CHILDREN’S BOOKS – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 31, 2024: STORY & PICTURES BY

January 26, 2025May 24, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, CHILDREN'S BOOKS, Christian Robinson, Ezra Jack Keats, jennifer merin, Joanna Rudnick, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Mac Barnett, Margaret Wise Brown, maurice sendak, motw, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Wanda Gág, Yuyi Morales

Goodnight Moon. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Monster at the End of This Book. If just reading the titles of these all-time-classic picture books makes you smile, then watching director Joanna Rudnick’s charming documentary Story & Pictures By — which examines the power and long-lasting impact of children’s literature — will be as appealing as curling up with a stack of your own favorites and settling in for story hour.

Reviews

STORY & PICTURES BY – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 24, 2025January 25, 2025 Leslie Combemale CHILDREN'S BOOKS, Christian Robinson, documentary, Ezra Jack Keats, Joanna Rudnick, Mac Barnett, Margaret Wise Brown, maurice sendak, motw, Wanda Gág, Yuyi Morales

Producer/director Joanna Rudnick’s Story & Pictures By not only offers an education in the value and influence of children’s picture books, it’s also a joy to watch. Three artist authors, Yuyi Morales, Mac Barnett, and Christian Robinson, are profiled as a way to consider the influence of story to a diverse population. All three have created books that deal with deep subjects and allow kids who may not have seen themselves or their challenges represented in picture books. Rudnick puts them into historical context by discussing or including archival footage of greats like Maurice Sendak, Margaret Wise Brown, and John Steptoe.