It’s so hard not to judge a book by its cover!
Everyone knows the old saying – “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. And since it’s kind of part of our tagline and philosophy at StorySnoops, we kind of have to pay attention to it! But what a great little lesson this has turned out to be at my house. Here are some books my kids balked at, based on the cover and the size of the books. But…they will be the first to admit that they misjudged these gems, and now count these books amongst their favorites. And just for some added fun, I tossed in a couple that my fellow StorySnoops raised an eyebrow at too 
Initial Opinion: Odd cover, too thick, what’s with all the drawings?
Turned out to be: A beautiful story that my kids will read over and over, and never tire of.
Initial opinion: Daughter groaned when this sci-fi/dystopian “boy” book was choosen for her book club.
Turned out to be: A book that both genders will like equally, and was completely engaging. She went on to read the entire series.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Initial opinion: Teen son rejected it. Assumed it was a Western. Was turned off by the toys on the cover.
Turned out to be: A book he liked enough to finish in a week and do a report on. And that is saying a lot for a sixteen year old boy!
Initial opinion: What?! What are witches and undergarments doing in the same story? Must be pretty stupid.
Turned out to be: A compulsively readable and hilarious story about friendship and typical teens topics, with a little magic thrown in. Daughter has read and reread all of the books in the series and is praying that a fifth book will be written.
Initial opinion: Huh? SO not like any other Sarah Dessen cover. StorySnoop Tiffany was not so sure what to expect.
Turned out to be: A powerful story with a great message. She liked it!
Initial opinion: This is a book for kids? What’s up with the coffin? Kinda don’t feel so much like diving in (so says Eden, fellow StorySnoop).
Turned out to be: Eden loved this book! Found it to be a bit dark, but heartwarming and humorous. It has a nice mother-daughter storyline, and she added it to her daughter’s “to be read” pile, with fingers crossed that daughter will enjoy it as much as she did.
Initial opinion: Something for kids who like outer space perhaps? Looks a bit young to be StorySnoop Jen’s cup of tea.
Turned out to be: One of Jen’s favorites! She found herself laughing out loud at this poignant story story about twelve-year-old boy who is often mistaken for an adult. His observations about “dadly” behavior are perceptive and his own attempts at “dadliness” are hysterical!
Moral of the story today: We are all guilty of judging book by their covers. But, sometimes we are pleasantly surprised by what’s inside! We have enjoyed this little exercise–which books had covers that left you cold, but then turned out to be something special for you?
-Shannon, StorySnoop
May 24th, 2011 at 9:16 AM
Great blog! My sons balked at The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but I am going to try again on this one — I know they will like it. Love the other ones on your list, too. This list, combined with your summer reading list, is going to keep my kids happy in books for awhile — thanks! I’m always looking for the next great book because my older son will find a series he likes, read all of them, and then he is left waiting for them to write the next book in the series. Finding other books that are interesting to him is tough sometimes– this is so helpful!