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C H A P T E R 1 :
Introduction to the World of Children’s Literature

13
Illustrated Books 
Illustrated Books 
As children grow from infancy to adolescence, they will notice that the books tar-
geted for them have increasingly fewer illustrations. Books for very young children 
are primarily illustrations with little or no text (picture books). As children develop, 
books made for them have illustrations that convey part of the message, but the text 
is needed for the complete story line (picture storybooks). As they begin to read inde-
pendently, their books have illustrations that add to the story, but there are fewer of 
them, and the text itself could stand alone. These books are called illustrated books . 
Though the illustrations depict what is happening in the story, they do not provide 
new information. The text is clearly more important than the illustrations.
Graphic Novels 
Graphic Novels 
Graphic novels are not new, especially for adults. However, in recent years, they 
have become enormously popular with children and adolescents. The definition of 
graphic novels is still evolving, but as a literature format, I define them as novels 
whose stories are told through a combination of illustrations and text. They are lon-
ger than picture books (about 64 to 128 pages), and instead of full-page illustrations, 
the story is most often presented in illustrated panels similar to comic books. Most 
graphic novels are illustrated with the same artistic quality of modern picture books, 
and some fans of this format even consider them a unique art form. Though many 
graphic novels are fantasy, they can be found in all genres of literature, and the tone 
can be humorous or serious. 
The text of graphic novels presents a complete story line with a distinct plot, 
whereas comic books and the Japanese version of graphic novels called manga usu-
ally contain episodic stories. A single comic book or manga might start a story, begin 
in the middle of things, or end a story. Readers cannot read just one to gain the whole 
story. Conversely, graphic novels may have sequels, but each contains a new, com-
plete plot. Unlike comic books, graphic novels are typically bound in more durable 
formats and are available in bookstores and libraries. Like other novels, graphic 
novels are given an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which further dif-
ferentiates them from periodicals, such as magazines and comic books. 
Some graphic novels, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons 
(Kinney), have appeared on coveted best-seller lists. Additionally, some graphic nov-
els are based on traditional (text only) best-selling novels. A visual learner or a re-
luctant reader may be more likely to pick up the graphic version of a book than the 
original version that consists of several hundred pages of text. Following is a list of 
recommended graphic novels: