10 June 2026

In ‘The Guardian Weekly’, there was an interesting article entitled, ‘Visual Art’. It was written by Stuart Heritage and it was all about the art which is produced for children’s books. It celebrated the work of Quentin Blake, who famously illustrated the work of Roald Dahl and his recently opened ‘Centre for Illustration’.

Like the piano accompanist playing for a singer or a cellist, the book illustrator has not been seen as an equal partner to the author of the book. Whilst this may be understandable in chapter books where the illustration is limited, it could hardly be the case in what we call picture books.

Often the words of a picture book are very few but the illustrations are very fulsome. This is certainly the case with books for very young children. Often it is the illustrations which make the words come alive. In Julia Donaldson’s Gruffalo, it is Axel Scheffler’s brilliant depiction of the Gruffalo which has stuck in our heads.

The article argues for greater recognition of the illustrator. ‘I think illustrating a story is one of the primal human instincts.’ says Huw Aaron. ‘We don’t know if people were dancing or singing 40,000 years ago, but we do know they were making comics about people chasing cows, because they’re all over cave walls.’

The picture book is two streamed. There are the words and the pictures. It is a far richer experience than simply reading words. The picture adds hugely to our understanding of the story. In particular, it is able to engage our emotions more readily.

‘…nearly everyone I speak to returns, sooner or later, to the same essential quality: joy.’ writes Stuart Heritage. Picture books are joyful. It’s one of the characteristics which I aimed for in my children’s addresses. The other was wonder – and both are enfolded in the picture book. Ministers can learn a lot from this collaborative medium.