Oddly Enough..

I came across this link on the blog Buzz Feed. Here's the description: For his senior year portfolio at Cooper Union, Patrick Sullivan imagined and illustrated what the Harry Potter box art would look like if the movies were released in the Criterion Collection.

 I suggest you check it out.. the covers are actually pretty cool!

The Berenstain Bears

I'm not sure how old I was when my mom started reading me the Berenstain Bears books, but they were the first series to pop in my head when I read Jolie's entry. While I can't recall any of the characters' names, I do remember not realizing each book had a moral to teach until I was a little bit older. 

Each cover looks pretty similar. The same illustrator was used for all of the covers, so you can tell that they are all part of the same series. The Berenstain Bears logo is always in the same font, followed by the title of the story in large text. 

The covers I included with this post are the ones that I remember having in my house growing up. The one with the babysitter on the cover always scared me a little bit, because she looks so mean! 

Thank You Jolie!!

Thank you Jolie!! My favorite children's books are the Little Engine that Could and the Country Bunny and the Golden Slippers. I remember looking through the pages of the Little Engine that Could, spending extra time on the section that features the Little Engine's passengers and freight. When I was three, I thought taking a train, where the passengers and freight were dolls, candy and elephants, was the height of travel chic. I was enthralled with the illustrations of candy, fruit and milk and when my father read it to me, made him spend extra time on those pages. I'm sure it was because those drawings were simple, balanced and uniform. Even at such an early age, the book's plot, based on the American dream, also resonated with me. I read the book yesterday for the millionth time and still smiled at the end. The story is timeless.

The Country Bunny and the Golden Slippers, written in 1939, was significantly ahead of its time. Besides the plot that contains feminist undertones, it also transcends socio-economic barriers, that I understood even when I was little. The drawings of the baby bunnies and mountain high piles of Easter eggs in the Easter Palace captivated me for hours. Looking at the pages with the stock piles of Easter eggs reminded me of how I felt the first time I went into Bed, Bath and Beyond. However, I never understood how the bunnies could do their chores without making a fuss or being asked to, maybe if I did, my bed would be made every day.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was one of my favorite books growing up.

The story, in case you're not familiar, is about a little town called Chewandswallow, in which the weather isn't rain or sleet, but food. At mealtimes, people simply stand outside with plates and bowls, and the weather report is more menu than anything else. When weather patterns change, however, the town is plagued with pancakes the size of buildings, and other frightening foods.

As a child, I loved the book for the pictures--pats of butter you could use as a toboggan, spaghetti rain--and I remember a few dinner conversations with my parents where I wanted to know why scientists couldn't work things out so we wouldn't have to go on boring errands to the grocery store anymore.

As an adult, one of the things I love about the book is the unusual nature of the conflict: there's no easy villain to blame, unlike many other, simpler, storybooks I read. It's a case of Man v. Nature, and Nature's going to win. It strikes me as unusual and brave for an author to write a children's picture book where there's no clear good and evil to root for and despise, and to have an ending where the townspeople are forced to evacuate their homes permanently.

And now I'm hungry...

Morris and Lyle

There are so many books that I loved as a kid, it's hard to choose! One of my favorites was "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile." Lyle goes to live with a wealthy family and it's just really cute. It has great pictures as well. I didn't know there was a prequel to this book as well, called "The House on East 88th Street." I also didn't know that Bernard Waber was the author of the "Arthur" series!


I remember reading this book when I was in kindergarten and I thought it was hilarious. Morris the Moose has a cold and his friend Boris the Bear takes care of him, teaching him things like the what the phrase "my nose is running" means and that its not the same thing as "my nose is walking." It has great illustrations and kids will find the jokes easy to understand! I loved reading this book with my mom and laughing every time. I think reading books was one of the great joys of my childhood.

My Favs

One of my favorite books was called "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". It is an alphabet book that teaches the ABCs through rhyme and pictures. Like Jolie, I couldn't read yet when I had this book, but I memorized it and would sing it all the time. I loved the bright colors and I probably got my love of polka dots from this book.


