Black and White Drawings

Picture books with black and white drawings are rare at library book sales. I’m always glad to discover one.

Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn (1965, 2005, 2012) tells of Andrew Henry Thatcher’s passion for building things. Andrew loved to piece together elaborate constructions. His mother could not tolerate the helicopter Andrew designed to hang from the kitchen ceiling; Andrew’s father told him to take his eagle cage out of the living room; and, Andrew’s older sisters did not appreciate him hitching their sewing machine up to a hand made merry-go-round. So, Andrew eventually moved outdoors. Doris Burn’s crisp lines detail Andrew’s ingenious inventions on each bright white page. The outdoor settings for Andrew’s projects provide just the right amount of visual description. It’s easy for readers to mentally fill-in a color palette for trees, rivers, wildlife, and children, but I don’t recommend it. Burn’s black and white drawings — and her story — are quite satisfying as is.

I Have a Sister – My Sister is Deaf by Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson (1977) has pictures drawn by Debora Ray. The first page is very clever; readers see the back of a young child’s head and the reflection of her face in a mirror. This is a gentle, compassionate story for which Ray’s illustrations are rendered with a light touch. The pages are a creamy color, and details are ever so slightly blurred. Ray hints at the ornate wood carvings on a huge, upright piano. She whispers the patterns on children’s clothing. Strong values emphasize only the focal points in pictures and settings are suggested. For example, balloons at a birthday party carry less value than the darker lines in facial expressions. The overall effect invites compassion.

John Steptoe shows readers a wide range of darks and lights in The Story of Jumping Mouse (1984). These illustrations won a Caldecott Honor. The stunning detail on the first pages promise that beautiful pictures lay ahead. A mouse steps cautiously from beneath soft leaves onto the hard surface of gravel. The mouse’s fur is qualitatively different than the fur on a bison and wolf. The mouse’s expression is one of innocent, earnest adventure. The face of a snake makes us draw back in fear. The slimy skin of a frog and textured feathers of an eagle are even more examples of Steptoe’s technical skill. I actually didn’t like the story. It’s his interpretation of a Native American legend, the authenticity of which I read was challenged by Native American tribes. However, there’s no denying the brilliance of the illustrations.

Will black and white ever make a comeback?