Authors and illustrators — Literature, 4–6 years
A book may be made by people with different jobs: one creates the words and another creates the pictures.
Different jobs make one book
An author plans and writes the words of a story. An illustrator chooses how to show people, places and actions in pictures. Sometimes one person does both jobs, but often a book is a team effort.
Why do we need to know?
When a child likes a book, two questions may appear: who made these words, and who made these pictures? Books have had separate writers and picture-makers for a long time because writing a story and showing it are different kinds of creative work.
Looking at a cover
Imagine a cover that says The Red Boat, by Ana, with pictures by Leo. Step one: Ana is the author, because her name follows “by”. Step two: Leo is the illustrator, because his name follows “pictures by”. Now we know what each person contributed.
The picture-maker wrote it too?
It is easy to think that the person whose pictures we see also wrote the words, because the pictures are a big part of the book. That guess is reasonable: the images can feel like another way of telling the story. Check the names instead of guessing.
A team outside school
This idea appears in picture books, comics, animations and greeting cards. An author may write the words while an illustrator gives a character a face, clothes and a world to enter. Noticing both jobs helps us thank the right people for their work.
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