Kidsmomo

Ever since I reviewed Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George years ago on the Kidsmomo podcast, I knew the Castle Glower series was destined for greatness! It’s been years since Tuesdays at the Castle was released and since then we’ve gotten the books for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and most recently, Saturdays at the Sea!

But wait — something’s different about Saturdays at the Sea: the book cover style! And it turns out the original books are also getting new covers:

Original Covers	New Covers

Some thoughts on the new covers:

• The new illustration style looks more modern and what art historians call a “painterly” style.
• The series heroine, Princess Celia, is less visible in many of the covers — sometimes we just see the back of her head.
• I think there is a bigger sense of danger and adventure.
• The days of the week are now designed with embellishments and much bigger.
• The griffin appears on different days now.
• There is more color variation: With the original covers, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday always looked similar to me because they had a lot of green and blue hues.
• Jessica Day George’s name is much easier to read now in the white text.

All in all, I love the new covers! My only complaint is that Saturdays at the Sea only has a new version — I would love to have seen what the original illustrator would have done!

Do you prefer the original covers or the new covers? Take the poll below and discuss with other readers in the comments!

— Nancy

If this series were to star Nancy, then the series would end with the titles Sundays with Napping and Mondays with Coffee.

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About a year ago, Karen and I reviewed Cassie Beasley’s debut book, Circus Mirandus, which — spoiler alert! — both of us recommended to all readers. I also clamored for a sequel or a movie adaptation, neither of which have been announced… yet. But while I wait, the paperback edition of the book hits shelves on August 16th!

As with many books, the cover design was updated for the paperback edition — check it out:

And now compare the hardcover and paperback side-by-side:

My thoughts:

• Wow, there’s a lot of stuff going on on the new cover.
• A lot of stuff.
• The hardcover is so minimalist and straightforward: Hey, this is a book about a circus.
• The hardcover is also very distinctive — I could spot it easily on a shelf.
• The paperback gives away more details of the story: All the main characters, including Chintzy the parrot, are present!
• And I like the addition of a tagline: “Magic so wondrous, you have to believe it to see it.”
• The styling of the title looks very old-timey circus-y, and I love it.
• There was a die cut on the hardcover: A portion of the cover is cut out so the image on the next page is visible. This made the hardcover intriguing, but printing a die cut is expensive, so it’s understandable the paperback does not have a die cut.
• While the new cover is exciting, it does look a lot like other fantasy novels to me:

Fork-Tongue Charmers (The Luck Uglies Series #2) by Paul Durham

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Series #4) by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles Series #1) by Rick Riordan

Rogue Knight (Five Kingdoms Series #2) by Brandon Mull

Island of Fire (Unwanteds Series #3) by Lisa McMann

The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders Series #1) by Peter Lerangis

The Iron Trial (Magisterium Series #1) by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare

The City of Ember (Books of Ember Series #1) by Jeanne DuPrau

Loki's Wolves (Blackwell Pages Series #1) by K. L. Armstrong, M. A. Marr

Which cover do you like more? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

— Nancy

Nancy loves studying book covers as much as she loves examining plots! Just don’t ask her to draw any.

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Pssst! Have you heard of this guy named Percy Jackson? I heard he’s a demigod — half god (specifically, his dad is Poseidon), half-human, and all cute*.

Okay, obviously you’ve heard of him, because Rick Riordan’s series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of the Olympus are EVERYWHERE. And big news: the book cover for the latest installment of the Heroes of Olympus series, House of Hades, was just released!

Check out the cover! Dark. Very dark.

Bonus! The cover from across the pond in the United Kingdom:

What do you think of the new cover? Do you like the one from the US or UK better? House of Hades is out on October 8th (that’s only 119 days!). Luckily for us, a crossover Olympus-Kane Chronicles short story is out next week! It’s called The Son of Sobek, and it will only be available as an e-book. Get those tablets ready!

— Nancy

*This might just be just Nancy’s opinion, but c’mon. Look who they cast for the movies. All cute.

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What better way to ring in the New Year than to scrutinize the latest and final book cover of Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles series, for The Serpent’s Shadow? Check out the beautiful, newly released cover by illustrator John Rocco:

(Click to see the cover larger, so you can study each pixel individually!)

Based on previous posts, you know the drill. I’ll put out my guesses about the final installment, and you should leave YOUR thoughts on the cover in the comments below!

First, an official description of the book from the Kane Chronicles website:

He’s b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sade Kane can’t seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos.

