Illustrations in Books: Yay or Nay? // Let's Talk Bookish

Let's Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics based on prompts allocated for each Friday of the week. You basically share your opinions and get into the conversation by visiting each other’s posts. You can find the December schedule here.

Today’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is Illustrations in Books, which was suggested by Rayna @ Ray’s Realm

I am the type of reader who collects books for the fun of it. I’m pretty sure they’ve named this niche reader group by now but I can’t really remember what the exact term is. So yeah, I am the reader who collects picture books and kid’s books just because of how pretty they are.

Do you read books with illustrations in them?

Why yes, I do! Since I started collecting picture books as a child, I never really stopped and now I always grab the illustrated editions and picture books as long as I can afford to. Also, do graphic novels count as books with illustrations? Because I love those too!

Do you think illustrations are only for children’s books or graphic novels?

Absolutely not! I think there aren’t any restrictions on which books qualify to be illustrated. I love a good fantasy book with illustrations on the margins and just pages of whole illustrations.

However, there are certain valuable skills that children can learn from reading picture books, from aiding their development as well as motivating children to read at an early age. Therefore, I would say that illustrations are an essential part of reading for early readers but should it stop there?

Can illustrations work well in adult literature?

I think they can but I don’t see this enough in reality. As opposed to how kids benefit from illustrated books, I think adults gain more of a pleasurable reading experience from these books.

Here are a few reasons why I think adult literature should have more illustrations in them:

Illustrations in any kind of book will add to the beauty of the story
There is an almost calming effect that seeing the beautiful artistry adds to the escapism of reading
Various book editions that could pop up despite the consumerism of this (and I haven’t invested in any special editions yet, so what do I know?)
More opportunities for illustrators, and maybe even fan artists?