Visual Communication in Children Picture Book: A Study on Professional Crocodile and Waiting

Authors

  • Raihana Mohamed* Corresponding author | Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Siti Ezaleila Mustafa Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24191/ijad.v10i2/34crx228

Keywords:

Children Story Books, Visual Communication, Visual Literacy, Wordless Picture Book, Picture Book with Text

Abstract

Children’s books can be in the form of fiction and non-fiction for the children to read in a creative and imaginative experience. This also includes wordless picture books, which are unique in that its content must be communicated solely using illustrations. These images must be able to stand alone, without the support of a printed text, and must carry the full weight of the illustrator's intentions. Therefore, visual literacy is important for the children specifically to have the ability to see, understand and, ultimately, communicate visually. It is an understanding of what is not written, but what is presented using signs, symbols, icons and colours. However, wordless picture books are not widely used in the pre-school setting in Malaysia. Most of the books or storybooks are with text, and children students have been taught to learn and read them. In addition, there are many pre-schoolers who are still not able to proficiently read words, struggling in reading, and being left behind in terms of reading proficiency due to their inability to read at all. Competency in visual literacy is essential for effective visual communication, for them to understand and interpret the content of the story by their own imagination. In this study, visual literacy theory will be applied and the emphasis will be given only to one only on one conceptual component which is visual communication. The selected books, Professional Crocodile (a wordless picture book) and Waiting (a picture book with text), will be analysed to examine how illustrations are used to communicate and tell the story. This paper will discuss in detail the visual communication techniques found in wordless picture books, the criteria for good design in such books, and the elements and principles in Professional Crocodile that can spark emergent readers’ interest in reading.

Author Biographies

  • Raihana Mohamed*, Corresponding author | Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    Department of Media and Communication Studies,
    University of Malaya,
    Kuala Lumpur,
    Malaysia.

  • Siti Ezaleila Mustafa, Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    Senior Lecturer
    Department of Media & Communication Studies,
    Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
    Universiti Malaya
    50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Published

01.10.2026

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026)

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Copyright (c) 2026 Raihana Mohamed; Siti Ezaleila

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