I can't talk about my favorite childhood book without mentioning "The Jolly Postman". This was an interactive book with real envelopes and letters that come out. The mail came from different nursery rhyme characters. (There was also a Christmas version.) I was fascinated by the idea that the story wasn't just made up of words on a page. Although this story would probably be awesome on the ipad, it wouldn't be the same as opening the mail and holding the letter in your hand.

Rebecca's (Other) Favorite Book...

One book I remember reading a lot as a kid was Stuart Little, by E. B. White (1945). It was given to me as a gift from my grandparents. I still have the book, sans the original book jacket, on my bookshelf and re-read it from time-to-time.

It features the adventures of Stuart Little, the very tiny son of Mr. and Mrs. Little, who, according to the book, "resembles" a mouse (the implications of which, is quite disturbing now that I am an adult, but I didn't think twice about it as a child…) Although, Stuart is depicted as a mouse in all the illustrations. The book regales his adventures and trials of being small and living in a giant (human) world. Along the way he makes friends and enemies (one cat in particular) and even drives around his world in a tiny car looking for his friend, Margalo, a tiny bird.

I adored that little human-mouse. What's cool about him is that he's a mature mouse throughout a majority of the story - not a child, as would be expected in any other children's story. I loved imagining the tiny world Stuart lived in - how he'd use every day human items, like matchboxes and thread spools, to create furniture. Actually, now that I think about it, Stuart Little is probably largely responsible for my fascination with disproportionately small or large things. (…and Alice in Wonderland).

I also remember the illustrations in the book by Garth Williams. They were detailed black line drawings generously peppered throughout the pages. I remember spending a long time looking at every detail of those drawings every time I read the story.

Children's Book choice

My favorite book as a child was Goodnight Moon. The color combinations and having a room with so much going on in it was really exciting. The words flowed with what was inside the room so well that it added an extra layer of detail to everything. I think the fact that the copy was saying "goodnight" to everything made you feel the sense of ownership over the objects. Hearing the word "goodnight" constantly and then the last line "goodnight noises everywhere" is the perfect line to end a book that you have read to you before you go to bed.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I had several favorite books as a child, but I will always put The Very Hungry Caterpillar as one of my top favorites. It’s one that I made my parents read to me over and over again. I eventually heard it so many times, that even though I couldn’t read it yet, I had it memorized and pretended to read it. I loved how bright and colorful the illustrations were and I loved all of the different foods through which the caterpillar ate.



If you’re not familiar with it, the book basically catalogues this very hungry caterpillars diet while emphasizing numbers and days of the week. There are flaps that reveal hidden pictures when turned. Also, each food item has a hole through it to imply that he’s eaten through it. These elements really helped keep my interest throughout the book because they were fun and interactive. I was always wondering what the next flap was going to uncover and I loved sticking my fingers through the holes. I love that the caterpillar totally pigs out on Saturday, eats all sorts of junk food and gets a stomachache.




So then on Sunday, he eats through “one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better”. Underlying lesson much? And of course at the end, on my favorite page, he turns into the most beautiful butterfly you have ever seen. I used to stare at that page and run my fingers over it, even though there was nothing to feel. The combination of the interactive elements with the beautifully done illustrations and entertaining story is what keeps The Very Hungry Caterpillar at the top of my list.

Children's Books

Children’s books are important not only because they teach all sorts of morals and fundamentals, but also because they are how we first develop our appreciation for reading. We learn at a very early age that books can take us into any time period and any location imaginable. They introduce us to characters both real and fictional. Children’s books follow entirely different design principles; where 14pt text isn’t outrageous and having more pictures than words is acceptable.

What is your favorite children’s book? What about it made it your favorite and why do you think it was so effective?

Potter Covers

From the post, I believe only the British have an adult version and I think it's perfect that they are printing one for youths and one for adults. The content can be for both but a cover for either demographic are polarizing (I still haven't read Harry Potter and deep down, I know the covers have a lot to do with that decision).  By having separate covers for separate age groups it opens itself to a wider audience that will appreciate the content equally.

