Stories Hidden in Pictures: Ten Illustrated Books for Children

czlowiek_jaki_jest_kazdy_widzi_marzena_matuszak_grazyna_rigall.jpg, default, Illustration from the book "Man as he is, everyone sees", text: Marzena Matuszak, illustrations: Grażyna Rigall, photo: publishing house Dwie Siostry, Stories Hidden in Pictures: Ten Illustrated Books for Children

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Children’s illustrated books do not always denote infantile pictures and simple messages. It happens that illustrations serve a much more important function than one might think. They sometimes enhance what is contained in the text; at other times, they create a separate narrative or add new meanings. Here are 10 picture books and richly illustrated books worth a closer look.

Awaria elektrowni (Power Plant Failure), text: Tina Oziewicz, illustrations: Rita Kaczmarska

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Cover and an illustration from 'Awaria elektrowni' (Eng. Power Plant Failure), text: Tina Oziewicz, illustrations: Rita Kaczmarska, photo by Dwie Siostry Publishing House

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The book takes the reader into the natural world and reveals the mysterious lives of animals. After the power station stops working, the forest creatures come out of their hiding places and begin to enjoy a truly dark night. The lack of electric light enables them to do things they have been waiting to do for a long time. This is the case for, among others, a crayfish living at the bottom of the lake, which can visit the place of its childhood for the first time in a long time, as it is finally hidden in the darkness.

The dark, atmospheric pictures, along with the truly poetic text, blend into a mysterious, fairy-tale atmosphere. The writer dressed the whole story in a rich palette of colours and scents. And the illustrator ensured that the picturesque illustrations bring out the depth and sensuality of the nocturnal surroundings.

Beneficio, script: Michał Kalicki, drawings and lettering: Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz

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Cover and an illustration from 'Beneficio' by Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz, script by Michał Kalicki, photo by Timof i cisi wspólnicy Publishing House

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The contents of this comic are just as mysterious as the illustrations are blurred. The reader is shown the struggles of the protagonist as she reaches the mysterious Beneficio encampment after a long trek. Her chaotic musings resemble delirium. Seemingly meaningless reflections touch on extremely challenging and difficult issues. The protagonist raises questions about what defines her presence, whether her person means anything, and ponders what comes next. She concludes that there is no beginning and no end and that the world is made up of eternally circulating matter.

The images perfectly capture the effect of the protagonist’s hallucinations. They often depict objects of unknown origin that do not match each other; at other times, they show shapes that are difficult to identify. Thanks to the illustrations, the reader knows when the action stops and returns to the events of the past. The illustrator chose to distinguish the flashback with a significant change in colour - he replaced the green background with white.

In fact, the reader does not know how the protagonist’s story ended. The end of the comic is a great unknown - instead of providing answers, it poses further questions to the reader.

Czarna książka (The Black Book), text and illustrations: Rita Kaczmarska

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Cover and an illustration from 'Czarna książka' (Eng. The Black Book) by Rita Kaczmarska, 2018, photo by Two Sisters Publishing House

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The content refers to a culturally entrenched, dark rhyme starting with the words: ‘There was a black, black forest. And in that black, black forest...’. The structure of this piece is mysterious and mesmerising. Each line begins with an anaphora consisting of a double repetition of the word ‘black’. The contents of the poem, along with the peculiar arrangement of the text - one line every two pages - build tension perfectly.

It is not only the rhyme but also the black and grey illustrations, which cover whole pages, that contribute to the atmosphere of fear and dread. It is worth noting that these are not pictures with clearly outlined elements. On the contrary, the objects depicted look like shadows, have distorted proportions and their contours are blurred. Reading this book is like wandering through desolate and unfamiliar places at night when some of the surroundings are hidden in the darkness and the imagination, stimulated by mysterious shapes, suggesting uncanny scenarios.

Another important issue is the frog’s eye view that the illustrator opted for. When seen from the bottom, the images make the elements depicted seem extremely large and overwhelming. The perspective from which the reader of the text looks at the illustrations is the same as the perspective from which children perceive the reality around them. It is possible that, in this way, the author of the picture book wanted to adapt to a young audience.

The question arises as to why a parent would want to provide their child with a journey through a fictional land of darkness that evokes fear and dread. Well, the answer is contained in the soothing ending of the story. After a nocturnal journey through the unknown, the climax of the poem reveals to the reader a bunch of woodland animals caught in a particularly joyful activity of celebrating their birthday. Although the text does not explain the moral of the story, the final illustration does, showing that fear is often unfounded and that the imagination likes to play tricks.

Człowiek jaki jest, każdy widzi (A Man Is a Man Is a Man), text: Marzena Matuszak, illustrations: Grażyna Rogall

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Cover and illustration from 'Człowiek jaki jest, każdy widzi' (Eng. A Man Is a Man Is a Man), text: Marzena Matuszak, illustrations: Grażyna Rigall, photo: Dwie Siostry Publishing House

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In this piece, the world is presented from the perspective of the animals who have gathered at the Yeti Hotel at the top of one of the Himalayan mountains. The creatures’ conversations are mainly reflections on man. These discussions force the young reader to take on the role of vulnerable animals and look at the human species with a critical eye. The ponderings conceal the accusations made against man. Among other things, he is accused of carnivorousness, which is considered a taboo subject among animals. The use of the ‘animal perspective’ has numerous advantages: it builds empathy skills in the young reader and allows him to understand that there are different points of view.

