Cover Controversy: Flying Away
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
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Hey, mon…
Wow. Is this some sort of lame Jamaican stereotype knock knock joke? That’s in pretty poor taste.
…arch butterflies seem to be on a lot of book covers lately.
Oh, heh. Hey monarch butterflies seem to be on a lot of book covers lately who?
This isn’t a joke; I was actually just knocking on your door to tell you the news since I know you’re into book covers.
Thanks.
Just in time for spring, butterflies are emerging from their pupae to grace YA book covers. Thanks to Bookends for their keen eye in noticing this trend. Take a look:
To Come and Go Like Magic by Katie Pickard Fawcett.
Dream Life by Lauren Mechling.
Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher.
There is certainly a theme shared here. Any to add?
Filed under: Cover Curiosity, Covers
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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I wish someone would do a re-design for the Dear Mr. Henshaw cover featuring Monarch butterflies! That would be so rad.
That would be cool. My one hesitation would be that butterflies might scare off boy readers – do you think this would be the case?
I have some!
The hardcover and paperback of this bad boy show off the monarch/butterfly: http://www.amazon.com/Luna-Julie-Anne-Peters/dp/0316011274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271933294&sr=8-1
and
http://www.wppl.org/teens/images/wright_when.jpg
Wow, thanks for sending these along. I’ll have to do an update!
Well, I don’t think it’s a monarch (and it might not even be a butterfly, but a moth), however Secret Speakers by K.S.R. Kingworth has something winged on the front 🙂
It’s not out until November, but INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser has a butterfly on the cover. It’s kinda monarch-ish…
http://www.fluxnow.com/product.php?ean=9780738721484
Thanks for highlighting my book, To Come and Go Like Magic, with its butterfly cover!! I hope you also enjoy reading it. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I’m looking forward to reading To Come and Go.
I hadn’t seen the bottom two, so thanks for pointing them out. Your post inspired me to pull together the butterfly book covers I’ve been collecting.
Alea (Pop Culture Junkie) did some butterfly covers as part of her lookalikes series last year. You will have scroll down the page, but they are here (some Monarchish, most on shoulders).
http://aleapopculture.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html
Funny how everyone wants a butterfly on their shoulder, but nobody wants a spider…
Imagaine one Australian’s authors dismay when her book cover featuring a butterfly, the same image was used to advertise butchers!
The Grief Book
by Elizabeth Vercoe