What makes a great children’s book? Illustrations! And what makes the best children’s book illustration? Well, this is a much more complicated question.
In fact, there are lots of children’s book illustration styles, and every artist adds their own details and vision. It is exactly what makes those illustrations so special, and some of them – are iconic.
However, there must be certain patterns that make those illustrations so special and even separate them into a special art form. Together with artists from Prayan Animation – India’s best children’s book illustration studio, we shall try to determine the 7 main styles in this unique art and see how they correlate. Enriching each other.
Cartoonish illustrations
It is the first style that comes to mind when we talk about children’s book illustrations. Characters in these drawings often have exaggerated features and unnatural colors or traits that make them more relatable and understandable for children.
For example, an elephant can wear glasses, a cat can smile widely, and human heroes may have particularly distinctive facial features like big eyes, freckles, or long limbs to highlight some of their character traits.
Realistic
Unlike cartoonish children’s book illustrations, realistic drawings are as close to the natural proportions and colors of characters as possible. Such illustrations are usually used for books for older children, who can fully comprehend the written text, but still need visual support to stimulate their attention.
The best children’s book illustration company would see the difference between realistic drawings for kids and general realism. Although the characters would be proportional, animals, for example, may still have human mimics and facial expressions.
One-line illustrations
Pretty minimalistic; those line drawings are always black and wide and hardly have any shading or gradation in them.
Seemingly too strict for children’s book illustrations, they actually draw kids’ attention to details, facial expressions, and poses, becoming even more informative than colorful drawings. These illustrations also become perfect color pages inspiring kids to take part in the illustration process.
Sketch illustrations
Similar to one-line drawings, these children’s book illustrations have more depth and details as they are done with some shading, may have different lines, etc.
Although sketch illustrations are almost always black and white, an artist may add 1 or 2 bold colors to draw attention to a certain detail.
John Tenniel’s original illustrations for Alice in Wonderland are a perfect example of Sketch illustrations and how drawings meant for a children’s book became iconic art pieces.
Whacky and funny illustrations
Characters in these children’s book illustrations always have extremely exaggerated features, deliberately foolish facial expressions, or are entirely a figment of the artist’s imagination.
The best children’s book illustration companies use such drawings for younger children who are just being introduced to reading (Dr. Seuss’s books are a perfect example) or initially inconvenient topics such as potty training, the human body, etc.
Humor is the best way to spark an interest and engage a child in the process.
Whimsical
These children’s book illustrations can be done in flashy colors or pastels, be perfectly detailed or pretty schematic, but what unites that illustration is the sense of magic and dreaminess they give.
These drawings are childish and carefree; they depict impossible situations like flying on balloons or talking to flowers as perfectly natural scenes.
Stylized
These illustrations are close to whimsical, but they are often a bit more schematic and have a very distinctive pattern with certain geometric figures of colors.
The best children’s book illustration company will take this seemingly plain style and develop it into a unique illustration, making your book or story immediately recognizable on the shelf, and giving a character and atmosphere to the world you created.
Final Thoughts
Children’s book illustrations are as vivid and lively as childhood itself. They can breathe a soul into your story, help it become more relatable for children, and encourage their imagination and creativity.
If you are looking for unique, professionally made illustrations that will fully reveal your vision and make the atmosphere of your book tangible and alive, address Prayan Animation, India’s best children’s book illustration studio.
This award-winning studio not only provides a high-quality illustration of the mainstream styles but also goes over the patterns and trends in animation and illustration, inventing new unique images.
Contact Prayan Animation today and bring the universe of your book or story to life.
We can help you. 
