Illustration, Design, Comics, and Picture Books

Special Issue: Bookbird 32.4 (Winter 1994): Trends in Text Illustration.

Agarwal, Deepa. "India: A Visual Journey." Bookbird 32.4 (Winter 1994): 12-17. An account of Indian narrative illustration, beginning with the first children's magazine published in Bengal in 1822. G.A.

The Artist and the Picturebook The Twenties and the Thirties. 340 p. Japanese Board on Books for Young People, 1992. Volumes I & II available in the U.S. for $150 from Cattermole Books, 9880 Fairmount Road, Newbury, OH 44065; tel. 216-338-3523. Volumes separately available. Review M.M.B. Horn Book 70.5 (Sept./Oct. 1994): 610-11. Designed for the 1991 exhibition by the same title at 4 Japanese museums. Vol. 1 focuses on Japanese books and periodicals with a little Korean and Chinese material; it includes 17 essays on Eastern concepts of children's books and Western influences. Vol. 2 focuses on contributions from Europe and the U.S. and includes 7 essays, 6 by James Fraser. English translation available. G.A.

Benton, Mike. Science Fiction Comics: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor, 1992. 150 p. $24.95. Review Doug Highsmith, Popular Culture in Libraries 2.1 (1994): 113-15. The third volume in "The Taylor History of Comics." Lavishly illustrated overview followed by an annotated guide and checklist. The most sustained effort to produce a multivolume popular history, it is marred by some factual errors and the lack of citations of specific sources. G.A.

Benton, Mike. Superhero Comics of the Silver Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor, 1991. 224 p. $24.95. Review Allen Ellis, Popular Culture in Libraries 2.1 (1994): 1056. Vol. 2 of "The Taylor History of Comics" and primarily devoted to 1954-1970. The first section is an overview of the changing conceptions of heroes and superheroes in terms of contemporary events; the second profiles 27 heroes, the third the artists, and the fourth discusses 105 Silver Age comics. Good artwork. Intended primarily for "the comics fan or nostalgia buff." G.A.

Bode, Andreas. "Text Illustration: An Endangered Art Form?" Bookbird 32.4 (Winter 1994): 6-11. After a short history of the reasons for and types of illustrations for texts, going back to the ancient Egyptians, Bode argues that the age of the great text illustrators, which began with Doré and lasted into the 1950s, is over. G.A.

Bystrup, Kirsten. "Four Danish Illustrators." Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly 26.3 (1993): 11-14. Presents Svend Otto S., Ib Spang Olsen, Dorte Karrebæk, and Jon Ranheimsæter. L.T.

Cai, Mingshui. "Images of Chinese and Chinese Americans Mirrored in Picture Books." Children's Literature in Education 25.3 (Sept. 1994): 169-91. Too many are folktales that portray the Chinese as inscrutable and exotic; cultural inauthenticity remains a problem. G.A.

Chang, Margaret A. "Chinoiserie in American Picture Books: Excursions in Cathay." School Library Journal 40.4 (April 1994): 42-43. Cautions against using contemporary picture books as realistic reflections of Chinese art or life and suggests alternatives. Informative. K.P.

Children's Book Council. An Illustrator's Guide to Members of the Children's Book Council. 10 p. Available from Children's Book Council, Attn. Illustrator's Guide, 568 Broadway, Suite 404, New York, NY 10012. Send a 6" x 9" self-addressed, stamped (for 3 oz.) envelope plus $1. A general directory aimed at helping aspiring illustrators with the submissions process. G.A.

Couderc, Marianne. "Bécassine, créature ou créatrice." La littérature de jeunesse au croisement des cultures. Ed. Jean Perrot and Pierre Bruno. Le Perreux: CRDP de L'Académie de Créteil, 1993. 57-85. The games regarding authorship in the once popular comic about a young Breton servant, Bécassine, created between 1913 and 1939 by Maurice Languereau under the alias Caumery. G.A.

Douglas, Allen, and Fedwa Malti-Douglas. Arab Comic Strips: Politics of an Emerging Mass Culture. Bloomington: Indiana UP. 265 p. £37.50 (pb £18.99). ISBN 0-253-31814-9. Short notice, JACG, TLS 17 June 1994:31. Such strips enjoy a high readership throughout the Arab world; some are distributed widely, others, like Egyptian strips...