The picturebook is now recognized as a sophisticated art form that has provided a space for some of the most exciting innovations in the field of children’s literature. This book brings together the work of expert scholars from the UK, the USA and Europe to present original theoretical perspectives and new research on picturebooks and their readers.

The authors draw on a variety of disciplines such as art and cultural history, semiotics, philosophy, cultural geography, visual literacy, education and literary theory in order to revisit the question of what a picturebook is, and how the best authors and illustrators meet and exceed artistic, narrative and cultural expectations. The book looks at the socio-historical conditions of different times and countries in which a range of picturebooks have been created, pointing out variations but also highlighting commonalities. It also discusses what the stretching of borders may mean for new generations of readers, and what contemporary children themselves have to say about picturebooks.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship.

Evelyn Arizpe is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK, and coordinates the MEd in Children’s Literature and Literacies. She has taught and published widely in the areas of literacies, reader- response to picturebooks and children’s literature. Previous publications include Children Reading Picture: Interpreting visual texts (2003). Maureen Farrell is Senior Lecturer in the Language Department of the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her research interests focus around Scottish Children’s and Young Adult literature, picturebooks and identity formation. She has published several articles on these topics. Julie McAdam is a teacher educator in the Language Department of the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK. Prior to working at Glasgow, Julie worked in Cairo, Budapest, Lisbon and the United Arab Emirates in EFL. She was a contributing author to Threshold Concepts in the Disciplines (2009).