This study provides an in-depth rhetorical and visual analysis of selected contemporary picture books. Using Sonja K. Foss' process of rhetorical analysis with the concepts of artifact selection and artifact analysis along with Jane M. Gangi's approach to visual analysis of picture books, this study analyzes contemporary picture books for ethos, pathos, and logos as presented by the authors and illustrators of the picture books. Directed by the concept of enchantment described by Bruno Bettelheim and guided by Aristotle's categorization of the three appeals, this study claims that picture books are rhetorically significant as such books can be grouped by either being ethos, logos, or pathos-rich.

This study will explore past and present studies focusing on contemporary picture books as well as incorporating an exploration of the three appeals as found in the selected books for the purpose of conducting a study of rhetoric and the picture book as well as revealing the enchantment of the literature as seen through the lens of rhetoric.

The beginning of the dissertation establishes the connections between rhetoric, enchantment, and the contemporary picture book. The study analyzes chosen picture books in order to create a rhetorical genre of ethos, pathos, and logos rich picture I books. The study also consists of telephone interviews of Eve Bunting and Patricia Polacco.