Top Ten Tuesday: Covers I Wish I could Re-design.

I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. As an avid reader and as a school librarian I am fascinated by the effect a book cover can have on whether you read a book. Not only that but I am always intrigued when publishers redo covers whilst the series is still being written. I struggled to come up with 10 I would change, so 5 are ones I would alter and 5 are ones I love!

Covers I would change

1. The Selection by Kiera Cass

Having finally got around to reading this the other week I have to say I think the cover design is all wrong. I completely dismissed this book as romance and let it sit on my to read pile for a few months because it looked like it would be inevitably full of romantic slush. How wrong I was, yes it is romance but its well written, un-slushy and has a dystopian element that is very clever. I wish the front cover made the main character America look less like a beauty queen and more like the stubborn, fiery redheaded woman she is.

2. The Singer from the Sea

I loved this story by Sheri .S. Tepper it was one of my first really fantasy reads. I just find the cover a bit wishy washy. I feel it needs to be some darker colours in it just for impact as the lady really fades into the background.

3. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

I read my mother's copies of these from when she was a child and the cover is so insipid and dreary. I get why they used the green but the girl portraying on Anne in no way reflects who she is in the story, I wish the front cover was something less idyllic and peaceful and more true to the character. There have been many different covers for this series but I still haven't found one that portrays Anne how I imagine her.

4. Magyk by Angie Sage

Oh dear! This introduction to fantasy series has recently undergone a new cover design and both version just don't work. The original idea to have the books look like spell books worked well but they made really squat and fat by the dimensions and it puts of reluctant readers. The new covers are thankfully thinner and more reflected of the length of the stories but the covers are now far to grown up so people assume they will be hard. Its a young fantasy book desperately trying to pretend its for older kids!

5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This cover confused me to now end. Maybe it was my overactive imagination but I found the cover made me think it was a horror story. I get way that cover was chosen in relation to the story line but I think they could have done a less creepy front cover. On a side note this is a truly spectacular read!

Covers I would keep 

6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I would do nothing to the first published covers of Harry Potter. I would keep the young Dumbledore on the back that is on my copy and I would not have bothered to changed them at all. I understand why publishers re-jacket books regularly but I think the original covers of Harry Potter are by far the best.

7. Gone Series by Michael Grant

I am completely in love with the front covers for this series. They are so dramatic but with minimal effort. I was not a huge fan when the added the colour to the edges of the pages but they still pack a punch. I only don't like colour on  pages is that the colour runs when it gets wet and working in a school library its just makes the books look tatty really fast even if just a dot of water gets on them.

8. Beyond the Deepwoods by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

The first edition cover of this book was just breathtaking. The illustrations by Chris made for an intriguing and  unique design that reflects the story inside perfectly. I don't mind the new covers so much but they are not as good.

9. Matilda by Roald Dahl

I personally think if you have Quentin Blake as your illustrator the covers of your books are going to be amazing. So really this should have all Roald Dahl books in it. However, the best for me by far is Matilda. I don't know if its just because I love the image of her surrounded by all those books but I think the cover is understated elegance.

10. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

The Twilight Series has a brilliant cover design. For a story that can be pretty insipid at times and with rather vacuous characters the front cover is really powerful. The read on black images were very unique when the stories were first released. I don't think many of my students would need the title to identify which one is which in this series, just the cover images would do it.