pictures and poetry at play: (1) sparkle and spin

Most picture books for children include both words and images, however, I have been searching for books that invite to explore the relationship between words and images in new ways. Some are well known picture books classics, others are new, or new at least to me.

They may be what have been called “postmodern” picture books, books where words and images unfold complementary and contrasting narratives, such as Sendaks’s well known “Where the Wild Things are”, where the images considerably contribute and alter to the possible meanings of the book. They may also deliberately break the traditional boundaries between text and image, through concrete poetry, or other unusual page layouts. They may focus on the nature of the relationship between pictures and stores at their core, such as Leo Lionni’s “Frederick”.

Here is the first one:

Sparkle and Spin A Book About Words

by designer Paul Rand and his wife Ann Rand