Alec Anderson, Christopher Heron, Ellie Shapiro, and Caroline Kitt attend a Picture Book Club meeting (Courtesy of Mary Tran)

WashU’s MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture (IVC) program houses a group of talented, innovative, and accomplished artists. You might be surprised, then, walking into their “Roxy” studio late on a Friday afternoon. Every other week, 15-20 of them, along with WashU undergraduates, independent authors, and more, listen intently as a picture book is read to them.

Your surprise would quickly be replaced by a feeling of curiosity, nostalgia, and affability as WashU’s Picture Book Club welcomes any and all.

“It’s inner-child healing,” said club snack gatherer Tommy Attwood, a second-year IVC student.

The club meets biweekly, reading 5-6 books a year, often themed to the current holiday or season. It’s led by a group known internally as “the committee”: Five MFA-IVC students who possess a mutual love for picture books and, to the club, act similarly to a president’s cabinet, a captain’s crew — or an executive board. 

At their helm is President Cleonique Hilsaca, a second-year IVC student and published picture book illustrator of “Sleep, Little Dozer” and “Dream Submarine.” 

“I can’t go into a bookstore, or I will buy books. So I have to measure myself,” she said.

Napoleon famously said that an army marches on its stomach. So too does a picture book club.   Attwood, the self-titled “forager” for the club, crucially ensures members don’t go hungry.

“They tell us, ‘How do we get people to do stuff?’ And we’re always like, ‘Food!’ Food brings people to places,” Hilsaca said. “And beer if you can,” Atwood added.

Amy Selstad, first-year IVC student and self-published author and illustrator of “Shores of Gold,” sits at the reader’s flank, handling the role of picture book projection. She scans and presents the book digitally on a large screen behind the reader, allowing even those sitting farther away to clearly see the visuals. 

“I read a lot of picture books, my desk is like half picture books,” she said.

Rounding out the committee are two first-year IVC students; Shivani Shenoy handles communications, while Subhadra Sridharan is the Poster Specialist. For her role, Sridharan mixes art from each month’s book with her own graphics to create a poster for each meeting.

“Who is a picture book for? It’s traditionally made for children, but can be for anyone. We read and immensely enjoy it,” said Sridharan.

In its two years of operation, the club has matured and expanded rapidly. It began simply with readings, but has grown to include educational events as well, hosting lectures from acclaimed and local picture book authors such as New York Times bestselling author Valorie Schaefer. Through these events, the club aims to fill a gap in education in Sam Fox School. 

“There is a lot of academic work being done with picture books, but for illustration practice, there isn’t,” Hilsaca said. “It’s such a big industry, and it’s so complex that it merits more classes.”

For now, Picture Book Club takes on some of that responsibility, connecting members to the wider illustration community. 

“I joined because I really enjoy picture books, and I want to learn how to get into traditional publishing,” Selstad added, “so learning from illustrators who won awards and have really successful careers, but also really amazing art styles, is really interesting to learn from. This picture book club has been a great exposure in that way.”

There is no better example of high regard for picture books than the Roxy studio library. Here, picture books sit with thesis projects, critical essays from past graduating classes, graphic novels, and books of all kinds.

To get into picture books yourself, Hilsaca recommends looking at the special collections in Olin library, like the Hochschild collection of children’s books.

Ultimately, though, the club is about reading picture books. And the committee works to keep that experience welcoming and rewarding.

“A lot of students are here after hours, hungry after a whole day of class. We want the Picture Book Club to be a place of rest and of nourishment, not just intellectually, but also emotionally,” Hilsaca said. “We want it to be a nice time where we are talking about art and writing and picture books, where we can share our love for the medium and have a nice time together.”