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Scene: A doctor’s office, early in the morning.
Doctor: Good to see you! How have you been feeling?
Cover Designer: I’ve been a bit stressed lately, Doc. I want to put some foliage on this cover, but it seems kinda played. You know, leaves, flowers – I don’t know if they’re going to stand out. I’ve been wracking my brain about it.
Doctor: Let me give you some advice. Whenever I can’t figure out a diagnosis, you know what I do?
Cover Designer: What?
Doctor: I x-ray it.
Cover Designer: Doc, I think you’ve solved my problem.
The Everafter by Amy Huntley.
If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? by M. E. Kerr
Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner.
Side by side by side:
Okay, so maybe they didn’t x-ray the plants on these covers (although I do think that the flowers on the Everafter cover saw the inside of a radiologists office), but they certainly give off a similar vibe.
Do I see a negative-image cover trend taking hold?
(Top Image: ‘Roentgen IV control panel‘
www.flickr.com/photos/16339684@N00/2361897135)
While I’ve heard that optometrists approve of staring off into the distance to support long-term ocular health, I don’t think that’s what the characters on these covers are shooting for. I’d call it more of a “What does my future hold?” sort of look. Recently I featured two bizarro covers that were the same, yet very different:
Well, I see we’ve got a third cover to complete the analogous cover triangle:
We Were Here by Matt De La Pena.
Notice how none of these characters have glasses? I don’t think it’s coincidence, folks.
Now usually in these posts, I put up a couple books that look alike, we all laugh (oh, wait, that was just me?), and move on.
Today is different. I’m not sure if two covers have ever been as similar, yet so different.
You may be familiar with the first cover:
Animal Families.
I like this book. Kids like this book. I’m not sure what to think about it’s evil twin.
This just in…
It happened again.
Standing for Socks by Elissa Brent Weissman.
It shall be added to the ever-growing gallery of sock-related covers.
As always, I vow to keep you updated with any new sock-related cover art developments.
In terms of cover trends, could unoccupied dresses be to ‘09 what socks were to ‘07-’08? It appears that this may be a situation to monitor. I wrote a couple weeks back about two personless dress-related covers that caught my eye:
And today I’m flipping through the Feiwel and Friends Fall catalog and what do I see? Take a look:
More dress sans human. This trend may have some staying power. Rest assured, I will bring more updates as they come to light.
Clothes and accessories say a lot about a book cover. How many times have you seen a book where a character on the cover is wearing glasses like this:
or shoes like this:
or a haircut like this:
or a combination of all three and thought, “Ooh. That one ain’t gonna get many second looks.”?
I find this pretty often. So what can you put on a book cover that won’t seem laughably out of date in a couple years? Apparently a dress is the way to go. Oh, and to eliminate the threat of bad hair or ugly shoes bringing the whole operation down, let’s just go ahead and remove the humans. Just the dress. Two such covers recently popped up, let’s take a look, starting with this:
Lucky by Rachel Vail.
Now, the twin:
The Goodbye Time by Celeste Conway.
Side by side:
The title font and author name placement even match up pretty closely.
Coincidence or controversy?
(Top Image: ‘Stephen Colbert High School 1980, 11th Grade‘
www.flickr.com/photos/32522689@N00/398038248)
So different, yet so similar. This could be called the first Bizarro cover controversy. If you are familiar with Superman (or the television show Seinfeld), then you know that a Bizarro version of something is closely related, yet completely opposite in many ways. Let’s take a look at the book covers in question and I think you’ll see what I mean.
First up:
Kendra by Coe Booth.
And now, its Bizarro counterpart:
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson.
Side by side:
While the positioning and perspective are the same, the setting is decidedly dissimilar.
A side note: Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot of sky on book covers these days? Further investigation my be needed…
There’s something about big machines that captures the imagination of kids. I can identify. When I was a youngster, my county fair held a monster truck show and parked all of the massively-tired vehicles in the church parking lot across from my house. I almost lost it. I mean Bigfoot? Come on.
Two recent titles featuring various forms of trucks, diggers, and other construction-related machines struck me as similar. Eerily so. First up, one that you’ve been seeing a lot of in these pages of late:
Roadwork by Sally Sutton. (100 Scope Notes Review)
And now, its match:
Machines Go to Work by William Low.
Side by side:
I’m not making things up here, right? The middle of the page placement of the vehicle, the full-on profile view, the massively bold font work – the resemblence is pretty clear. As an added bonus, they are also similarly awesome books.
On a related note, if you are interested in seeing how William Low created the amazing digital art for Machines Go to Work, click here to head over to A Fuse #8 Production, where you’ll find an outstanding video of the process and get the down Low (pun 101% intended) on the author/illustrator’s appearance at the New York Public Library.
Most of the time, I don’t believe that two books having similar covers is intentional. There are trends that come and go, and when two covers end up looking the same, I usually chalk it up to fate. Visit a local high school and you’ll see what I mean. No one is trying to dress exactly alike, but similarities are inevitable when everyone is following the same fads.
In this case, however, chance played no role. Cover controversy? Nay. Entire book controversy. Let’s take a look at the book in question. See if you can call its twin before you see it.
Watch Me Hop by Rebecca Young.
Looking familiar? Got any guesses? Let’s see if you’re right…
Gallop! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder.
Side by side:
Man, where do we start? Similar font, similar punctuation, similar… whole idea for a book. The animal placed in the middle of each page, the gimmick to make the animal move – the twin status is official.
Gallop! uses the scanimation technique (which you may or may not know I am pretty infatuated with), while Watch Me Hop! goes the lenticular animation route (it has a big name, but you’re probably familiar with it – you tilt the page to see the motion). Indeed, what we’ve got here is a wholesale knockoff. I can understand why, as Gallop! has been a huge bestseller since it was released (and is currently #4 on the New York Times list). What’s next – Journal of a Cowardly Youth? The Cemetery Book? Onset of Darkness at End of Day?
(Waving a rickety old cane in the air) I’m not naming any names, but it appears that the author of this here web log thinks it’s pretty fascinatin’ when he finds two book covers that resemble each other, as if he just invented the latest in automatic garment laundering devices! Well dust jacket contention is nothing new, friends. Allow me the honor of showing you what I mean. Here are a couple covers previously presented in one of them dreadful “Unfortunate Covers” features:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
And now the similar one:
The Kipling Reader by Rudyard Kipling.
These all have what the artistic types call “perspective” going on. Don’t let the author of this web log fool you – there is nothing new under the sun, folks. Also, the original Beverly Hills 90210 is far superior to the new version.
