Category: Nonfiction Illustration
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Data, empathy and illustration
Geo-Graphics by Regina Giménez (Levine Querido 2022) is a nonfiction picture book consisting of different kinds of shapes (and sizes) that all communicate mostly geographical data. The book shows us facts about the universe surrounding us: diameters of planets, sizes of continents, heights of mountains, length of rivers, ocean depths,…
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Bologna 2025: Boys, blouses and a shared reality
Sustainability headlined the 2025 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, where Mary E. Glenn of UN Publications noted during the Sustainability Summit that “the rise in media misinformation, especially on social media, is a challenge because sustainability depends on having a shared reality.” For me, that was the key sentiment of the…
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Picture books and PowerPoints
I remember when I first discovered it: to find good inspiration material for horizontal PowerPoint slides, it’s best to go to picture books. Picture book spreads are almost always horizontal, as are slides, especially with aspect ratio 16:9. As an illustrator and designer my first love was poster design, and…
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Bologna 2024: Bums, blue seas and real books
A lot of talk about bums at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair this year! Bums can’t really be illustrated to children’s books in the United States. Or nudity in general. (Or dead bunnies.) Whereas in the rest of the world these are regular elements in children’s picture books. In a…
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Manifesto, part 2: In a picture book, pictures come first
Picture books, alongside graphic novels and comics, are the most visual form of literature. They are a literature of pictures. Picture books are often referred to as a means to introduce children to the visual cultures of our societies. “From very early on, we both intuit and learn the language…
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Manifesto, part 1: Approaching data starts from structure
How should one approach data in children’s literature? This manifesto is about introducing data visualization to children’s nonfiction literature. Note: I haven’t written this for children. To reach children, especially with a theme like data, one would have to use pictures more than text—not just to achieve an outcome, but…
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Time: Lines or stories?
Looking through nonfiction picture books in my research I started to notice timelines in which time was not visualized properly. Often, they were events in time placed side by side with or without a line. Like this: It does look like a timeline. But time isn’t actually visualized: it’s numerical…
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Visual Comparisons
“Never leave a number all by itself. Never believe that one number on its own can be meaningful. If you are offered one number, always ask for at least one more. Something to compare it with.” Hans Rosling: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things…
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Cutaway Illustrations
Cutaway illustrations – including anatomy illustrations and exploded views – are very common in children’s nonfiction picture books. They are kind of like maps but on different subjects: animals, humans, plants, houses, ships…. Exploded views you often see of technical subjects. This is visual information you cannot see in real…
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Illustration and text go together
I have been thrilled to learn the terms ‘text-image interaction’ and ‘visual and verbal interaction’ during my Fulbright project – and get acquainted with the talk of them. For some time I had been searching for the best words to talk about this theme: I feel it combines picture books…
Illustrating Data 