This and That and Jacket/ Cover Dilemmas: The Boys in the Back Row by Mike Jung

Long ago, when my sons were small and I bought books for my home library, I rarely, if ever removed the jackets and so, never knew if the book cover beneath the dust jacket was different. As a school librarian, I remove the jackets of all books I purchase for my school's collection to cover them with a mylar cover in order to prolong the life of the book. I occasionally come across a surprise-a jacket with different illustration from the cover. 

"Jacket/ Cover Dilemmas" is the occasional post that occurs in my school library life. I know I've failed to document quite a few. Sometimes I take the pic and just post to FB and forget to post here. Other times, I probably forget to tag, and thus the post is un-findable.

Today, I finally got to covering some books I've recently only cataloged. My library has been closed since last March. <Boohoo> Since September, I've been teaching fifth and sixth grade LA to hybrid students on their virtual days. But since early April, the hybrid students are back in school five days per week. Because I taught two hybrid cohorts per class each day, totaling sixteen classes in each two-day cycle, I wondered what I would be given to do. I've been assigned as a support teacher in one fifth grade LA class and one sixth grade LA class. AND! I've been given three periods a day in the library!

This means I could catalog all the books I've acquired through purchasing with my own money or books I received because I've been asked to review. AND I am checking out books to students! They can't come to the library though. One, it's now being used as a classroom, but they are not allowed to leave their cohort. I am so thrilled that students are actively requesting books from me! Yay! 

Which brings me to the point of this post. Thanks for hanging in there!

When I removed the cover of The Boys in the Back Row, I found this.

I probably should've repositioned the jacket better to show the juxtaposition of images - my bad. I appreciate Levine Querido books for so much! First, the books on their list are phenomenal and second, the care the team puts into the design.

Double the Fun Picture Book Review! We've Got the Whole World in our Hands by Rafael López

We've Got the Whole World in our Hands adapted and illustrated by Rafael López. 

AND 

We've Got the Whole World in our Hands/ Tenemos el Mundo entero en las Manos adapted and illustrated by Rafael López. unpgd. Orchard Books/ Scholastic Inc. October, 2018. 9781338177367 (English). 9781338299502 (Spanish). (Reviews of finished copies courtesy of publisher.)

I love decorated end-pages. I love it when artists find a way to connect their illustrations. I love yarn. It can entangle but it mostly knits together to form something beautiful. I also happen to love the spiritual, We've Got the Whole World in our Hands. It's short range matches mine and I could always manage to sing it at mass without embarrassing myself. It's a pleasant earworm to have and I've had it since reading these two delightful editions.

This book has it all, a gorgeous embossed cover, luscious end-pages and vibrant, joyful double-page spreads connected by an endless ball of variegated yarn. One cannot help but smile while reading the book. Actually, one should not read it. One should sing it - even with a pitiable voice as mine. It also possesses a cover dilemma:

What could make the book better? Why, a bilingual edition of course! Backmatter includes a note about the spiritual an illustrator note and the sheet music. Either or both of these books are a must-have for all kinds of libraries. 

Jacket/ Cover Dilemmas

I've been working in school libraries for twenty-one years this month. Over the years, I've covered a lot of books. First, I was the aide and that was part of my job. Then, when I was hired as the full-time librarian, my position was eliminated! So, no aide for me and I refused to spend the money to buy my books pre-cataloged. Actually, I did that one year and realized that I had no idea what I put on the shelf. There's value in cataloging and handling every single book even if processing takes a really long time because you stop to peruse more than a few books!

Every so often I would notice a cover decoration different than the jacket illustration, but I'd tape that baby down as tight as possible. Students can be very hard on library books! I definitely noticed when I covered Matthew Cordell's Wolf in the Snow. I opted not to tape the front part down. I thought I took a photo of it, but can't find it.

I don't know why, but it seems like I've noticed quite a few recently. 

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown.

Hey Kiddo! by Jarrett Krosozcka.

Strongheart by Candace Fleming.

Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling.

It's kind of funny that I never take the jackets off books in my personal library, so these are only discovered thanks to my being a librarian. But then, I need to tape down the covers to prolong the life of the book. Such a dilemma! I plan on paying more attention and posting as the dilemmas arise, like my occasional "Cover Coincidence" posts. Stay tuned.