Now, my book cover judging is kept to strictly in the literal sense. I have a much easier time of seeing people for who they are rather than what they look like or how they're dressed. But when it comes to book, I can't seem to crack the cover of an ugly-on-the-outside book.
I love nothing more than wandering through a bookstore and paging through of the beautifully bound.
As I'm compiling the Teacher Book Picks to include on TeachHUB.com, it seems that you all are judging books by their covers too. I like to research the authors picked and see other books they've got out there. Hands down, the Teacher-chosen book has a much cuter cover than the others.
Let's compare the books of Scott Westerfeld.
Picked (Notice that even a book called Uglies has a pretty cover):
Not picked:
To be clear, I'm passing no judgment on the content of these books (having not read either). But by cover alone, I'm picking Uglies. I'm guessing that it'll be character driven, maybe raise interesting dialogue on outward appearance and it seems more my speed. The Killing of Worlds looks a little too confusing, intense and sci-fi for me.
So am I the only one? Do you judge books by their cover? Take the poll!
Judging by cover NOT content, what is your favorite book? Share in the comments section!
4 comments:
The Killing of Worlds looks to be a much more interesting book. The illustration has great depth and huge possibilities as opposed to The Uglies which is a very shallow (no depth of field) looking illustration. The Uglies illustration also looks like one of the "PhotoShop specials" that are currently flooding the market. I say this as not only a teacher but also as a published illustrator.
Hisart,
I can see what you mean in that sense and I certainly respect your opinion.
It's purely a subjective thing. It depends on your taste and what you're looking for in a book.
I ran into the issue of book covers when my students bypassed two great books (Night and The Giver) so I made a quick contest to see who could design a better cover for Night. The original Night cover we had was a solid white book and it had little to do with the Holocaust.
I love that idea!
I run into that problem using the literature books too. It's harder to get students excited when they're all piled into this foreboding text book.
I'd love to use packaging to draw them in.
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