Props

Props are objects, costumes, colors, and other visual details that help communicate what is going on in the story and how the characters are feeling. Close-ups are often used to show important props and signal to readers or viewers “pay attention here!”

Example 1: Consider this image from the book Grandfather's Journey written and illustrated by Allen Say. The story is about the author's own grandfather who moved to the United States from Japan. Yet he missed the mountains of his homeland and, eventually, moved back to Japan. Without knowing the full story, pay careful attention to the props that illustrator, Allen Say, chose to include in this spread.

Spot the props. What do you see?
How do these props help readers determine how the grandfather is feeling?
Extra: This image also uses position. How does his positioning help the readers know what he might be thinking?

Example 2: Along with actual images, like the clock or caged birds in Allen Say's image above, illustrators use color and shape as props to help tell the story. Consider the image below from Zebrafish, written by Sharon Emerson and illustrated by Renée Kurilla. One of the main characters, Tanya, has leukemia (a type of cancer)– but the other characters don't know that yet.

How are color and shape used as props in this spread?
How do they serve as a type of visual foreshadowing?

Zebrafish by Sharon Emerson Image 1 PROPS.png

Example 3: Props can not only be objects or colors, but also may by objects that incorporate colors! Have you ever thought about Mirabel Madrigal's green glasses in the movie Encanto (2021). While watching the clip below where Julieta tries to comfort Mirabel, pay attention to how she mentions the glasses and consider why...

How do the glasses serve as a prop?
What important theme of the story could her glasses symbolize?
How might the green color of her glasses connect with the green color of Bruno's visions?