My eight-year-old son is a voracious reader and aspiring writer. I'm very glad that he loves to read and want to help him find his next good read. Unfortunately, he is very easily influenced by the cover art. He will unwrap a gift book and immediately discard it and refuse to use it if he doesn't like the cover. He doesn't even read the summary. When I was still reading to him, we had an agreement that he should listen to at least one page, and that is how he was introduced to many of his favorite books, despite initial resistance. I completely understand the appeal of great illustrations, but now that he's reading the chapters, I wish he could read the two least important pages. How can I help him not judge a book by its cover?
Eleanor says: I totally appreciate that he was able to see behind the cover, but on the other hand…could you just change the cover?
What attracts him to the cover? Rainbow? Dragon? Cool dude? He could do a new cover! A collage, even a collage from other books. He could make a dozen generic covers, ready to slap on any book you want to give him next. Or he could remake a particular cover, saying why he didn't like the one she was given; or you can wrap the books in brown paper so he never sees the cover, and have him design it once he knows what the book is about. Colored foil! Laser eyes! Give him the director's chair.
When I was a child, my mother and I would make notebook covers out of colorful crayons and watercolors that we would attach to my homemade notebooks. This way, school work wasn't so incredibly tedious. Among the many other things carelessly left at the bottom of a school bag and collecting crumbs and creases, homework notebooks have always seemed special to me. They didn't seem standard or serious. They were like me, like the care that other people put into me. If your son understands the appeal of illustrations, he can make his books more like him.
This may not seem right to you. You may prefer to steer him away from this sensitivity rather than indulge it. You may not want fire stickers on Aslan. You might want him to like the serif style of the publisher's design. Believe me, I have the instinct to improve a child's aesthetic judgment. Just the other day I went to see Van Gogh, and as (terribly aesthetically sophisticated) tears streamed down my face, the child next to me said, “This is the most boring thing I’ve ever seen.” I completely understand the urge to scream, “You're missing out on something! This is so much better than whatever you prefer!”
But when you create an artistic proof of virtue, you may feel that it is tedious. This is such good news that he reads it with joy. So far, he's not doing it because he “has to.”
In the next few years, many things will try to capture his taste – algorithms, television, colleagues, and they all say: “People like you should like this.” Of course, you don't want your voracious reader's tastes to be captured by the iPad-algorithm-AI event horizon of bad-child art. But the response doesn't have to be adding another “should” – “you must like this cover.” Instead, the response might be to encourage him to develop his own sensitivity. Why Does he like this one better than that one? Can he create something that he would be happy to wear to anyone? book? Or if he thinks that some covers only make sense for some books – why?
Permission and work with his emphasis on the covers should not be a capitulation. This could be a way to deepen his relationship with the books you want him to love.