What role do the illustrations play in this book? First of all, they show that ‘other’ does not mean ‘alien’. The image of humans in the pictures is created based on how animals perceive them - in some pictures, humans have fins, while in others, they have glowing limbs and a strange skin colour. None of the illustrations shows the man having their actual physical characteristics. This shows how easy it is to distort the ‘other’ and to attribute characteristics to them unjustifiably. The reader can see that the animals have created a monstrous image of the human being and deduce that they have more in common with the animals than not.

Królestwo dziewczynki (The Kingdom of the Girl), text and illustrations: Iwona Chmielewska

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Cover and an illustration from 'Królestwo dziewczynki' (Eng. The Kingdom of the Girl), by Iwona Chmielewska, 2014, photo by Entliczek Publishing House

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It is a book about accepting one’s body, getting to know oneself anew, and understanding puberty and the changes that accompany it. So, body positivity for little girls? Not necessarily! The audience is wider than one might think. Mature women or boys wishing to understand girls’ puberty will also find the content soothing and useful.

The protagonist of the story is a girl who feels lost in a new situation, which is her first menstruation. It should be noted that nothing in this picture book is named directly. Everything is shown in subtle metaphors, often alluding to fairy tale motifs.

Królestwo dziewczynki depicts a certain process, a metamorphosis of the protagonist. At first, the girl is filled with a sense of uncertainty and confusion as she is given something she is not yet ready for. She tries to cope with her new situation, although her initial efforts are clumsy. It is only at the end of the story that the protagonist begins to take control of the changes to her body, accepts them and feels comfortable with them. The narrator triumphantly calls her the Queen.

The large format of the book, together with the illustrations that stretch across the pages, make it resemble an artist’s album. The pictures look as if they have been made using a collage technique. The pastel beige background is ‘pasted’ with elements that do not create a coherent narrative but rather intrigue the reader and metaphorically relate to the text. In each illustration, a small element in blood red can be found, which is immediately striking among the muted and pastel shades. Objects that are attributes of a carefree childhood, such as a swing, a doll or crayons, also gain symbolic significance. They highlight the protagonist’s mental unpreparedness for the effects of puberty. There are also fairy-tale elements, which by their presence add magic to the whole story, make it unique and situate it in an unreal dimension.

Mój przyjaciel niedźwiedź (My Friend the Bear), text and illustrations: Katarzyna Minasowicz, tekst i ilustracje: Katarzyna Minasowicz

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Cover and an illustration 'Mój przyjaciel niedźwiedź' (Eng. My Friend the Bear), text and illustrations: Katarzyna Minasowicz, 2018, photo: Bajka Publishing House Ltd.

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This book has very minimalist artwork. A white background accompanies both the illustrations and the text. Each page has the same layout: on one page, there is a short sentence or just a fragment of a sentence, and on the other, an illustration that looks like a pencil sketch. The whiteness of the background and the blackness of the pencil is contrasted with the colourful clothes of the main characters - the boy’s orange sweatshirt and the girl’s yellow dress. The illustrations elaborate on what is contained in the text - they explain what the characters mean when they utter vague phrases.

What is most surprising is the layout of the entire book. It can be read starting from either end, as it has two beginnings. The boy’s narrative starts at one end, while the girl’s story starts at the other. The two separate stories, which in a way mirror each other, converge in the middle of the book.

Wędrówka Nabu (Nabu’s Journey), text: Jarosław Mikołajewski, illustrations: Joanna Rusinek

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'Wędrówka Nabu' (Nabu’s Journey), text: Jarosław Mikołajewski, illustrations: Joanna Rusinek

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The book tells the poignant story of a girl named Nabu who, after her home village catches fire, decides to set off on a lonely trek to reach a place where houses do not burn. She wants to find a safe place where she can live with her parents and little brother. On her way, she encounters people who are indifferent to her pleas for help and sometimes dismiss her with contemptuous laughter. The story does not spare brutal events that shock the reader (the older ones included). The girl’s story tugs at the heartstrings, and there are particularly frightening descriptions when Nabu cuts her hands on the barbed wire and when, adrift at sea, she shivers with cold and fear. Dialogues with adults show that the protagonist does not understand the rules of the world because she cannot see sense in them. The simplicity and purity of her thinking are juxtaposed with the ruthlessness and indifference of those around her.

In the illustrations, the silhouette of Nabu is contrasted with the silhouettes of her interlocutors. A little girl fighting for her dreams versus a big, ruthless world represented by people with huge statures. This can be seen, among other things, in the images depicting Nabu’s encounters with soldiers and policemen. In one illustration, the protagonist is so small that she looks as if she is standing in front of a wall made of military boots, while in the other, two huge heads of policemen are leaning over the girl’s tiny body as if they were about to crush it.

