Illustrating Children's books

Illustrating children's books is a fascinating visual world. Though the distinction between high art and commercial art continues to plague the art world, to me, a painting in a children's book is an artwork in its own right. The fine lines between the imaginative and the real, the abstraction of forms and characters, the sense of conversation and the intensity of perception that a picture in the children's book is filled with amazes me. The narrative takes on myriad meanings with the transforming visuals in the book. It's a wonder why we don't make more picture books for adults, where abstract ideas and thoughts get illustrated and find their own visual forms.