Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover Issue 153: Middle Grade (Part 49)

Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I pay tribute to some of the best and brightest the publishing world has to offer in the way of book cover design.

One of the things I appreciate most about many of the covers featured in this week’s edition of Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover is the absolutely breathtaking use of light and shadow. The fireflies and glow of the moon on The Midnight Children, the dappled light filtered through the trees on Looking For True, the warm incandescence of a window on One Jar of Magic, the radiant sunrise on Breda’s Island – these and many other examples featured in this post are so powerful and evocative as to almost feel tangible, and remind me once again of the strength and importance of book design and artistry, and how grateful I am for the individuals responsible for this work.

Please Note: As always, I’ve done my best to credit the designers and artists responsible for the stunning covers below, but was unable to find this information for a number of those listed. If you know of an uncredited designer and/or artist responsible for any of these book covers, please let me know and I would be happy to include proper attribution in this post. Their work is lovely and deserves to be credited.

01. The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart
Cover design by Mallory Grigg, Cover art by Matt Rockefeller

02. A Taste Of Magic by J. Elle
Cover art by Brittany Jackson

03. The Lightcasters by Janelle McCurdy
Cover art by Jeffrey Oyem

04. Alliana, Girl of Dragons by Julie Abe
Cover design by Karina Granda, Cover art by Shan Jiang

05. Looking For True by Tricia Springstubb

06. One Jar of Magic by Corey Ann Haydu
Cover design by Laura Mock, Cover art by Matt Rockefeller

07. The Language of Seabirds by Will Taylor
Cover design by Christopher Stengel, Cover art by Teo DuVall

08. The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
Cover design by Hayley Parker, Cover art by Christina Chung

09. In The Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo
Cover design by David Curtis, Cover art by Julia Kuo

10. Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega
Cover art by Rose Bousamra

11. The Last Fallen Moon by Graci Kim
Cover design by Joann Hill, Cover art by Vivienne To

12. Ghostcloud by Michael Mann
Cover design by Samuel Perrett, Cover art by Chaaya Prabhat

13. Lotus Bloom and The Afro Revolution by Sherri Winston

14. Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper
Cover design by David Curtis, Cover art by Violet Tobacco

15. The Civil War of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali
Cover design by Corina Lupp, Cover art by Ariel Vittori

16. How To Heal A Gryphon by Meg Cannistra
Cover design by Gigi Lau, Cover art by Devin Elle Kurtz

17. Breda’s Island by Jessie Ann Foley
Cover art by Devin Elle Kurtz

18. Theo Tan and The Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cover art by Sylvia Bi

19. Every Bird A Prince by Jenn Reese
Cover design by Aurora Parlagreco, Cover art by James Firnhaber

20. The Devouring Wolf by Natalie C. Parker
Cover design by Jessica Jenkins, Cover art by Karl Kwasny