Reflections on Ch. 3 of Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature

One of the things that stuck with me through reading the chapter was the section titled Color.

“Colors can evoke strong emotional connections in readers.  Many classic picturebooks did not use color in the illustrations, such as the sepia pictures of Robert McCloskey’s Make Way For Ducklings and the well-loved black-and-white illustrations for Millions Of Cats by Wanda Gag.  Modern publishing techniques make it much easier and less expensive to publish full-color books, but many illustrators are still using black-and-white graphics to create exciting picture books.” Page 63

My first thought when I read this was, “If colors (plural, leading me to believe many) can evoke strong emotional connections, then why are these classic examples Charlotte is giving us using simply sepia and black-and-white?”  It made me think perhaps it would have been more correct to say that “Color” or “The use of color can evoke strong emotional connections…”  It made me think of the movie Schindler’s List.  Schindler’s List is filmed almost exclusively in black-and-white except for one Jewish girls that we see but never meet.  Spielberg shows her wearing a bright red coat walking in a crowd.  Later in the movie, we see her still wearing her bright red coat, only now she is dead on a cart with some other bodies.

  

Though the viewer never even learns her name or hears her speak, the contrast of color on the black-and-white film makes us have a connection to her that makes us feel greater emotion that if she had been filmed in black-and-white and we had simply seen her with other dead bodies.  In books, just as in movies, color can have a lot of meaning and connect to emotions.  I remember a book I had as a little kid called The Brave Cowboy:

 

If you don’t see it right away, the red represents the boys imagination while the black is reality.  Throughout this short book, the brave cowboy goes on adventures and we, the readers, get to see how he is playing make-believe.  What is it about this book that some 25 years later I’m still reminded of the drawings?  I think it has to do with the contrast of the two colors on a plain white background.  In both cases, I agree, with a slight change in language, with Ms. Huck’s assertion that color can evoke strong emotional connections with readers.

Later in the chapter, Charlotte addresses how colors can mean more than simply a blue sky or green grass.  She discusses what different colors mean in different cultures and how this can be used in picturebooks.  For example, in Iran blue can signify heaven and spirituality whereas for the Cherokee, blue means defeat or trouble.  In the Western hemisphere, black represents funerals, death, and “bad guys” as opposed to China where black is a color for young boys.  This gives the illustrator virtually the same power as the author to create meanings and themes within their drawings.