posted on 27 Dec 2017

Children’s Book Covers by Alan Powers

Alan Powers has pretty much cornered the market on these large format, colourful and informative books about books. The decorative qualities of books and their jackets seem to be his thing - he’s done an equivalent publication to this for the adult market (which we reviewed here) – and he focuses on drawing out the historical significance and design innovations that the books represent.

The book is organised to have two dominant features – a chronological presentation of the key children’s books and a focus on some big names or especially significant illustrators. He starts with the Georgian chap-book and comes up to date with the modern global influences and experimentation.

What is especially nice about this book – and its true of his other productions – is the very good balance he finds between the lavish illustration and the informative text. These books are for clearly designed for the interested lay-person but something like this will appeal to a wide audience and will enchant the collector as well. It’s a kind of bibliophile soft porn that will be magnetic for anyone who has a passion for children’s books.

I think the decision to use a chronological structure is a particularly good one from my perspective because it allowed me to draw a line of development through the best part of two hundred years of children’s book publication. For far too long the great artwork and superb design that went into children’s books went largely ignored or, at best, undervalued and as a result there’s almost a kind of hidden history to catch up on. Books of this kind that take a bold approach to showcasing the very best of children’s book production has helped to redress some of the neglect.

I would still argue strongly that there are extraordinary examples of great art that have been used to illustrate children’s books still out there and available for modest prices. Getting hold of the first editions helps to ensure you experience that art at its very best - often the difference between the original version and the reprint is significant.

Powers’ book can help you build a great collection while it’s still possible to do so. I don’t think the artificially low prices on books illustrated by some of the more modern greats – Kerr, Foreman, Blake etc. – will last and they will soon be fetching the sort of prices that Arthur Rackham, Warwick Goble or Edmund Dulac command. Just as it’s true that a good book jacket is crucial to the desirability of some of the great adult novels, that’s also true with children’s books: so don’t compromise, always try and get a cover in good condition.

Copies can be found for below £5 on the second hand market. 

Terry Potter

December 2017