Sketchy Potter

I think I’m most fond of the American covers. I don’t know if it’s because they are what I’m used to seeing and therefore just feel right, or if they best capture the feeling of the story; magical, but not too child like, dark but not horrifying. Because my cover choice isn’t the most exciting, I would still like to talk about how entertaining I found the German covers.

I think they are just hysterical. I love how Harry develops dread locks over the years; they definitely left that part out in the American versions. I also love how he’s always in the bottom right corner looking super sketchy. If I didn’t know what the series was about, I’d think Harry was the antagonist in some of them. I like how the German covers eventually started using the American-style title with the lightning bolt letters. I don’t know if it’s because they realized that their typography for the first three books only made the covers look even worse, or if they realized that the lightening letters were immediately recognizable around the world as Harry Potter. Either way, the illustrations stayed pretty bad.

Looking through all the covers, I am liking the American Harry Potter artwork more and more! I like the British children’s covers, but the adult versions are a different story. The artwork is plain and doesn’t convey how amazing and imaginative the storylines are. If I saw those covers in a bookstore, I would walk right past and assume it was another thriller or mystery novel. Obviously the stories are popular enough that most people would recognize the title and author, so I guess they don’t really need to draw people in with an intriguing cover. Or maybe the point is that adults can read the books in a more bland and hidden shell?

I found it interesting that majority of the covers used the same “Harry Potter” font with the lightning bolt. It is immediately recognizable around the world- they even kept it for the movie collateral, which I am betting is unheard of.

Kristi's Favorite Harry Potter Book Covers

The Ukrainian book covers are by far my favorite. The other book covers make the books seem either too serious or too childish--and the books are neither! The Ukrainian book covers are awesome because they have a unique perspective and a lot of detail. I like how all or most of the characters are popping out of the foliage in the purple cover. Dumbledore also looks funny, like he's hiding something! I like the red cover as well. Is that Dobby the elf in gold? I also like how they've used the lightning bolt letter and it kind of looks a lot like the American version, but not completely.
As a person who has read some (but not all) of the Harry Potter books, I definitely appreciate seeing the international covers! What fun! You can see the rest of the Ukrainian book covers at http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/picture/38314.

Alone in the Desert

About how long does it take to get through an HP book? When this class is over I think I'm going to try to finish the series, before school starts back up in august. I'm over not being the only person in the world who hasn't read at least one of Rowling's masterpieces. Maybe I'll do it over a weekend so I'm not tempted to skip work.

At the height of the HP book frenzy, I actually bought the blue one. It has its own case and is still wrapped in plastic because I've never had any desire to read it. The art, however, is spectacular. I guess when your pockets are as deep as J.K. Rowlings, you can hire an artist talented enough to give you exactly what you want. The illustrations are very distinct; Lots of shadows, gradients and deep colors and of course the specially designed HP font. I don't think I would ever pick it up because it isn't my genre of choice, but compared to the other versions, I would take the American illustrations every time. I wonder if Rowlings has any say in the covers of the international versions.










I think the two adult British versions, (castle and snakes) were spectacular. I wish I could design like that. Using photographs gives the book a sophisticated spin, which is why, I'm sure, very few children's books take that direction. The other versions I'm not too fond of, but maybe the countries they were designed for prefer a specific angle and style. Also, I think creating a cover that would appeal to adults and children is every designer's nightmare. Perhaps one of the reasons the American illustrations work is because the books already have brand recognition.

Rebecca's Harry Potter Picks

Oooh....TOUGH TO CHOOSE! But that's probably because I am also a raving Harry Potter fan.

Well, first off, I am absolutely awed by the British adult covers - I never saw those versions before, just the children's versions. How amazingly different, and appropriate.

Of the rest, I enjoyed the Dutch and the German versions, for different reasons.

I like the Dutch series because the covers are very mysterious and some unique design decisions were made: you never see anyone's face, and with exception of the last cover, there is always a figure just leaving the page. Also, these covers featured the head of a different key character in the graphic at the top featuring the author, J.K. Rowling's name. It would make me wonder who or what that character is and why it is featured on the cover. (Never mind that they reverted to the American/English title design after the second book.)

