ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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You might think that illustrations in books are "just kids' stuff…" [Girl holding an illustration of red riding hood]

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…but here at Shmoop, we disagree.

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First of all, illustrations make books way more fun to read. [Shelves in a library]

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And secondly, there are illustrations in all sorts of adult books like medical texts and

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college textbooks.

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Why? Because illustrations can do some important, interesting work, [Man at a construction site and falls over]

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so it looks like they're here to stay.

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Here's a quick illustration that shows how we feel about that!

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Authors and illustrators generally work together to create the mood of the text and deepen

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a reader’s experience of a story. [Man and woman working at a table]

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Illustrations can help introduce characters, emphasize funny or scary parts of a story,

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or maybe even help explain parts of the story that a reader might find confusing. [Coop explaining illustration pros]

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All in all, that's a lot of things accomplished with just some pretty pictures.

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Illustrations usually don't show everything that happens in the text in picture form,

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which is good, because nobody wants to carry around novels that weigh 50 pounds. [Man carrying heavy book and falls over]

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Instead, illustrators focus on a scene, a moment, or a few short lines of text to show

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in their pictures.

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That helps bring these moments into focus, and ensures that the page count stays under

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five hundred million.

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But you know what…heavy books would be a good way to work out your body and brain at [Man struggling to hold a heavy book]

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the same time.

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Hmm… Maybe we’re onto something. We'll call up our local gym in a few minutes, but

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for now, it's example time.

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Let's say we have two authors, Peter and Paul. [Peter holding a book]

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Peter's book is about a revolutionary thinker who is constantly punished for his views

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The illustration of his book helped to reflect that and helped to emphasize the theme of isolation.

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Paul's book on the other hand is pretty different.. It's about a happy-go-lucky puppeteer.

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It wouldn't make a lot of sense if Paul's book had the same style of illustration's as Peter's...

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That'd just be super confusing, like why is the happy puppeteer all by himself in such a sad, bleak world.

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Naturally then, Paul's book is full of colorful, bright pictures. It's a world that celebrates fun and captures [Man with puppeteer on a fair ride]

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the bubbly personality of the puppeteer.

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So whether you're trying to conjure a world of fun and balloons

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or narrow-mindedness and punishment, illustrations can really help you get that mood across. [Man in jail watching man with a puppeteer]

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And because we like you, we’ll stick with the fun and balloons for today.

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Maybe we’ll even throw a lollipop in there.

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Isn’t it nice to be on Shmoop’s good side? [Girl holding balloons and a lollipop]

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