Children’s Illustrations in the Digital Age

One of my favorite parts of working at the Book Bank is getting to see thousands of book covers per day. The books we see range in color, size, texture, and shape, and the illustrations are incredible.

The most classic children’s characters from picture books - Eric Carle’s very hungry caterpillar, Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie, and Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat - are colorful, creative, and loveable. They’ve become so beloved because of the way these characters enhance the words on the pages and bring children into the book’s new world.

In fact, illustrations play a crucial part in children’s literacy by engaging them with a story before they can read the words themselves. Illustrators use vibrant colors and textures to draw children in and help them to understand concepts such as sharing with others, patience, and acceptance of our fellow humans.

However, in 2025, art has been heavily influenced by A.I. platforms. According to IBM, A.I. is “a technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy.” This very simulation of humans is what enables A.I. to create art.

So, as I’ve reflected and admired the illustrations I see every day, in tandem with my daily musings on the state of our world, I’ve wondered: how might A.I. impact these children’s book illustrations? And, if it does, should we be concerned?

While A.I. technology has been in development for several decades, the knowledge and popularity of common A.I. tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and others have grown in the past five years. Today, A.I. search engines can be commonly tapped into by anyone with internet access.

After a cursory internet search, I found a TIME Magazine article from 2022 that detailed the ways that a 28-year-old design manager wrote, illustrated, and uploaded to Amazon a children’s book - all in 22 hours. The catch? He used A.I. for all of it.

Ammaar Reshi’s book was originally created for a friend’s daughter, but after posting his creation on X, it sparked a significant amount of backlash from artists anxious about the growing technology. Many of their same fears from a couple of years ago linger today - can all of our art be replaced by A.I.? Is A.I. technology stealing or plagiarizing other artists’ work? Will we all still have jobs in a couple of years? And, on a more existential level, is art still art if it’s created by the hands of a computer?

Reshi’s response to the immense criticism he received was directed at the technology, not the artists and concerned individuals interrogating him. “To the creators of these tools at OpenAI & MidJourney: how do we ensure protections for these artists / train models on consent? Their talent, skill, hard work to get there needs to be respected.” I would take a guess and say that A.I. eliminated some of Reshi’s typos in his book.

Think about your very favorite book from when you were a child. If it’s a picture book, I’m sure that the first things that come to mind about the book are its illustrations, because that’s what we can recall instantly. You may not remember the exact wording or phrasing of the book, but you can probably get an image of at least one of the illustrations. Growing up, my dad read me Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein many nights before bed. When I recall the poetry book now, I can vividly remember the (semi-creepy but also very cool) illustration of a dentist climbing into a crocodile’s mouth in The Crocodile’s Toothache.

The unique illustrations of each children’s book author are just that - unique. Shel Silverstein, who also wrote The Giving Tree and A Light in the Attic, has a distinct line drawing, scrawling style to his illustrations that match with the sometimes-twisted and often endearing content of his books. Ezra Jack Keats, author of The Snowy Day, was inspired by his own life experience growing up in New York City. According to him, he always felt he had an artistic gift, but “working on a book with a black kid as a hero” inspired his most famous book, The Snowy Day. He felt connected to his city and noticed throughout his career that almost every picture book character was white. His illustrations filled in those gaps.

A.I. is smart. That much is certain. It can create, write, and illustrate children’s books. It can mimic illustration styles from artists who have spent years honing their craft. It can write rhyming lyrics that draw children into a story. But, what does that mean for those children?

Potentially, nothing. The recency of these technologies means there is limited research on its effects. We can only guess what impacts it will have on most aspects of life, children’s illustrations included. Is it the worst thing in the world to have more children’s books circulating in our society? No. Does the Maryland Book Bank believe that every child deserves the highest quality, most intentional books to read as they grow up? Definitely.

Children’s books offer a clear intersection between our ideas about creativity and technology. It makes sense that A.I. will continue to shape the landscape of children’s literature. But while algorithms can replicate styles and generate stories in seconds, they cannot replicate the lived experiences, emotional depth, or cultural nuance that human illustrators bring to these books. The magic of a picture book lies in its ability to reflect the world through the eyes of its creators and the children they want to read their story.

Ultimately, the question isn’t whether A.I. will replace illustrators, but whether we will continue to value the human touch in storytelling. At the Maryland Book Bank, we believe that every child deserves books that are crafted with care, and we enter this new phase of children’s illustrations with cautious hope.