Designing Children's Book Covers

 "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

— Emilie Buchwald

**Alt text:** Illustration for a blog post about children's book cover design. A young child sits cross-legged on a purple rug, studying a picture book while colourful stars, butterflies, and sparkles float above the pages. A small stack of books rests nearby. Below the illustration, the title reads: “The Story Before Page 1.”

One of my favourite memories from elementary school is sitting on the carpet during story time and looking up at the book while the teacher read aloud. Long before I could read many of the words myself, I loved studying the illustrations on the cover, searching for details, and wondering what clues they might hold about the story inside.

I'm sure that's one reason I enjoy designing book covers today.

A cover is often a reader's first introduction to a book. Before the first page is turned, before the story begins, the cover gives readers a glimpse into the world waiting inside.

Over the different series I've worked on, these different books call for different approaches which was a bit of a surprise as I thought I would only do full wraparound covers for all my kids books.

For my first book, Bye-Bye, Boobies, I chose a wraparound cover. Rather than treating the front and back as separate pieces, the illustration continues across the entire book. I liked the idea of giving readers more to discover as they turned the book over in their hands.

Wraparound book cover for Bye-Bye, Boobies by Jacqueline Cooper. A smiling toddler crawls across a red picnic blanket toward a tea party with stuffed animal friends, including a beaver, a moose, a rabbit, and a teddy bear dressed as a Canadian Mountie. Small cups and cupcakes sit on the blanket while monarch butterflies flutter overhead. The title appears in large blue letters on the front cover, while the back cover includes a description of the book. The Little Goodbyes Press logo, website address, and barcode appear along the bottom.


When I began creating the Monarch Tales series, I took a different approach. These stories are built around memorable characters and familiar fables, so I wanted the main characters to take center stage on the front cover. At the same time, I wanted readers to recognize that the books belonged together as a collection. That led to the creation of the Monarch Tales logo and a consistent design across the series.

(I talked about how I baked that logo in my oven in Introducing the Monarch Tales post).

Wraparound hardcover book cover for Marl and the Worm Bin by Jacqueline Cooper. On the front cover, a smiling red worm named Marl wears a green leaf hat beside a layered worm compost bin. The title appears in large black letters above them, alongside the Monarch Tales series logo. The back cover features a short story description above a small compost scene with mushrooms, leaves, eggshells, fruit scraps, and a butterfly. The Little Goodbyes Press logo, website address, and barcode appear along the bottom, with the title and author name running down the spine.

Wraparound French hardcover book cover for Le Corbeau et le Renard (The Crow and the Fox). On the front cover, a clay-style orange fox sits looking up at a black crow perched on an oak branch holding a piece of cheese in its beak. The title appears in large black letters above the characters, alongside the Monarch Tales series logo. The back cover features a short French description above a small scene with rocks, mushrooms, leaves, and a piece of cheese, with a monarch butterfly flying nearby. The Little Goodbyes Press logo, website address, barcode, and creator credits appear across the cover.


As I worked on the Changing Traditions series, I found myself drawing inspiration from both styles of covers.


Like the Monarch Tales, I wanted the books to have a recognizable series identity. Although each title explores a different holiday or celebration, they all share the same goal: helping young readers discover how traditions change over time. Creating a series logo helped connect the books while still allowing each title to have its own unique subject. I wanted it to almost blend into the covers compared to the Monarch Tales one that is on it's own as a little piece of the cover.

The Meaning Behind the Changing Traditions Logo

At the same time, I returned to the wraparound cover style. Holidays and traditions are filled with small details, symbols, and customs, and the larger canvas gave me more room to include those visual elements.

The cover for Samhain: A Story About Halloween became the first opportunity to bring those ideas together. It combines a series logo with a full wraparound illustration, creating a cover that can be explored from front to back.

Creating covers is one of my favourite parts of making books, in fact it's the first part of the book that I work on when it comes to illustrating. Whether it's a wraparound illustration, a familiar character, or a small detail hidden in the background, I still find myself thinking about that child sitting on the carpet during story time, looking closely at the cover and wondering what story was waiting inside.


You can explore all of our current titles on our Books Page.

If you'd like to help share our works, visit our Libraries Page for circulation details and ISBNs.

Our books are available through major retailers including Chapters, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and Waterstones.



Location: Canada

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