Have you ever wished that a book’s cover would look more like the story you saw in your imagination? Bonnie stopped wishing and made it happen.
Peggy observed in Inexplicable Bantam Book Covers: “Sometimes, the cover completely misrepresents the story.” Bonnie agreed. Her collection of Emilie Loring’s hardback editions had paper jackets, but she wanted covers for her paperbacks, too. That way, she could carry them with her and read them without damage. She shared:
“Unfortunately I found the paperback cover art to be atrocious, so I started going through a huge stack of old art magazines and realized with a little cut and pasting I could try to create much better or at least more appropriate images.”
Are you following this?! Years ago, with no access to the internet, Bonnie created her own book covers with magazine photos and Windows 98. She found pictures of people who reminded her of the characters and superimposed them onto backgrounds she liked.
“Some pictures aren’t as fitting to the story as I’d have liked them to be, but with extra paper edges folded around the covers they do at least protect the books and maybe extend their shelf life. Some day I hope to find time to do this project again using the multitude of free internet art and a much updated computer system.”
I am so impressed with Bonnie’s covers! What a mountain of work they represent! See if you have a favorite:
I’ll publish the rest of Bonnie’s book covers in my next post.
Meanwhile, would you like to use these covers? Are you inspired to make some of your own? Let me know by email if you want a full-size image that’s ready to go. (contact@pattibender.com)
Happy creating! Happy reading!
I’m impressed!
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Wow! What excellent work–creativity and dedication! It looks like Bonnie captured the sense of the books, including time periods, very well. The dancing couple image on the back cover for With Banners is familiar. I have a variation on a wall hanging in my house. (It has gotten too much sun. We have to find a new place for it.)
Good for Bonnie!!!
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It would be fun to make covers with photos from the real places Emilie used in her books.
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Very innovative and resourceful!
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