Easing my way back into blogging with Top 10 Tuesday! Today’s prompt is ‘books with nature on the cover’*. I’ve added ‘fantasy’ to make this into a Wyrd & Wonder post as well. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you’ll recognize a lot of these as my all time favourite covers in general. Links to reviews where applicable.
*After I drafted and scheduled this post for May 4, I realized this prompt is actually for May 11… but oh well I am going for it now.
The List
The first two covers pictured above feature water. When the Sea Turned to Silver is a middle grade fantasy based in Chinese folklore. Grace Lin wrote and illustrated the book so if the style of the cover appeals to you, I highly recommend checking out the book. Deeplight (designed by Romanian artist Aitch and Rachel Vale) is the latest MG/YA fantasy from Frances Hardinge, set in an archipelago world with dead gods and vicious sea creatures. Both of these books are also notable for their distinct, vivid prose.
Three portal fantasies come next. Inkspell (art by Carol Lawson, design by Elizabeth B. Parisi and Leyah Jensen) features my favourite cover of the trilogy. I adore the tiny creatures hidden amongst the leaves as we peek into this new world. In An Absent Dream (art by Robert Hunt, design by FORT), with that grand tree, is my pick to represent the wonderful covers of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Finally, I have one of the first books I bought at a Scholastic book fair – Bruce Coville’s Into the Land of the Unicorns. I have been unable to idnetify the illustrator. I resent the cover redesigns when book three and four came out…
The next three covers feature striking interpretations of a woods theme: Naomi Novik’s Uprooted (design by David G. Stevenson, illustration by Scott McKowen), Patricia A. McKillip’s In the Forests of Serre (art by Kinuko Y. Craft) and Silver in the Wood (art by David Curtis). Anna-Marie McLemore’s magical realism books always have lush covers; Wild Beauty exemplifies that. Lastly, I had to include a Tolkien book. I chose the forthcoming The Nature of Middle-earth (art by Ted Nasmith).
Do any of these covers appeal to you? Link your TTT or Wyrd & Wonder post in the comments!
Ooh, I really love Kinuko Craft’s work in general, and Patricia McKillip, too, so that’s definitely a favorite of mine. I also love several of these books – When the Sea Turned to Silver, Inkspell, and Uprooted. I never got past the first book of that Seanan McGuire book, and should read more of both her and Anna-Marie McLemore.
Right! Craft and McKillip’s work pair so well together. I definitely recommend reading more of McGuire and McLemore! The Wayward Children books are quite different after the first one. McLemore’s books are all pretty similar but enjoyable enough if you like their style.
Uprooted has always been one of my many favorite covers. I really must read Deeplight sometime, I usually enjoy Harding’s stories.
Yes, it’s so well-designed! Captures the fantasy/fairy tale vibes perfectly. I am sure any fan of Hardinge’s already will enjoy Deeplight.
Great list! The Wayward Children covers are SO pretty.
Thanks 🙂 Yeah, I really could have picked any of them for this list I think!
I love nature on covers. I think I’m going to go with florals for the same prompt and Wild Beauty was the first book that came to mind.
The Wild Beauty cover is so striking, hey! That’s a great idea for this topic – I will keep an eye out for list; I’m a sucker for a good floral cover.
I love the cover for The Nature of Middle Earth. I like Uprooted too, and it’s on my tbr for Wyrd & Wonder 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Tanja! Uprooted is one of my favourite fantasy books – hope you enjoy it 🙂
I love them all. I think maybe Wild Beauty stands out the most to me. When I was looking at your first 5 covers I thought “Patricia McKillip would belong here” and there she was in the second group!
Thanks! 🙂 The flowers are gorgeous on Wild Beauty, hey? And yes! The Craft’s artwork for McKillip’s books is iconic. Should be on all lists of ‘best covers’, let alone ‘fantasy books with nature’, haha.
Silver in the Wood <3 Deeplight has such a gorgeous cover.