Bodmer, G. R. (1992). Approaching the illustrated text. In: G. E. Sadler (ed.), Teaching children's literature: Issues, pedagogy, resources (p. 72-79). NY: The Modern Language Association of America.

«Even though we are admonished not to judge a book by its cover, we begin responding to a work of literature as soon as we pick it up. Likewise, a strong instinctive or emotional reaction sets in as soon as pictures are encountered. Although the pictures are, ideally, meant to be "read" at that point in the text where they are positioned, no one can help leafing through the book, soaking up the sens of the story through the illustrations.
Illustration serves to expand, explain, interpret, or decorate a written text. In addition, the illustration offers a "text" in itself, which always tells a slightly different story, just as two words are never totally synonymous. As such the illustration is also a "reading" of the written text, creating a tension between picture and word, as the viewer-reader springs back and forth between the two. In older books, picture and text were clearly separate; the picture, in color or black and white, came on its own page or its own distinct part of the page. More recently, words and pictures have tended to bleed into each other, with the text sometimes printed atop the image, for instance.» (p. 72)

«[...] Obviously there is considerable diversity in the extent to which a story can be illustrated. Often collections of short works like fairy tales are limited to one picture for each story. Each page of a picture book usually has an illustration, which is larger than the accompanying text. There are even picture books with no words, although a text or storyline obviously exists, in the writer's mind and for the reader-viewer to recreate. For the work to be successful, a balance must be reached, a deal struck. Interesting pictures cannot save a dull story, although a good story can pull some drab artwork along. Likewise, too elaborate art can overpower a small story. Part of a picture book's appeal is that, for a young audience, it helps bridge the gap before a child learns to read; a picture's more abstract and emotional appeal is a doorway to the literal communication of the written words.
Another deal is struck between how much of the actual storytelling is done by the words and how much is done by the pictures. The pictures may add important facts that the text doesn't give, or they may simply, for example, show what a character or scene looks like. The illustrations may also undermine the written story, providing an ironic subtext.» (p. 72-3)

«Students should be aware that there is a tension between the pictures and the story in the books they read. To examine the ways an illustrated text works, the reader should consider these questions:
1. Does the illustration tell the same story as the words? What has been added or changed?
2. Cand the words tell the story without the pictures?
3. Can the pictures tell the story without the words?
4. What is the style of the artwork? How is color used? What do style and color contribute to mood, description, or storytelling?
5. What is the physical relationship between pictures and printed text? Do they overlap, or are they separate?
6. What is the tone or mood of the pictures?
7. What is the goal of the illustration?
The pictures in an illustrated book show us how one person read the story. The artist becomes a critic, explainer, enhancer, and interpreter, presenting a version of the story in the pictures offered. The relationship between words and pictures is a creative one for us as viewers, as we shift back and forth, responding to the two in different ways. It is a process that involves us in the text and makes us participants in the story.» (p. 78-9)