The brutal events of Nabu’s journey are rendered by the illustrator in brutal colours. When the protagonist injures her feet, blood red virtually floods the page, and when the girl freezes while crossing the sea, she is surrounded by the icy blue of the water, turning to black.

Widziałem pięknego dzięcioła (I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker), text: Michal Skibinski, illustrations: Ala Bankroft

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Cover and illustration from 'Widziałem pięknego dzięcioła' (Eng. I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker), text: Michal Skibinski, illustrations: Ala Bankroft, photo by Dwie Siostry Publishing House

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The book is a diary kept by an eight-year-old boy in the summer holidays of 1939. Michał was given the task of writing down one sentence each day summarising what he had done that day. The notes, which make up the content of the piece, are an actual diary account written in the summer before the outbreak of the Second World War. On 1 September, the idyllic holiday memories alter into a historical documentary. The tragedy of the new wartime reality does not become apparent in the content. Michał’s accounts continue to have a the character of a report, focusing exclusively on facts. It is the beautiful, painterly illustrations that give the booklet its emotional dimension. Thanks to them, the reader can imagine what feelings the boy experienced at a time when his everyday life was rapidly transforming.

With the advent of war, the colour scheme of the illustrations changes noticeably. The warm and bright colours are replaced by shades of dark blue, black and deep green. The content of the pictures also gains a metaphorical message. When the boy writes about the Germans occupying Milanówek, the illustration shows dark storm clouds approaching. They are spreading across the bright sky like occupiers conquering more areas of Poland. And the note about hearing cannon shots is accompanied by an illustration of fuzzy, dark shapes of trees. It may symbolise the constant uncertainty the child experiences. It is so, for the source of the ominous sound is not visible; it comes from somewhere far away, from the darkness. All the boy knows is that it is a harbinger of danger and death. Thus, the illustrations add new meanings to the report-like account and highlight the tragedy of a child’s reality tainted by war.

Wojtek, text: Wojciech Mikołuszko, illustrations: Małgorzata Domitruk

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Cover and spread from 'Wojtek', by Wojciech Mikołuszko, 2019, photo by Agora Publishing House

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Wojtek is a story that has two main characters. Jacek’s story intertwines with that of the stork called Wojtek, who wants at all costs to join the flock and fly the big water with them before autumn. At the same time, the boy tries to save the bird’s nest from demolition. What unites the two protagonists is the fierceness with which they pursue their goals.

Wojtek’s series of failures begins with an incident with an oblong piece of plastic called ‘a strange string’ by the protagonist. That string clamped around the bird’s leg and prevented him from flying out of the nest. He only managed to break free thanks to the courage demonstrated by Jacek, who climbed up a ladder and cut the plastic. This event is also the first meeting of the two protagonists, who will face adversities over the next months, only to meet again at Wojtek’s old nest at the end of the story after a six-month separation.

The illustrations in this book look like artwork made using the string collage method. The more objects a picture contains, the more visible the coloured lines that make up the specific figures. This results in some of the illustrations being extremely motley - and therefore also less explicit. The reader has to look closely at the picture to distinguish specific shapes and figures. In the illustrations, the plastic elements, which look like pieces of film pasted into a thicket of coloured strings, stand out clearly. The different material shines and catches the eye. Could it be that the illustrator wanted to express her opposition to the plastic age in this way? She has perfectly demonstrated that this artificial material does not fit in with the rest of the string compositions and, more importantly, does not fit in with the natural world.

Zaklęcie na W (The Spell Beginning with W), text: Michal Rusinek, illustrations: Joanna Rusinek

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Cover and illustration from 'Zaklęcie na W' (Eng. The Spell Beginning with W) by Michał Rusinek, Joanna Rusinek, 2013, photo publisher: Literatura

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Zaklęcie na W (Eng. The Spell Beginning with W) is another work that talks about everyday life during the Second World War from the perspective of a child. This time the descriptions of wartime reality are much more elaborate, and readers can learn, mainly from the textual layer, about the narrator’s thoughts and feelings. The boy talks about how he understood the war and how he perceived the occupants. According to him, the world lost its colours during the conflict, as if by magic, and people were divided into good-white and bad-black.

In the illustrations, the reader can see the predominance of straight lines, which build up most of the angular shapes filling the pictures. The effect of austere space is also achieved through a cold colour scheme, sometimes remarkably consistent with the boy’s imagery. Both black, menacing figures and people with white faces appear. Thanks to these techniques, the main character’s hometown appears as a cold and sad place devoid of joyful elements. It is only in the final scene, which speaks of the end of the war, that the faded colours begin to turn to vivid green.

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An illustration from 'Czarna książka' (Eng. The Black Book) by Rita Kaczmarska, 2018, photo by Two Sisters Publishing House

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Language English

children's literature

polish literature

contemporary polish illustration

book illustration

children's books