Guest Post By The1st Daughter

Picture Books...Book Jackets for kids or parents?


When Julie asked for posts for her upcoming hiatus/vacation I jumped at the opportunity! Now because I know like me, Julie runs around chasing a house full of kiddos (well, sort of like me, I actually only have two, but you get the idea) and has seen her fair share of children's picture books, I'm sure. So, this leads me to my question...when kids can be so "playful" (ie. destructive) why is it that most children's books come with book jackets that almost always get removed or destroyed? And, which do you prefer, a book with a jacket or one without?

For the purpose of playing devil's advocate, publishers have to make money somehow, don't they? Book jackets are cheap and definitely the most inexpensive part of actually publishing & printing a book. They add to the image of a book, in that they make it more appealing to the eye and possibly even more professional looking. By so doing they increase their profit margin drastically and with the economy the way it has been, who can blame them? Right?

Now the question begs, were you to see two identical books on the shelf and one had a book jacket and the other had the image actually printed onto the book itself with no book jacket, which would you buy? My answer...even for my own personal books(unless they're signed copies) and without a doubt for my children's books, no question - unjacketed books.

Need a few examples of great books without book jackets? Here are some of our families favorite books, that come sans book jacket.

For the Kiddos:

Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2451036.I_Love_My_New_Toy_)

Kiss Kiss by Selma Mandine (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7387117-kiss-kiss)

Not A Box by Antoinette Portis (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220596.Not_a_Box)

Cat the Cat Who is That? by Mo Willems (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6519587-cat-the-cat-who-is-that)

Sticky Burr by John Lechner (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1576053.Sticky_Burr)

So, what do you think? Do you buy children's books with book jackets and toss them or hide them away until your kids are older? If you're buying books for yourself, do you like book jackets or would you almost prefer to wait for a paperback copy to avoid the hassle? There are no wrong answers, I'm just wondering.

Thanks again to Julie for having me on her fantastic site! I hope she's soaking up some wonderful sun at this very moment!

And if you haven't yet, make sure to stop by my site, There's A Book (http://www.theresabook.com/), where I review everything from children's books, to middle grade to young adult genres.

Thanks for being here and be sure to leave a comment ;)