Slateandpencilvania, about counting – represent the first picture stories about the difficulties children face in early learning. The fluid illustrative style and use of heavy punning show similarities with the homemade books that Crane created for his own children.


Crane’s visual approach to learning attracted the interest of leading reading specialists. He collaborated with Professor Meiklejohn to produce The Golden Primer (1884-5) and also with Nellie Dale to create the ‘Walter Crane readers’ (1899). These popular reading schemes were the forerunners of the Ladybird ‘Key Words’ series and the ‘Oxford Reading Tree’. n


© Lesley Delaney, UCL and the V&A.


Left: This Little Pig Went to Market (1870) NAL: 60.R Box XIV (xxx).


Below: Puss in Boots (1874) NAL: B.LB.ROUT.PU.1874.


All book illustrations reproduced with the permission of the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum.


reflect his observations of young children. He noticed that they appear to see most things in profile and prefer ‘well-designed forms and bright frank colours’. Children are not concerned with three dimensions, he suggested; they could accept symbolic representations.


To encourage close observation of the pictures, Crane adds comic touches. For example, in This Little Pig he gives the hilarious cartoon character glasses and cloven boots; he places bows on both its curly tail and pigtail wig. Children can also spot the pig displayed on the mantelpiece in the picture on the facing page. The picture panels for Puss in Boots (1874) show Crane as an early exponent of the comic strip form. The design leads the child from one frame to the next in a sequence of detailed pictures that follows the cat’s actions, enabling even pre-readers to understand the story.


Crane introduces visual jokes to help the child’s understanding of reading conventions, such as turning the page. This can be seen in the playful illustration for ‘Hey diddle diddle!’ on the cover of The Baby’s Opera (1877). The three mice featured in the bottom panel appear to be running into the book. They reappear in the following pages engaging in various amusing antics, such as outwitting the cat. Crane wanted to excite children’s curiosity about what they would find on the next page. The square format of the baby books was inspired by designs for nursery tiles and provides a model for baby books even today.


The innovative fantasy series, called ‘The Romance of the Three Rs’ (1885–6), shows how early learning can be turned into imaginative games. The three titles – Little Queen Anne, about reading, Pothooks and Perseverance, about learning to write, and


‘Walter Crane: Revolutionary picture books for the nursery’ runs from 8 November 2010 until 3 April 2011: Room 85, National Ar t Library Landing, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL (020 7942 2000, www.vam.ac.uk).


Lesley Delaney, University College London and the


National Ar t Library at the V&A, is supported by a Collaborative Doctoral


Award from the Ar ts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).


Right: Detail of portrait of Walter Crane by George Frederic Watts.


Books for Keeps No.185 November 2010 5


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