Picture books use not only verbal but also visual means to build a story, including codes, structure, and narrative. William Moebius (1986) suggests looking at different codes in order to understand how text and pictures interact to create meaning. According to the researcher, positioning, perspective, framing, line, and colour can evoke associations and contain a certain meaning for the Western reader (Moebius, 1986). For example, the positioning code is illustrated on the first page of the story, when a mom with her dog Victoria and son Charlie head to the right (Browne, 1999). The reader can identify, along with the text, that some adventure begins, and the characters emerge from a static, safe position of their home.
In addition to the positioning code, the author also uses other codes to support verbal information with visual communication. Anthony Browne uses perspective code, making space more open and moving the horizon away to illustrate the free interaction of children (Browne, 1999). The reader may also notice the framing code that is often used to separate two parallel stories with horizontal lines (Browne, 1999). The code of the lines in the book allows maintaining the dynamism of the story since the author uses thinner and inconspicuous contours. Finally, the colour code allows capturing the mood of the characters, making the picture brighter or dimmer in accordance with the events. In general, the combination of codes creates in the reader an understanding that children, although under the control of their parents, are freer. Their world is brighter and more open; they are in a less confined space.
The narrative structure for the picture book plays a role as a storytelling tool. Anthony Browne uses parallel stories, but from the perspective of four characters at once. Ultimately, these four pieces together create “a powerful, unified conclusion” (Van Cleave, 2020). In particular, the first two stories present the reader with a limited set of facts that together do not convey any plot. However, until the final two chapters are presented, the author gives an opportunity to think about what could have happened. It is noteworthy that the stories of the children touch each other at the end, while the stories of their parents remain separate, which also creates a narrative. It is this contrast that creates the main plot of this picture book.
In addition to pictures, the book contains short stories accompanying each of them. According to Fletcher and Reese (2005), more complex books with more text make children, and their parents read and listen more than they use language. Thus, the book helps develop listening, reading, and linguistic skills, including distinguishing and reproducing sounds and expanding vocabulary. Additionally, a combination of visual and verbal means can show children that words convey specific meanings and describe situations (Balcazar, 2019). Moreover, pictures provide readers with cues about various details, character expressions, and settings, which complements the narrative and promotes a deeper understanding of the plot.
In addition to developing linguistic skills and a better understanding of the plot, picture book advances are more complex cognitive abilities. The advantage of Anthony Browne’s book is that it also has rhetorical techniques that develop the reader’s thinking and imagination (Strasser and Seplocha, 2007). For example, in the first story, the mother thinks: “You get some frightful types in the park these days!” (Browne, 1999, p. 7). In the previous frame, the reader can see the man from the second story without having met him yet, which allows him to create associations and think about the possible development of events. The author does not illustrate the connections directly; he invites the reader to imagine a potential outcome. Such a picture book function is extremely important for the development of the reader’s ability to understand the more hidden meaning that the author can convey through indirect means.
Reference List
Balcazar, S. (2019) How picture books help kids develop literacy skills.
Browne, A. (1999) Voices in the Park. Picture. Corgi.
Fletcher, K. L., and Reese, E. (2005) ‘Picture book reading with young children: a conceptual framework,’ Developmental Review, 25(1), pp. 64-103.
Moebius, W. (1986) ‘Introduction to picturebook codes,’ Word & Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, 2(2), pp. 141-158.
Strasser, J., and Seplocha, H. (2007) ‘Using picture books to support young children’s literacy,’ Childhood Education, 83(4), pp. 219-224.
Van Cleave, R. G. (2020) How to structure your picture books for success.