaves fictional stories about the communities surrounding each edifice. Cross-hatching provides texture and depth to illustrations with a variety of perspectives and many cross sections on display.
Macaulay writes, “Building up layers of line is what you do when you don’t have color to work with. And in 1973, when Cathedral was published, black and white was the only realistic way of producing such a large book by an unknown author/illustrator” (Macaulay, 2010, p. 4). Cathedral and Castle are both oversized format books, but Building the Book Cathedral, which is an explanation of how Macaulay created the book and contains all of the contents of Cathedral, is even larger.
Cathedral and Castle are considered classics by many, and after the books were in print for over thirty years, the publisher suggested updating them in color. Macaulay resisted the idea of colorization, just layering color over cross-hatching, but he was intrigued by the idea of seeing the two buildings in color. In less than two years the new full color books were completed, slightly decreased in size from the originals. In the identical prefaces to the new books, Macaulay wrote, “More than half the illustrations in Castle display little or no resemblance to their predecessors. All of Cathedral’s illustrations had been reworked from scratch.” He added, “I updated the information whenever I could, but what remains consistent between these new editions and the originals is the use of perspective and dramatic points of view” (Macaulay, 2010, p.4). Macaulay also created an easy-to-read version of Castle for his My Readers How It Works series. And, while not full-length motion pictures, Cathedral and Castle were made into documentaries for PBS and aired in the 1980’s. Both can be viewed on YouTube here and here.
Neither a motion picture nor a television version was made of The Spider and the Fly (Caldecott Honor, 2003), written by Mary Howitt and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. However, there is a delightful animated version of the book on YouTube here. And, in an essay on his website, DiTerlizzi writes, “The book’s overall layout was inspired by silent movies of the 1920’s….Ms. Fly was inspired by actress Clara Bow, while Mr. Spider was part Peter Lorre and part Gomez Addams, with the charisma of Marlon Brando” (DiTerlizzi, 2024). In the illustration below, the diagonal line of Mr. Spider’s crossed legs underscores Ms. Fly and leads the eye to his smarmy visage.
It was DiTerlizzi’s idea to draw the illustrations in black and white. The Association for Library Service to Children carefully describes the media he used: “Lamp black and titanium white holbein Acryla gouache and Berol Prismacolor pencil on Strathmore 5‑ply, plate Bristol board and reproduced in silver and black duotone, graphite, and Adobe Photoshop” (ALSC, 2020, p. 113). They go on to describe the book as “moody…. with all the allure of the flickering silver screen,” and with “skillful use of tone, line, and perspective.” Ms. Fly, the damsel in distress, becomes more enmeshed in the villainous spider’s plot while his web becomes increasingly more intricate until she is finally captured at the conclusion of this cautionary tale, written in 1829.
DiTerlizzi had the opportunity to create a new 10th anniversary jacket for his book that includes a “movie poster” on the reverse side. The typography of the title looks a little more movie-like with the inclusion of the quotation marks, and it matches the lettering of the poster on the inside jacket. Upon winning a Caldecott Honor, editor Kevin Lewis of Simon & Schuster pronounced, “We prefer the silver medal, as gold would’ve clashed with the silver duotone printed in the book” (DiTerlizzi, 2004).
Like The Spider and the Fly, an animated version of Kitten’s First Full Moon (Caldecott Medal, 2005) was created by Scholastic and Weston Woods (in Spanish) which can be viewed here.
Author/illustrator Kevin Henkes may not have been visualizing his book as a movie when he created it, but he incorporates many action sequence panels that lend themselves to dramatic animation. In the two-page spread below, Kitten is running so quickly that she breaks the frame in the last panel.
In his Caldecott acceptance speech, Henkes said, ”I’ve always been drawn to picture books for the youngest child. I love their simplicity and poetic nature. When I became a parent, this attraction intensified” (Henkes, 2005, p. 10). Did Henkes know that “Black and white photos with contrasting patterns or images … are easy for your infant to focus on and can encourage their vision development”? (Rymarowicz, 2014. Para. 4). Perhaps. He continued, “From the start I pictured this book with black-and-white illustrations, bold sans serif type, a square trim size, and soft creamy paper.” He explained, “The art was prepared using black gouache for the line and black and gray colored pencils. But the book was printed in four colors on a full-color press. This gave the illustrations a richness and depth they wouldn’t have had if the book had been printed with black ink only” (Henkes, 2005, p. 11).
The circle is a motif throughout the book with the shape of the moon, the bowl of milk, and the kitten’s wide, expressive eyes. Circles also form a pattern on the endpapers. The thick black-and white lines appeal to a young child. Henkes said, “.…for this book color seemed unnecessary. I thought that by keeping everything as simple and spare as possible, a better, tighter, more complete book would result” (Henkes, 2005, p. 11). For Henkes, it resulted in a Caldecott Medal.
Color may initially attract readers to books, but the black-and-white artwork of these Caldecott Award books will retain their attention. With each examination, readers will pore over the illustrations seeing something new to appreciate. Black-and white picture books have many advantages and can be endlessly fascinating.
Picture Books Cited
Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten’s first full moon. Greenwillow Books.
Howett, M. & DiTerlizzi, T. (2002). The spider and the fly. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Macaulay, D. (1973). Cathedral: The story of its construction. Houghton Mifflin.
Macaulay, D. (1977). Castle. Houghton Mifflin.
Macaulay, D. (1999). Building the book Cathedral. HMH Books for Young Readers.
Macaulay, D. (2010). Castle. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
Macaulay, D. (2010). Cathedral. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
Macaulay, D. (2012). Castle: How it works. Square Fish/David Macauley Studios.
Van Allsburg, C. (1979). The garden of Abdul Gasazi. Houghton Mifflin.
Van Allsburg, C. (1981). Jumanji. Houghton Mifflin.
Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of Hugo Cabret. Scholastic Press.
References
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). (2020). The invention of Hugo Cabret. The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A guide to the medal and honor books. American Library Association.
Carey, J. (2008, January 12). A subtle world in black and white. The Guardian.
DiTerlizzi, T. (2004). Behind the book: The spider and the fly. Tony DiTerlizzi: Artist, Author, Worldbuilder.
Fleming Jr., M. (2019, May 30). Fox/Disney lands “The garden of Abdul Gasazi” by “Jumanji” author Chris Van Allsburg. Deadline.
Henkes, K. (2005, Summer/Fall). Caldecott Medal acceptance. Children and Libraries, 3(2), 9 – 11.
Horning, K. T. (2012, November). Caldecott in black and white. Book Links, 22(1), 10 – 14.
Hugo. (2011). Internet Movie Database.
Macaulay, D. (2010). Preface. In Macaulay, D. (2010). Cathedral (pp. 4 – 5). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
McElmeel, S.L. (2000). 100 most popular books for children. Libraries Unlimited.
Rymanowicz, K. (2014, December 18). Infant vision development: Helping babies see their bright futures! Michigan State University Extension. c.
Selznick, B. (2008, Summer/Fall). Caldecott Medal acceptance speech: Make the book you want to make. Children and Libraries, 6(2), 10 – 12.
Van Allsburg, C., & Heller, S. (2004, November/December). Chris Van Allsburg, creator, The Polar Express. Print, 58(6), 50, 52, 334.
Wynne-Jones, T. (2017, May/June). BGHB at 50: The garden of Abdul Gasazi: A personal reflection. The Horn Book Magazine, 93(3), 56 – 61.