Abstract: In the past hundred years,the exploration of the theory of picture books in China has mainly focused on three aspects.The first is the value of picture books to children.According to the theory of children's age,the younger the age,the more pictures are needed,showing the trend of classifying picture books into children's literature.Contemporary original picture books do not lack traditional cultural elements and painting techniques,but they need to make up for the lack of "childlike nature".The second is the name and identity of picture books.The former is related to the consciousness of this art form,while the latter focuses on whether to classify picture books into children's literature.The difference of views lies in whether to recognize the special narrative function of picture books.The contemporary original picture book should go beyond the illustrative expression and explore the narrative art of the picture.Finally,there is the picture-text relationship in picture books.The contemporary mainstream point of view emphasizes the interaction between picture and text,and the concept of "boundless picture book" is opposed to the concept of "complementary narration" as the only legitimate picture-text relationship and supreme value standard of picture books.The vitality of picture books lies in the "infinite possibility" of the relationship between picture and text.This paper clarifies and reflects on the construction of the theory of picture books in China in the past hundred years,and examines the possibility and boundary of picture books,a kind of children's literature,in order to promote the development of original picture books in China.

Key words: Chinese picture books, picture-text relationship, children's literature