Minds On
Exploring book covers
Let’s explore the following book covers from: Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Where The Wild Things Are, and Zoey and Sassafras: Bips and Roses.
Charlotte’s Web
Front cover description:
On the top, the book title reads “Charlotte’s Web” with letters that resemble spiderwebs. There is a small spider hanging from the letter “C” on the title. The book cover has an image of a young girl holding a pig; a sheep and a goose are next to the girl. The girl and the animals appear to be looking at the spider hanging from the letter “C.” The text for the author reads “E.B. White.” The text for the illustrator reads “Pictures by Garth Williams.”
Back cover description:
The top of the back cover has a quote from a book review done by Eudora Welty from The New York Times. A summary of the book can be found in the middle of the back cover, next to an image of the words “some pig” spelled in a spiderweb. After the summary, there is a quote from The New Yorker and another quote from The Saturday Review. On the bottom left, there’s a small image of a girl sitting on a fence and a pig trying to look over the fence. The bottom of the back cover has the book’s bars code, price and the publisher’s information.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Front cover description:
On the top, the text for the author reads “Roald Dahl” in big letters, followed by the book title “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the illustrator “Quentin Blake.” All the text is placed under a colourful background. The book cover has an image of a man holding a cane and wearing a top hat, a colourful coat, a big bowtie with polka dots, and gloves. Next to the man there’s a boy holding a chocolate bar on one hand and a golden ticket on the other hand.
Back cover description:
On the top, the text reads “Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this golden ticket” on big letters. After the text, there’s an image of a boy that appears to be happy holding a golden ticket with one hand and waving with the other hand. Next to the image, there’s a text that reads “Read more from the world’s number one storyteller” and images of three books by the same author. The bottom of the back cover has the book’s bars code, price and the publisher’s information.
Where the Wild Things Are
Front cover description:
On the top, the title of the book is written in big letters and reads “Where The Wild Things Are.” There’s an image of a forest at nighttime and a big creature appears to be sleeping against the trees. There’s also a river. A boat is anchored on the shore. After the image, the text reads “Story and pictures by Maurice Sendak.”
Back cover description:
On the top, the text reads “Fiftieth anniversary edition. Winner of the Caldecott Medal.” There’s an image of a forest scene at nighttime. A river is flowing between the trees. The bottom right of the back cover has the book’s bars code and price.
Zoey and Sassafras: Bips and Roses
Front cover description:
On the top, the book title reads “Zoey and Sassafras: Bips and roses.” There’s an image of a rose garden with a girl bent on one knee, and a cat and frog by her side. The girl has goggles on her head and is holding a magnifier against the leaves of a rose bush. The cat next to the girl appears to be inspecting the magnifier that the girl is holding up. The frog on the other side of the girl is also holding a magnifier and looking through it. On the bottom left, the text reads “Story by Asia Citro.” On the bottom right, the text reads “Pictures by Marion Lindsay.”
Back cover description:
On the top, the text reads “What if magical animals came to you for help?.” After the text there’s a small image of a several pair of eyes that belong to very small creatures with oval shape. A summary of the book is next to the image. The text that follows reads “Check out the rest of the Zoey and Sassafras series!” and it has images of the other seven books in the series. The book’s bars code is on the bottom left, and the bottom right has a logo that reads “Innovation.”
Examine each book cover closely and consider the following questions:
- What elements do the book cover have? How about the back cover?
- Who is the intended audience for this book?
- What do you predict the story is about? How do you know?
- How are the book cover designs similar? How are they different?
- What do you think is important about the book cover? Why is it important to have one?
- What is the most important information on a book cover? Why is that information helpful?
Action
Task 1: Designing a book cover
Choose one of your favourite stories and design a new book cover for that book! It can be one that has been read to you or a favourite one from when you were younger.
Considerations
- Who is your intended audience?
- How will you persuade your audience to read this book?
- What size and style of text will you use?
- What images or photos will you put on the cover?
- What information do you need to include on a book cover? (e.g., title, author, illustrator, or awards)
Task 2: Creating a book trailer or audio book trailer
Create a Book Trailer/Audio Book Trailer to advertise your favourite book!
You may have experienced a commercial that lets you know a new movie is coming out and helps create excitement! Often it has adventurous and interesting parts highlighted and makes you feel like you just can’t wait until this movie is released so you can experience it!
A book trailer is something similar. A book trailer should provide just enough information to make someone want to read a book. Like your book cover design, you will determine who your target audience is for this book and think about elements that you can use to capture the attention of your audience.
For example, some elements to capture the attention of your audience can be:
- catchy music
- images from the text or the cover of the book
- information about the main characters in the story, the setting, and perhaps even the problem in the story
Don’t forget to also incorporate audio or music into your book trailer to create a unique mood that matches the story.
Consolidation
Review your learning
Take a moment to review your learning. Reflect on the book cover and book trailer you have created and consider the following questions. You may record your responses using a method of your choice.
- How did you decide which parts of the book to highlight?
- How could you appeal to different audiences if you changed the parts you shared?
Designing a new media cover
Design a new cover for your favourite book, video game, or movie.
Who will your target audience be?
What conventions and techniques will you use to capture your target audience’s attention?
Use a method of your choice to create your cover.
Reflection
How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity? Which of the next four sentences best matches how you are feeling about your learning? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel...
Now, record your ideas about your feelings using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.