All things being equal, would you pick . . .
THIS
OR
THIS?
In an ongoing conversation about what draws boys to books, the influence of cover art came up. Covers are the interpretation of a book by an artist (hopefully one that has read the book), and is usually driven by the publishing company, rather than the author. One would hope the cover accurately represents the story, but the cover is mostly designed to attract a certain audience to a book. Do covers influence your children’s selections of books? Dark Omen will pour over a book’s blurbs, inside and out, before deciding to invest his time reading it. Worm Burner will take approximately two picoseconds and a cursory glance to decide whether a book is for him or not. I’ve heard an editor say that the “common wisdom” of the industry is that boys will not read “girl” covers, but that girls will read both.
I can’t imagine Dark Omen reading Hattie Big Sky, because there are no spaceships or weapons or dragons involved, but Worm Burner would probably love it. He read the entire Little House on the Prairie series, after all. However, I’m not sure, at age 9, I could get him past the winsome farm girl on the cover to read the story inside.
The guy with the sword? Of course.
Are your children cover omnivores? Or do they discriminate based on cover art, and if so, how?
I still have a hard time with books I pick up if the cover doesn't resonate with me. I know kids feel the same way.
I loved Hattie and think that a Laura reader might enjoy it, too. I would be a struggle, though. Remember, I'm a mother of boys, too! 🙂
I think I'm a cover omnivore – the cover won't stop me from reading it, although a particularly cool cover might draw me in. Kids, particularly mine, seem to be very visual creatures though.
Covers are crucial, IMO — the cover will draw me to the backcover, which might convince me to open the book. Bad cover, it's gonna be a hard sell.
I get a crick in my neck turning my head sideways to read all those titles on the bookshelf. I think a title may be more compelling to me than the cover – what's up with that?
Good point about titles… e.g., Forks vs. Twilight.
Most young readers I talk to confirm that they choose books if the cover and jacketflap material appeal…
I judge books by the cover and I know my children do. My son won't even look twice if there's a female on the cover (although he loved The Anybodies and The Penderwicks).
I always appreciate good artwork, but I also prefer action/adventure/fantasy stories. In the example above, I would absolutely choose Ranger's Apprentice over Hattie Big Sky.
Bane – yes, and Sparkle Guy probably wouldn't have been a winner either. LOL!
Carol – …and what their friends like, right? At least for the YA crowd, I've heard that's a big piece of it. I'm going to have to check out your blog, it looks inspiring!
Sherrie – How sad is it that our boys won't read those "girl" books? Given the mom that they have, my boys are more enlightened than most (or at least that's my evil plan), and yet negative associations are still there. That's a whole lightning-rod post right there!