Children and Pictures

Book excerpt: In Children and Pictures, Richard P. Jolley critiques both the historical and contemporary studies conducted in the field of children’s making and understanding of pictures. Some highlights of Children and Pictures are: What develops, and why, in children’s representational and expressive drawing, both in typical, atypical, and cross-cultural populations. The developing relationship between production and comprehension of pictures. Children’s understanding of pictures as symbolic representations. Practical and applied uses of drawings, particularly in clinical and legal settings. Diverse educational practices of teaching drawing across the world. Presenting up-to-date research and pointing towards future topics of study, Children and Pictures brings the study of children’s drawings into mainstream child development studies. This is an edifying resource for students, researchers, practitioners, parents, artists, and educators in the field.