Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Covers You Wish You Could Redesign

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is:

Top Ten Covers You Wish You Could Redesign

Once again, I wasn't able to come up with ten, so I only have six.

1. Wither by Lauren DeStafano
Don't get me wrong.  I think this cover is stunning.  I just think this book could appeal to both guys and girls if it were more gender neutral.  Most guys would not pick up a book that had a picture of a girl with a frilly dress on it.



2. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
I loved this book.  It is one of my favorite reads of the year so far.  I just don't think the cover is doing anything for making kids want to pick it up and read it.   In fact, I know this is the case because our school's librarian has said that she tries to get kids to read this one, but they judge it by its cover. 



3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
This cover does not do this book justice.  The only reason I read this book at all was because so many people were saying how amazing it was.  I never would have picked this book up on my own.  The cover does nothing for it at all.  I'm still waiting for this book to become a movie.  It must.  I could see the movie playing in my head as I was reading it.



4. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Both the hardcover and paperback do nothing for me - or the students I recommend this book to.  Often students turn their nose down at the covers because they don't compel them or do anything to make them want to read the book.  I had a group of girls read this book in a literature circle and they all agreed that something else needs to be on the cover of this book. They said that neither cover did Dashti any justice.  They were giving suggestions left and right for what would be a better cover than the two that have been created. They even suggested some of the illustrations inside the book would make a better cover than what is currently on it. 


5. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
This cover, while nice-looking, with bold colors that lure in a perspective reader, doesn't really seem to go with the grave, revolutionary theme of the book. The girl on the cover appears to be happy, which is certainly not the tone or mood of the story.



6. The Giver by Lois Lowry
So many students are turned off from this book based on the cover.  I honestly don't know what would be a better option, I just know that kids are not drawn to it on their own, unless they are forced to read it in school.

7 comments:

  1. I have students who refuse to read The Giver too, and who can blame them? It's not a very inviting cover...

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  2. Excellent choices. This was not the easiest post to put together, especially when there are so many bad covers out there.

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  3. I love the cover of Wither and I know grown men that would like it too. The UK cover of The Help made me think it was a non-fiction book but it's at least more appropriate to what the book is about.

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  4. I like your point about having gender-neutral covers. I have no problem picking up books with "boyish" covers, but I can definitely see that frilly covers could scare guys away from some of the awesome books out there. Nice choices and interesting input from your students!

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  5. I haven't read The Help, but from what I know about it, the cover doesn't make much sense.

    Here is my list: http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-tuesday-stop-embarassing-me.html

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  6. Nice list! I've never found The Giver's cover to be particularly compelling, but it's been so long since I've read it that I'm at a loss as to what could replace the current image.

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  7. You know, that Smekday book might be a better cover...if it didn't take me several seconds just to READ the title!

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