After perusing through the entire site, checking out the unusual Dutch covers, the German covers really started to jump out at me...and make me laugh. I realized a duplicate Harry sits at the forefront of each cover. Behind this "forefront" Harry, the illustrations feature another Harry in key parts of each book. I found this arrangement a bit odd. And Harry doesn't seem to age much as the series of covers progresses. (In the stories, we follow him maturing from a naive, scrawny 11 year old to a selfless, responsible 17 year old.) This series of covers is by far the weirdest to me. (Never mind that they reverted to the American/English title design after the third book.)

International Harry Potter Covers

After I brought in a Harry Potter book at the very beginning of class for one of the show and tells, it seemed like majority of the class likes Harry Potter too. I decided to search around to find different Harry Potter covers. I found a few sites that posted designers' recreations, but I wanted to find actual published covers. I stumbled across this site that features Harrry Potter books from different countries. I've seen the British covers before, but many of these covers were new to me. It really is amazing the different tones that each of these covers give off.

The cover above and to the left is the French version of the first HP book. Look at the illustration! As an adult, I would never pick up this book. The cover makes it seem like it is strictly a children's story. The cover to the right of it is the British adult's version of the same book. What a completely different feel. I definitely wouldn't give that book to a child to read.

What are your thoughts on the covers. Do you like another version of the HP books better than the American covers? Are there any that you completely hate? (I really don't like the Danish versions because they seem too much like a science fiction novel)

the 21st century bible

I agree with everyone—a bible seems like it would be best in a portable format. The e-reader would be useful for searching, looking up definitions and overall portability. The flip book is an interesting concept. The reader could keep it in their back pocket and easily flip to their destination. The tabs that Rebecca and Traci mentioned would be helpful. Of course, I think there is still a market for a more elaborate design. Anywhere that a bible is left out for public reading, like a church or a home library, would be a great place to get a little “crazy” with decorative elements.

Bible Design

I like the idea of a portable, easy to carry bible. I always think of it as the kind of book where if you want to read it, you enjoy it more by just opening it up to a random page and reading that specific story. This kind of size helps you do that when you are spontaneously seeking inspiration.

Note-taking Bible

When I was about seven years old, I explored my parents' bookshelves and I found my mom's college edition of the Bible. I read Genesis and I was pretty fascinated by the super thin pages, but like any young child, I quickly got bored. I have never gone back and read more of the Bible, but lately I have become fascinated with it and I would like to read more. I like the idea of the "REB vest pocket New Testament" because you can take notes in it (it has a section of lined paper) and there is a map so you can see the places that are talked about in the text. For me, reading the Bible would be a self-interpretative process, so taking notes would be very helpful. If they weren't physically attached to the book, I would probably lose them. I also like the ribbon so I won't lose my place.

The Bible

Just like Jolie, I don't have a whole lot of experience with reading the Bible. I studied it briefly for my Bat Mitzvah, and then again for a Jewish Studies course in college. For both occassions, I used a hardback Bible that resembles a textbook. After browsing through this Bible design blog, I find that the Bible designs that are bendable make me feel a little uncomfortable. I never like bending my silly fiction paperbacks, so I don't think that I'd like to bend a book with such important material. I think I'd feel bad!

I know that this the above image isn't a design of an actual Bible, but I really like the cool design of this religious art. The creator came up with the design by using Wordle, which makes the words that appear the most the largest size. Pretty creative! If I was religious I'd probably purchase one of these.

Such a pretty blue

The first (and last) time I opened a Bible, it was by accident. I was about seven and was playing with the bedside table in a Disney World hotel. Assuming all of the drawers would be empty, it was to my surprise that someone left their book! I showed it to my dad and he laughed and said, “That stays here”. Because I don’t have very much experience with bibles, my opinion on this is going to be very straightforward and design based. I obviously like that pretty blue color used in the Transetto flipback Bible. It catches my attention and helps me to easily differentiate the individual sections. Like any flipback book, I envy its ability to be convenient without sacrificing information. Like I stated in class when we first saw this new flipback book idea, my only thought was that I wish there were more books in this format. So overall, I’d have to say though none of these are “appealing” to me, this is the most interesting design.

