Anna-Clara Tidholm

eading should be non-educational
to have fun, that’s what reading is all about, says anna-Clara tidholm,
illustrator and writer. all that other talk about how useful and important
it is to read, she doesn’t like.
Anna-Clara Tidholm is the author
of picture books like Apan fin (Pretty
Monkey), Hela natten (All Night
Long) and of course Knacka på!
(Knock knock knock!). Books that
in the highest degree introduced
and established the genre småbarnsböcker
(infant books). An infant
book is meant for children up
to about three years. Infant books
must, says Anna-Clara, be very
carefully adapted to the lowest ages.
They must be simple and small children’s
level. The content must limit
itself to things that infants are supposed
to have seen or experienced.
And that is a question for both
the writing and the pictures. The
picture book parts from the “pointing
out-book” through its precise
adapted text (words).
She is working with happy and
strong colours and with pictures
that are simple, distinct and in clear
interplay with the text.
– When it comes to colours, I
think you have to overdo it a bit
working with infant books. And
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besides, I like “toy-colours”.
Talking about the clearness in
the pictures, it is important but that
doesn’t mean that she only deal
with reproducing reality.
– No, it should be boring. To the
reproducing you must add a feeling,
a tune or an expression. My
task is not to be pedagogic. I have
no ambition to teach the children
about colours or anything like that.
My task is to supply adventures,
experiences.
Anna-Clara tells me about a mistake
she has made about the clearness
in her pictures. Like one with
speed-lines.
It is in the book Find out where
a building of toy bricks is falling
down, accompanied with these
words:
“Hitta på att rulla buller Hoppa
dunsa Ramla Brak! Faller leksaker
ner på golvet med en farlig fart”
Among all the things that fall is
a monkey. To mark the enormous
speed, Anna-Clara painted white
speed-lines. Lines that cover the
arm of the monkey. Reading chil