Teaching Children to Detect Tone Through Pictures

Picture books can appeal to a broad audience, but it is essential to remember that at least a fraction of that audience is still learning to detect tone.
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Fortunately, you are not alone in this effort. Picture books are often read aloud to young children, meaning they will learn to detect tone from the affect in the reader's voice and facial expressions. A good reader will use pitch, volume, inflection, and speed to help convey the tone. Your job is to make it easier for the reader to understand.

Straightforward storytelling, diction, and details can give all the context clues an experienced reader needs to determine the tone, but they are not the only tools in your toolbox as a picture book creator.

Picture books are a great place to learn because children can gather information about the tone from textual and visual clues. Here is how you can convey tone through illustration:

1. Body language. It may be helpful to exaggerate body language in picture books to ensure that the message gets across. I feel this is quite rare, but it doesn't require detailed or complex imagery. Notice the reaction that most people have reading Elephant and Piggie for the first time. Mo Willems animated the illustrations in a powerful way that is surprising to most people.
2. Lighting. Dark lighting may add a touch of melancholy, while light may cast a happier tone. Dark, illustrated by Jon Klassen, uses light to create mystery, fear and even develop the characterization of darkness.
3. Show your readers what to expect from the very first page. For example, introduce characters, describe the setting, convey attitudes towards subjects or other characters without delay.
4. Text size and font style. It is incredible how much tone, mood, and atmosphere you can create with text alone as long as there is the freedom to explore. In the Book Without Pictures by BJ Novak, the author uses text wonderfully because of the limitation imposed on the story.
5. Symbolism. Motion lines, clouds above the head, a sizzle, or smoke, are not just cartoonish details; they are tools to convey tone and mood.
6. Color. Color may change the mood from page to page, but regardless, there is an overall tone that color patterns may represent*.* You may use black and white or even muted tones to express nostalgia. You may use bright colors to convey humor or energy.

There is an opportunity to use illustrations to teach children tone and build their reading comprehension. In turn, these steps will help you develop your story in powerful ways.

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xx Cory

This post was proofread by Grammarly