Design Your Very Own Book Cover
It’s World Book Day soon and we’re sooo excited because here at Magical Story Jars we believe that everyone has a book in them! Think of us as your trusty friends here to ignite your little ones amazing imaginations, so that they can become both the author and reader of their own story.
We know that reading stories has the power to takes us to the most fantastic places imaginable. But how about the drawings on the front cover and inside books? They too play an enormous role in transporting us to faraway lands.
With this in mind, we've designed our latest free download for all those budding story makers who want to get involved in World Book Day celebrations but who may not always enjoy reading and writing.
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but we all do don’t we? It’s often the cover that attracts you to the book in the first place. So, to help your little ones design a front cover for their story, we have picked out a fun story combination from the Fairy Tale Magical Story Jar for them. They simply need to use the character, setting and plot story cards shown in the photo below to inspire their own story. Maybe get them to use a scrap piece of paper to jot down their story ideas or to create a story map and plan out their book cover design. Next, they can design a book cover based on that story.
Here are a few top tips to help your budding story makers on their way:
Scour your bookshelves or take a trip to the library, have a look at some book covers and think about what you do and don’t like about them. What made you first want to pick up the books?
Book covers often show the characters in the story and give us a glimpse of what they get up to in a way that makes us want to read on. How about having an exciting action scene from your story on the front cover?
Give your story a cool and catchy title so people want to pick up the book. Only decide on the title after you have thought about what happens in your story.
This activity can be adapted to suit the age of your kids.
For younger story makers:
Be sure to get them to use the three story prompts provided in the photo above to give potential readers a glimpse of who the main characters are and what fun things might happen in the story.
When they’re deciding on a book cover it may be helpful to create a basic story map together. A story map is a visual representation of a story that shows a clear beginning, middle and end. Story maps can be useful in helping kids to plan their story out and better understand the order of what happens along with the different elements of their story.
If your mini story maker doesn’t like the idea of lots of writing, simply roll with it and talk about what is going to happen in their story.
Older story makers might like to:
Use the drawing style from their favourite artist or book illustrator.
Take the book cover design a step further and look up the colour wheel to consider using complimentary colours (colours that are opposite one another on the colour wheel) for the cover.
Remember to have the main character looking into the page rather than off it. This will encourage potential readers to look at the artwork and create a focal point.
Click here to access the free download and don’t forget to tag us in your book cover creations using the hashtag #MagicalStoryJars, we love to see and share your kids creations with our followers.
Beth and Co xx