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Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
Friends at Sea … Oliver Jeffers' Lost and Found
Friends at Sea … Oliver Jeffers' Lost and Found

What gives a picture book lasting appeal?

This article is more than 10 years old
The best picture books conceal timeless truths. Try Oliver Jeffers' Lost and Found or Alex Deacon's Beegu

I am enjoying sharing picture books which I liked as a child with my daughter who is now four. Books like Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Raymond Briggs's The Snowman or Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are seem to be as attractive to her as they were to me. Is it possible to identify why these books are so timeless? Also, do you think there are books published today which will have the same lasting appeal? - Maria

Identifying exactly why a particular book is successful is hard but some of it is about the universality of a theme. Typically, the best picture books – and certainly the ones that last – are those that have much more depth than might appear on first reading. Behind a very simple structure, brief text and beautiful illustrations can lie truths that are timeless.

You rightly mention The Very Hungry Caterpillar. While a two-year-old will very obviously love the holes that the caterpillar crawls through and the succulent choice of diverse favourite foods that he devours, she/he will also absorb the principle of transformation as the caterpillar re-emerges as a beautiful butterfly. It's about as complete and encouraging story as you can give a child, especially when you think how it lines up alongside their own experience of change as they take significant physical and emotional developmental steps.

The Snowman encompasses a whole birth to death experience behind the magical and playful story, while Where the Wild Things Are gives licence both to rage and, despite doing so, to trust that your parents will be there for you. No four-year-old will be able to articulate these reason, but these issues are just as important today as they were a generation ago for you as a child, hence the lasting qualities of the books.

Speculating on what will last is always a challenge and a risk but there are always new picture books adding to this tradition. Oliver Jeffers' Lost and Found or Alexis Deacon's Beegu, both stories about loneliness and friendship, are very successful and have the quality of illustration and story that are likely to endure.

For older readers, Shaun Tan's The Arrival will be have a profound effect for as long people continue moving from one country to another, which is likely to be forever.

If you have a question for Book Doctor, email us at childrens.books@theguardian.com or tweet them to @GdnChildrensBks

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