Small Bibles Are Less Intimidating

Ultimately, I think a digital form of the Bible is probably the best format due to the ability to search a document and to quickly navigate to specific passages. Not to mention the ease of transport and being able to have it with you virtually anywhere. But I'd probably only read a digital Bible if it was well-designed (ie-clear hierarchy, fun colors, designed sections, etc. - more like something you'd find for an iPad, rather than a Kindle.)

But for those who prefer a paper book, my favorite format of the Bible featured on the Bible Design Blog is the Transetto's fip book version. I feel like this format is quite appropriate, especially for the Bible - its portable, compact and comes off as less intimidating overall. Even it's cover design is modern, clean and bright, inviting me to read it. The large, colored numbers and titles are a nice touch and the main reason why I prefer this particular format. Not only do the large colored numbers resolve the way-finding problem many seem to have when trying to read the Bible, they also offer a nice reprieve from the wall of text so often found (by necessity) in Bibles. I do like Traci's idea of color-coding the books of the Bible, so one thing I would add (assuming no limits on budget) are color-coded tabs or sections, maybe printing on the outside edge of the pages so you can easily flip to the section you are looking for.

Actually, if I had it my way, I'd have a series of mini-books, each covering one of the books of the Bible. Color-coded, of course, and similarly laid out like Transetto's. I want the Bible to be broken down into manageable bites. Only then would I, perhaps, be inclined to actually read the entire Bible.

Re: Traci

Thumb-notched Bibles are definitely easier to navigate! I agree that navigation as a whole is difficult, since there are so many books and a lot of them are short. I feel like many churches end up trying to get people to memorize the order, which they shouldn't have to do if the design were presented more clearly.

What is this Bible of which you speak?

While this blog topic took me by surprise, in retrospect, the Bible's design does warrant some attention. It's the only book I own three copies of, but have never read. Looking at my bibles now (first time ever), they seem more textbook than regular book, which leads me to believe they should be designed more like a textbook.

The few times I have actually read a passage in a bible, I was always annoyed at how tedious the passage was to find. If I was designing a bible, I would assign a different color to each of the Books and attach a color corresponding tab to the beginning of each Book. Another idea is to have the Books thumb-notched. Maybe this is a breach of bible design protocol, and I'm sure it has been done before, but I'm a firm believer in practicality. A table of contents would also be useful. For a book that is usually used for reference and, it should be easier to navigate.

I understand why a bible has two columns, but I'm curious about the reception of the one-column epub versions I've seen. Reading a 6x9 book with two columns is a headache. I realize, in a print version, if you didn't have two columns, the book would be as thick as an unabridged collegiate dictionary. However, if the book title was placed on the side with tabs, the margins wouldn't have to be so low and more room would be available for the placement of the text. I think this is one of the few books I would prefer to read on a an eReader.

The Book That Started Them All

I think it's time we talked about the Bible. Not in the door-to-door witnessing way, but from a design perspective. Whether or not you're religious, you need to consider the Bible at some point--it's generally agreed on as the bestselling book of all time.

Designing a Bible presents several immediate challenges right at the beginning: many people consider it to be sacred text, so errors may come across as insulting or even blasphemous, rather than simply annoying; it's got a HUGE audience (How do you market the same book to 10- and 90-year-olds?), and because it's used from light reading to in-depth study, it can be a complicated book to design.

Not to mention that the Bible's been done, in all kinds of permutations, translations and interpretations since Gutenberg himself. As designers, how do we present this text in a way that adds something to the overwhelming body of Bibles already in existence?

The Bible Design Blog is dedicated to following the designers who are trying to do exactly that. One of the most recent entries, in fact, is about a new flipbook Bible!

The blog (again, it's at http://www.bibledesignblog.com/ in case my hyperlink fails for some reason) also details e-Bibles, spiral-bound "blank Bibles" with generous blank pages for notes, and a 400th anniversary of the King James translation, as well as many others.

What was most interesting to me (besides seeing so many markedly different versions next to each other) was seeing what elements people highlighted, such as flexibility of the cover and ease of navigation.

Which Bibles do you find interesting/appealing (or a complete turn-off)? Which design elements strike you as most important?