Play Pen: New Children's Book Illustration

There are thousands of new picture books published each year in this country (good, bad and indifferent), but because publishers here tend to be a little insular, we seldom see any of the work of illustrators from beyond these shores.

So grateful thanks are due to Martin Salisbury, whose new book puts the art of illustration in a global context and, to the benefit of art students, librarians and booksellers and many others, shows us what’s going on out there. As an illustrator himself, and a senior lecturer in illustration, Salisbury’s approach is both practical and academic and in his book he brings together and discusses the work and the aspirations of 35 contemporary illustrators from all around the world. He touches on every aspect of illustration, talks about stylistic variety and the extent to which illustrators are keeping up with and making use of new technology, often combining it with traditional techniques. He notes how different cultures seldom agree about what is actually suitable for children – in Scandinavia, he says ‘there is far less of a preoccupation with protecting children from all things dark and worrisome.’

With a remarkable diversity of illustrations – 250 of them – from countries all round the world, Salisbury shows the astonishingly different ways in which artists set about communicating with children.

Almost all young people today, from birth onwards are bombarded with imagery, in advertising, on packaging, in film and tv, and in recent years, as Salisbury says, ‘Illustrating for children has undergone something of a revolution.’ And this book is a timely celebration of that revolution.