Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, tells us, "The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Persian miniature. Modern book illustration comes from the 15th-century woodcut illustrations that were fairly rapidly included in early printed books, and later block books. Other techniques such as engraving, etching, lithography and various kinds of color printing were to expand the possibilities and were exploited by such masters as Daumier, Doré or Gavarni."
You can read the entire article about the History of Book Illustration by clicking the link.
The advent of books for children, including some that while apparently for children actually carry a message for adults as well, opened the door to a new field of children's book illustration. Consider the wonderful plates in the Rev. Charles Dodgeson's works (Alice In Wonderland, Alice Through The Looking Glass) or L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz. The tradition has grown into an entire field of illustrating for children's books. The market for these books continues to grow and new distribution of electronic books (ebooks) and their digital book reading devices (like the Kindle) have extended the niche even farther.
There is an entire field of illustrators who make their entire living in the field of children's book illustrations with some focusing entirely on the ebook market. Amazon Kindle books now comprise a significant share of the book market with many children exposed almost entirely to ebooks alone. My 3 year old granddaughter "reads" ebooks on her own Kindle Fire tablet just as I used to read print books in the past.
Night Night Hamlet, Clint Plyler's wonderful entry into the children's book market is available both in print and for Kindle. The illustrations by Tami Boyce are spectacular and spell-binding for the young reader.
Copyright © Clint Plyler Publishing