Hoban’s Black and White: Not So Black and White After All

Unlike last week when I focused my attentions to a scholarly work about children’s literature, this week I would like to discuss a primary work from our course’s reading list: Hoban’s Black and White. At first there was nothing whatsoever about this wordless book that seemed to be of the remotest interest to me. As one of the previously used adjectives infers, it contains absolutely no text within its pages; in addition, the illustrations within it are completely devoid of colour making it seems stark and austere. This reality seems quite disappointing because one expects a children’s book to be captivating and delightful rather than reductionist.

After this rather derogatory line of thought, I reflected on my line of conclusion. I simply had assumed that a book which has a series of non-chromatic images was base and, consequently, of little value. Fortunately, my faint memories of past (in fact, distant past) psychology classes surfaced and I realized that my conclusions about Hoban’s wordless book were categorically incorrect.

Take, for example, the book’s choice of colour (or, perhaps more appropriately, tone). By using just these two colours (and colours that could not contrast more), one gets the impression that the reason behind this choice is something beyond simple aesthetics. An article by Pereverzeva & Teller (2004) reveals that Hoban’s choice is not only helpful from a child development standpoint, but also inspired. This aforesaid article, which is in fact from a neuroscience journal, argues that the visual acuity of an infant is only basic. As such, an infant is often unable to visually and mentally perceive colours observed in their natural environment.

What this seemingly unrelated scientific argument means in terms of Hoban’s work is both subtle and profound. The argued subtle aspect is that Hoban herself does not make any mention of this developmental accommodation at any point in her work: not even in a forward note for parents. Secondly, Hoban’s inclusion of these non-chromatic drawings is also profound because she is actively seeking to ensure that her target audience, that is, infant readers, can observe and absorb the material which is being presented.

Hoban’s level of child developmental sophistication does not end there. The illustrations themselves also belie their apparent meaning. For example, inside this book are paired images of a bib and cutlery and a butterfly and a maple leaf. Evidently, these images are not only physical manifestations of physical and natural objects, but also representations of an infants’ personal experience.

In the end, what I have learned from Toban’s work is that derogatory assumptions about children’s literature are often foolhardy and erroneous. Hoban has, in fact, broached both the world of literature and science through her use of scholarly insight: a learned and noble feat indeed.

Hoban, T. (1993). Black on White. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Pereverzeva, M., & Teller, D.Y. (2004). Infant color vision: Influence of surround chromaticity on spontaneous looking preferences. Visual Neuroscience, 21(3), 389-395.