Whoa. That is quite a lot to digest from one paragraph! Let me collect my thoughts…

• First, I just love the color scheme of the whole series: It goes from dark rust red, to bright purple, to brilliant blue. It reminds me of different types of flames.
• Apparently Rick Riordan himself claims that this is his favorite cover yet.
• Carter stands on the left, ready to use the Crook and Flail of Ra, the weapon he used after he lost his khopesh.
• So then that’s probably Sadie standing on the ledge, but I can’t really make out if she’s doing anything — is she ready to jump in or holding on for dear life?
• What is this body of water Carter and Sadie are standing in front of? Does it look like to anyone else that the rocks and boulders are creating a path across the water?
• A spiky serpent shadow (presumably the super duper evil Aphosis, God of Chaos) looms ominously in the distance.
• Floating above and around the obelisk (is it the Washington Monument in D.C., or a different one?) are white birds, which look comforting to me for some reason. Perhaps some combat avatars? They don’t look like Carter’s falcon form…
• I can’t make out any of the symbols on the obelisk, so I’m guessing they’re intentionally drawn to be vague.
• Hey, what’s that shape above the obelisk? Let me take a closer — OMG IT’S A REALLY CREEPY GIANT EYE STARING RIGHT AT ME. Okay, it’s probably staring at Carter and Sadie. But still, really creepy.

So, Kidsmomo readers, what do you think of the newest (and sadly, last*) cover for The Kane Chronicles? I can’t wait to follow Carter and Sadie’s adventures once more on May 1, when The Serpent’s Shadow comes out!

Meanwhile, you can keep busy until then by reading a preview of The Serpent’s Shadow from the official website, maybe a couple (hundred) times…

— Nancy

As you can tell, Nancy is not a fan of creepy giant eyes.

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*Unless Rick Riordan writes another book/series with Kane Chronicles characters. He IS a writing machine, after all!

Thank the gods, the world now has a sneak preview of The Throne of Fire (Book 2 of Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles)! The first chapter has been released, along with the cover!

As you might have guessed from my obsessive — I mean, thorough coverage of the cover for The Red Pyramid when it was first released, and from my recommendation of the book in Kidsmomo theme Globe-Trotting Adventures, I really like this series so far.

As you’ll see from Chapter 1 of The Throne of Fire, posted exclusively on USA Today, Carter and Sadie are at it again with their baboon companion, Khufu, and the Egyptian gods that are semi-inhabiting their minds.

So, onto the new book cover!

• Sadie and Carter are back, on what looks to be an Egyptian papyrus boat.
• I like that they are facing us (more or less) this time, and don’t have their backs towards us. It’s like they’ve grown up since the first book and have a lot more confidence!
• I spot Carter’s bag around his shoulder…
• And Sadie’s carrying a scepter…
• There’s a flaming throne represented on the sails (title alert!).
• And is that a museum behind them?
• What are those three sticks poking out on the left?
• And last, but not least: OMG THERE ARE A BILLION COCKROACHES/BEETLES/SOME KIND CREEPY CRAWLY BUG ewwwwww…

What are some things you notice from the beautiful cover?

— Nancy

Nancy is very much afraid of bugs, which is pretty obvious from the freak-out in the last bullet point.

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As you can tell from my earlier post, I’m very excited about Rick Riordan’s new book series, The Kane Chronicles — especially now that they’ve released the book cover! So as promised, here is my obsessive-compulsive analysis/commentary on the book cover:

1. Presumably that’s Sadie on the left, and her brother, Carter, on the right.
2. Carter is holding is Khopesh sword (also called a scimitar), the Egyptian word for a battle-axe sickle-sword.
3. Does Sadie have special powers in the series? The Egyptian symbols are coming out over her palm, which you can see in the animation!
4. What is that building they are facing? It looks too small to be the British Museum mentioned in the mini-excerpt…
5. There is a giant serpent/snake (ewww…) surrounding Sadie and Carter and slithering into the building — reminds me of the basilisk from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
6. Is the water tower significant? It wouldn’t be included on the cover if it wasn’t, right? Perhaps the setting for an action-packed scene in the book? Or am I reading too much into it?
7. “The Kane Chronicles” crest is a set of wings with two snakes connected together. The oval piece in the center looks like a jewel to me. Or a jelly bean.
8. Despite the title The Red Pyramid, the only pyramid shape on the cover is the outline of the triangle in the background. So I guess my literal interpretation was a little too obvious…
9. Some of the symbols flying out of Sadie’s hands: an eye, an Egyptian, two types of bird, a large cat (lioness? panther? tiger?), a knife (or feather pen?), and what I interpreted as a boat or raft.

Well, that’s all I found… Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book cover!

— Nancy