Should classic and older books ever be re-illustrated to look modern?

This an interesting question for anyone who loves children's books: should old books ever be re-illustrated to look more modern? If a book's pictures are looking a bit outdated, does that mean that the book publisher should hire someone to re-do the pictures? In some cases, the re-illustration is hard to notice, while in other cases it may be more obvious. Some say re-illustrations help the book reach a new audience, while others argue that book illustrations shouldn't be re-done because it is disrespectful. The magazine School Library Journal (SLJ) had an article about this recently you can read here. The article suggests that maybe a middle ground is for both original and newly illustrated books to be available for kids to look at and compare and contrast. If you read an older book, take the opportunity to ask your child if they think the illustrations should be re-done and why or why not. The SLJ article gives a few examples of re-illustrated books, including Flat Stanley by: Jeff Brown (J FIC BROWN). Do you like the old or new version better? Or maybe you like them equally, for different reasons?

Re-illustrated version

Original version

Do you like one more than the other?

How an Illustrator Creates a Picture Book

Adam Rex, author and illustrator of several books, has a fascinating blog post about how he creates a picture book. There are awesome pictures of his work and good details about the "insider" process of book illustrating. Check it out here to learn what it's really like to make a book!

On Adam's blog, he shows cool stuff like these "thumbnail" illustrations-in-progress for Chloe and the Lion written by Mac Barnett (E BARNETT)

 After you read his blog post, why not check out some of his many other excellent books?

 Frankenstein makes a sandwich written and illustrated by Adam Rex (J 811.6 REX)


 









Chu's Day, written by Neil Gaiman and illustated by Adam Rex (E GAIMAN)












Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Adam Rex (E BARNETT)

Pssst! written and illustrated by Adam Rex (E REX)

Video of illustrator Eric Carle working in his art studio

We think you'll be fascinated to watch this video of Eric Carle, illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other classic books, at work in his studio.  His illustration style is unique and it's fascinating to see how he does it!  It's a great way to teach kids about how the pictures in books are made and what it means when we say, "This book is illustrated by..."