Books on silent books:
Suzy Lee, Iela Mari, Shaun Tan and David Wiesner
If you want to learn more about silent books, listening to the artists that create these wordless wonders is a great place to start.
In this article, we present books on or by four very influentual silent book authors:
Suzy Lee (Korea)
Iela Mari (Italy)
Shaun Tan (Australia)
David Wiesner (USA).
The books presented will give you a deeper understanding of their authorship, an insight to their sources of inspiration and of course, a chance to take a closer look at their amazing artwork.
Why read books on books?
Here at Readsilentbooks.com, we love to read books on the subject of silent books. Some books are academic research, which is both important and interesting, but nothing beats reading the artists own thoughts and reflections about their work. Such texts are useful for developing a deeper understanding of the books and the authorship, for developing visual literacy and - if you are an author/illustrator/publisher - as inspiration for future silent books.
This is our first article about books on silent books. We chose to start with these particular books both because all the featured authors have made such an important impact on the world of wordless picturebooks.
Suzy Lee won the H.C. Andersen award in 2022. Her Border triology gained her worldwide attention, and Wave and Shadow were named Best illustrated books of 2008 and 2010 by the New York times. Lee uses silent books to exxplore the relationship between fantasy and reality in a simple, yet highly refined manner.
Iela Mari is one of the reasons why silent books are so popular - a pioneer in the field. Her books are simple stories told with great beauty and graphic refinement. They changed not only wordless book history, but also revolutionized Italian children's literature.
Astrid Lindgren Memorial-award winner Shaun Tan is an illustrator, author and filmmaker. His most famous title is the wordless masterpiece The arrival. The book has won more awards than is possible to list here, and was sited as no. 35 in The Times 100 best books of all time.
David Wiesner has won several Caldecott medals for his original and fascinating silent books, that are playful, dream-like and filled with interesting details and intervisual references. He has also written articles on silent book history and curated wordless book-themed exhitibions at US museums.
Presentation of the books:
Below, you will find a presentation of each book, with a short description, a quote, pictures and some highlights. Some of these books are out of print, but they are all still available online through second-hand bookstores.
Suzy Lee
The border triology
Corraini Edizioni, 2018
- The most challenging part of creating wordless picture books is being able to gently lead the readers yet open up all the possibilities of various reading experiences (p. 136)
Suzy Lee's wordless Border triology: The silent books Mirror, Shadow, and Wave, was a groundbreaking work that has inspired many other silent book artists. In the three books, Lee broke an unspoken rule in publishing: The artists do not draw in the "gutter", the centerfold of the book. With this triology, Lee showed us what wonderful things can happen when the rule is ignored. By crossing one of the physical borders a book can generate, Lee shifts the reader's eye and opens new perspectives.
In this book, Lee goes straight to the point. She is very generous with her knowledge, reflections and illustrations. The reader learns the secret behind Wave, Shadow and Mirror, but also Lee's thoughts on picturebooks in general, on imagination and on art. A wonderful read in a practical pocketbook format.
We especially love:
-The fact that Lee also uses the possibilities of the format of this book to the full, making the reader turn the book to a panoramic view when reading about Shadow.
-Lee sharing her experiences with reading the books for children, and also children's art and text inspired by the books.
-How Lee's love for picturebooks seep through every page, quote and illustration.
Iela Mari
The world through a lens/Il mondo attraverso una lente (Babalibri, 2010)
- I would like to draw attention to shapes, in relation to the bombardment of images produced by television (p. 43, quote from Mari made in 1968)
Of the four artists in this article, Mari is by far the most anonymous. She has done her work mostly behind the scenes. That makes this in-depth study of her work, and of course, the interview, a special treat for the reader. The book contains six articles about her work, and one very rare interview.
The reader learns about her background, the ideas and history about the books and how these books were both inspired by, and inspired, other picturebooks published in Italy - both at the time and to this day. The interview also reveals her thoughts on life in general (I've never understood why its so important for women to get married. Its paradise for men). A 20x20 cm. pocketbook to treasure!
We especially love:
- All the amazing pictures and illustrations: Sketches, early versions and editions, prototypes...it's stunning!
- The very gentle and respectful interview with Mari, who at the time was an old lady.
- The fact that the book is bilingual (English/Italian), as most other works on Mari is in Italian only (or in Korean).
Shaun Tan
Sketches from a nameless land
Hachette Children's group, 2012
- It' no coincidence that the main character in The arrival looks like me: I used myself as a reference model out of convenience, but there's also a self-reflexive comment here on the role of an illustrator as storyteller, where some ideas can only be expressed through a silent language of images (p. 31)
Sketches from a nameless land is a companion volume to Shaun Tan's masterpiece The arrival. Our version is the original special boxed edition containg both books, which is absolutely gorgeous, but you can now also buy Sketches as a stand-alone title. The cover of Sketches pairs perfectly with The arrival: It has the same vintage look of an old leather binding.
Inside you find 50 pages of Tan's reflections on the research behind the book, the progress, sources of inspiration and also on visual storytelling - and migration- in general. Tan describes how he draws inspiration from mundane objects to create the fantastical, and how he has read and listened to migrants stories. He explains the origins of his deas in great detail, using examples from concept skeches through to finished arworks. Throughout the book, he reflects on the silient language of images, the artist's creative journey and the spirit of the migrant experience.
We especially love:
- The chapter on the companion animals, which are an important part of The arrival, it was such a treat to get to learn more about them!
- The abundance of interesting sketches and storyboards, Tan is very generous with sharing his materials and ideas
- The beauty of both the book and the boxed set, this is a book to be displayed and cherised.
David Wiesner
David Wiesner & The Art of Wordless Storytelling
Santa Barbara Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2016
- By removing the text, I am removing the author's voice. This lets each reader tell the story in their own voice. It puts readers in the position of collaborating in the storytelling process, asking them to use their imagination along with mine (p. 12)
The art of wordless storytelling is the first pubcliation to show David Wiesner's creative process. This is a coffe-table sized book. The colorful beauty of the cover reveals what the reader can expect when opening the pages: an abundance of lavish plates and illustrations: Early works, book excerpts, watercolors, sketches.
Wiesner has made so many groundbreaking, original silent books. His work is characterized by his interplay of the world of comic books, 20th-century films, cartoons and more, and important sources of his inspiration are also displayed in this book. The book is 112 pages and contains an introdutcion, an article and an interview. A very large part of the book is dedicated to the gorgeous plates and artwork.
We especially love:
- The large size, that allows Wiesner's amazing, detailed illustrations to really shine
- The inspiring way Wiesner explains the creative process behind many of this titles in the interview
- The very thorough and interesting article by Katherine Roeder
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We hope you enjoyed this article!
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