There is an oft quoted phrase: "Don't judge a book by it's cover". Okay, I guess that's a good axiom, but I find myself doing this all the time. Why? Because some art on the covers of books just grab me. Face it -- it the cover looks interesting, you're more likely to want to look at it.
Unfortunately, it might not be an indication of the real quality of the book, but I didn't want to get into that. I just wanted to share some of my favorite art in books. Two of my favorite books of all time are The Little Princess, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I've loved these books since I first read them, especially the illustrations. The book I have has a different cover -- it has the girls walking along the sidewalk, with Sarah at the head. I love the artwork by Tasha Tudor. She seems to capture the mood of the book and pass it on to the reader. We are drawn into her drawings and it makes me want to open the book and discover the world inside.
Another author that I love the illustrations (generally) is Anne McCaffrey. She has written a never ending tale of a planet called Pern, another one about Petaybee and the list goes on. My favorite illustrations come from Pern and Damia.
The dragon singer series was the beginning of her Pern series, and are wonderful tales that pull you into that world. The covers I've seen of hers are the ones done by Greg Call.
The Pegasus series is another one that the cover draws you in and makes you curious about what's inside. I love this series too. The first book shows a young boy floating and you discover that he is able to move his body through kinetics...not with his muscles.
The last one I want to highlight are the covers for Brandon Sanderson's books. He is an LDS author who has made a name for himself in the science fiction genre. He's wonderful! I had the privilege of meeting him at a LDStorywriters conference two years ago, right after Elantris came out. The illustration for this novel was done by Stephan Martinière. I've never heard of the man before, but then, I don't read alot of science fiction any more. I liked the way he did the cover of the book though -- it's very attention getting.
What draws your attention to a book? If you pick up a book you've never heard of, what makes you want to read it? I believe the purpose of the cover is to draw your attention into the book, and many of them achieve that. If I had more time and room, I'd list many more -- several LDS authors who's books have great covers. I invite you to go seek them out and look at one's you haven't read yet...you might have a new favorite series and author -- you never know!
yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Return to the Neighborhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment