How to Use Color as Story in Children’s Book Illustrations
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Color tells a story in kids books—but is it telling the right story?
One super important aspect of children’s books is the use of color! Color can be a game-changer in telling a narrative and creating a memorable story.
How Does Color Help Tell A Story?
There are four different ways color is important in kids books—
—Emotion
—Foreshadowing
—Direction
—Symbolism
I’m sure there are actually many other ways color helps a story, but for this article we’ll just talk about four!
I am a children’s book illustrator—I’ll be using “Maybe A Whale”, a book I illustrated, as an example throughout this article. (This kids’ book was written by Kirsten Pendreigh and published by Groundwood Books.)
Just to give you some context on the story, so you can see how color affects the reader’s experience, here is a short synopsis of the book:
After Grandpa dies, a girl and her mother take the trip he had planned for them, kayaking along the Pacific west coast to look for the whales that he loved.
The trip will do them good, Mom says, but the girl isn’t sure. How can that be true when grandpa isn’t there? And how will they find a whale in all that water, anyway?
Color Can Set the Mood in a Kid’s Book
Color sets the mood and helps the reader understand what emotions are going on in the story at any given point. Color can communicate what is going on between the lines in the story!
Above, in “Maybe A Whale”, the first few pages of the story take place just after the little girl’s grandfather dies. Even though the text never specifically states the grandfather has passed away, it suggests that he is not there anymore, and that the mother and daughter will be taking a trip without him.
The colors at the beginning of the book are much more muted, darker, and cooler than later on in their adventure. Although there are bright star-lights hanging in the window, the long shadows and evening mood communicate a somber mood.
The turning point in the colors happens when the mother and daughter head out to sea. A foggy morning turns into a turquoise blue ocean with jewel tones beneath the surface and a bright yellow kayak. From this point on, the contrasts, brightness, and hues are much stronger—ending with a colorful sunset and turquoise expanse of ocean in the last two pages.
Using Color to Foreshadow Events in a Children’s Book
In “Maybe A Whale” the mother and daughter are searching for humpback whales—the grandfather’s favorite whales. I used color throughout to hint at what is to come later on in the story.
This is especially helpful when the reader is actively searching for something in the book, such as the whales they are hoping to see!
You can use a certain color throughout the book to clue in the reader that something is important and to keep an eye out for it later on! I used turquoise jewel tones when showing underneath the ocean surface—linking it to the whales when they show up.
Even the stuffed whale that the girl carries with her throughout the book is turquoise—like the humpbacks that show up later.
I talk more about using symbolism and foreshadowing in kids books in my article here: Drawing Between the Lines When Illustrating Children’s Books — take a look!
Using Color to Direct the Reader’s Eye in Illustrations
Sometimes we want the reader to notice certain things on a page, especially when they are important to the story. Color can attract the viewer to people or things in the illustrations. It can also direct the reader to notice things in a specific order—which helps the narrative of a story!
Because this story takes place near or on the ocean, the character of the young girl wears warm colors the whole time to make sure she really stands out.
Her reds, pinks, and oranges not only contrast with the blues and purples in the backgrounds, but they are also complimentary colors. You can use complimentary colors because they create harmony but still allow aspects of the image to jump out at the reader.
On the double page spread below, the reader needs to see the tent first in order to understand that the characters are camping on the beach, before they spot the spouting whales! The bright orange glow of the tent immediately grabs the viewer’s attention.
A busy page can use color to organize ideas. The jellyfish and seals are swarming in the image below, but a calm stretch of light blue brings the attention right to the kayak—no matter how enticing the deep sea is!
Then: A flash of green at the bottom right—quickly brings the eye from the turquoise above to the lower corner of the page.
You can use color to move the reader through the story in the direction you want! Now the reader is ready to turn the page…
Color Can Create Symbolism in Children’s Books
Symbolism is a way to suggest ideas and themes in an indirect way. Color is a fantastic way of creating symbolism in kids books without having to use words!
Yellow —
Throughout the book, warm yellow tones represent the relationship between the mother and daughter. Not only does this bring a happy, safe feeling to these images, but the brightness of this color increases based on how close they are feeling to each other in different scenes.
This culminates in the scenes below, where they are getting ready for bed in their tent and reconnect over the sadness and hope they feel.
Purple —
The purple in the book often symbolizes the grandfather who has passed away but still feels close-by throughout their trip. The purple sleeping bag covering them as they remember him. The purple whales in the sky.
Living Light…
The bioluminescence, or “living light” that is shown in the story, becomes a perfect parallel for the relationship with color, light and emotion in the book.
Color is key. Especially in kids books where images are communicating so much of the story. Words are often brief and carefully chosen!
Use color in your illustrations to strengthen the story, add emotion, foreshadow, create direction, and build symbolism.
You can get your copy of “Maybe A Whale” on Amazon over here.
Thank you for reading!
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