Professional storytellers make their living from telling stories to groups of people. Sometimes they tell stories in schools or libraries. Sometimes they work in museums or at festivals. They may tell their own stories, or they may tell stories written or collected by others. Storytellers are often story collectors too. They build a collection of stories that they may tell. Some storytellers wear fancy costumes or use props to help tell their stories. They may act out the stories, sometimes using members of the audience to help them. Some of their stories may be different every time they tell them, others may stay exactly the same, word-for-word.

The role of a picture book illustrator is much more than to just add pictures to the author’s words. Except where the author is also the illustrator, the words generally come first and the pictures second. Picture book illustrators add details, action and atmosphere that may not be mentioned in the words.

 

Some writers and illustrator teams work together over and over, for example, Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake; Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake; Libby Gleeson and Armin Greder; John Scieszka and Lane Smith; and Joanna Cole and Bruce Degan.