Showing stories: colorful volumes feature visual narratives by Mississippi artists.

Any creative writing teacher will tell you that the main rule for good writing is "show, don't tell." This adage proves that creating a visual description is one of the most effective ways to deliver a message. Artists of every genre incorporate this rule into their work to convey the things that inspire them through their particular creative medium.

In three new books, Mississippi artists strengthen unique narratives by adding strong graphic elements to highlight the stories. One artist is moved by the power of reading a good classic, another is a photographer motivated by Civil War history, and the third is a painter inspired by American family traditions.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF EPIC AND VOYAGE By Waiter Anderson. Edited by and introduction by Redding S. Sugg Jr. Hardcover, $35. University Press of Mississippi, 800/737-7788; www.upress.state.ms.us.

When Mississippi artist Walter Anderson read classic literature, he was often inspired to create line drawings of memorable characters and scenes. This act was most likely intended to amplify his interaction with the literature, since Anderson regularly discarded the drawings with little thought. Each morning, though, his wife saved the many sketches from the trash, eventually accumulating a substantial collection of 9,500 illustrations. Taken from such epic works as Don Quixote, Faust, and the Iliad, Anderson's drawings show a deep connection with the literature he was consuming.

In Illustrations of Epic and Voyage, Redding S. Sugg Jr. has compiled a collection of these pen-and-ink sketches. Each of the 120 selected illustrations is displayed with a brief passage from the literature from which it was inspired. In his introduction, Sugg describes Anderson's drawings as "personal documents which the artist did not regard as finished, took no pains to preserve, and certainly did not intend to exhibit."

Sugg, who also edited two other books on Anderson, contends that the drawings' significance is tied to the period of time in which they were produced. In the early 1940s, Anderson returned to his family at his in-laws' home, Oldfields, near Ocean Springs after having spent time in several mental institutions to treat his schizophrenia. Like other prolific artists throughout the centuries, Anderson dealt with his demons by throwing himself into his work. When domestic responsibilities and everyday tasks loomed out of reach, his creative vein flowed stronger than ever, thus allowing an undiluted connection to the artistic realm. Anderson's line drawings show that this vein ran deep. By tapping into this creative connection, he spontaneously transformed moments from classic literature into thousands of his signature whimsical drawings.

"Anderson drew the illustrations at night in the dining room at Oldfields, often continuing into the small hours," Sugg writes. "A sun-tanned, athletic figure, he sat at the dining room table, his book at his left and a stack of typewriter second sheets at his right hand. For him, reading seems to have been a process of transposing language to graphics."

In turn, the drawings display this transposition through an engagement with the characters and events that only such a gifted artist could convey.

VICKSBURG: SENTINELS OF STONE Text and photos by Timothy T. Isbell. Hardcover, $40. University Press of Mississippi, 800/737-7788; www.upress.state.ms.us.

After the Union Army initially demanded Vicksburg's surrender in 1862, military governor Lieutenant Colonel James L. Autrey responded by saying, "Mississippians don't know, and refuse to learn, how to surrender." A year later, the Confederacy finally did surrender Vicksburg, but only after fiercely defending their city from several failed Union attacks.

The events surrounding Ulysses S. Grant's siege of Vicksburg are thoroughly relived in Timothy T. Isbell's book Vicksburg: Sentinels of Stone. Released in conjunction with another Isbell book, Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone, Vicksburg offers a detailed account of the town's historic battles and the heroes who courageously fought them. An engaging introduction and the historical tidbits accompanying each photograph illuminate this crucial part of the American Civil War while providing accessible insight into our local history.

Isbell, a photojournalist and photographer for The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi, captures the story of wartime Vicksburg through riveting photographs of the monuments and numerous battle sites still haunting our landscape. His coverage of the more obscure places of interest confirms that landmarks of the War between the States are not limited to the statues anchoring our town squares. Grant's Canal is one such place; one can still see portions of the swampy canal just west of Vicksburg where Grant organized a failed attempt to alter the course of the Mississippi River.

The infamous caves chiseled into the bluffs of Vicksburg (where townspeople hid in squalor, even existing on rat meat when food was scarce, during the relentless attacks on their city) bring to mind the citizens' resolve to outlast the North's assault. Throughout the book, Isbell underscores the South's determination by including relevant quotes, like local diarist Emma Balfour's journal excerpt: "The general impression is that they fire at this city, in that way thinking that they will wear out the women and children and sick, and Gen. Pemberton will be impatient to surrender the place on that account, but they little know the spirit of the Vicksburg women and children if they expect this."

Rodney Road, near Port Gibson, is another natural landmark where Union soldiers advanced on Confederate territory and into another bloody battle. Isbell describes the road from a soldier's perspective: "Dust hovered at knee level, kicked up from the marching soldiers' feet and by the wagon wheels. On each side of the road, bluffs ranging from ten to twenty feet shot straight up and wound like a snake through the hills of southwest Mississippi." Similar descriptions, accompanied by unforgettable full-color photographs, rustle up palpable glimpses into history while showing how our modern-day landscape is still scarred by the gruesome events of 1863.

THE YEAR OF THE STARS By the Junior League of Jackson, www.jljackson.org. Hardcover, $17.95. Available beginning at Mistletoe Marketplace, Jackson, Nov. 1-4, and afterward at Mississippi bookstores.

The Junior League of Jackson, publisher of the popular cookbooks Southern Sideboards and Come On In!, is venturing into new territory with its upcoming children's book, The Year of the Stars. Inspired by actual memories of League members and illustrated by renowned Clinton-based artist Wyatt Waters, the book displays a colorful view of family bonds and Southern traditions.

The Year of the Stars highlights a full year of holiday events and seasonal activities, starting with summer. The descriptive passages, accompanied by Waters' vivid illustrations, will strike a familiar cord in many Southern hearts:

"Every Fourth of July was our street party, A picnic after the town's parade. Little ones with lemonade-sticky hands Reached for dazzling sparklers. Only Dad could shoot the bottle rockets Which blazed up into the air Followed by our shouts of excitement."

While fall brings pumpkin picking, school activities and Friday-night football games, winter is filled with the heavy anticipation of cooler weather and holiday festivities. Spring gardening and longer, sunnier days bring the story full circle:

"As the sunlight filled our classroom And the days grew slowly longer We squirmed in our desks. Our spirits restless, We waited for another summer Of fishing, swimming, Watching and wondering Under the great bright stars."

Throughout the book, Waters' richly produced artwork is beautifully conceived. The illustrations capture a brother and sister as they experience a year of their lives with family and friends. The family cat and dog accent many of the scenes by witnessing events from the sidelines or simply curling up in their favorite spots, adding another layer of familiarity for many readers. "When I read the manuscript, it reminded me of memories of my own childhood and brought home the things that are important," Waters says.

Funds from sales of the book will support the League's community projects, which focus on the health, education, and well being of children and youth. The group's current signature project involves the the planning, fund-raising, and construction of the Mississippi Children's Museum in Jackson.