Supersized Book Covers Planting Seeds

You’ve no doubt heard the saying, ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ That might be true, but a cover goes a long way in catching the interest of readers, especially when it’s larger than life. 

English teachers at Mundelein High School in suburban Chicago took this concept and incorporated the idea of ‘go big or go home.’ The aim was to get students talking about books, story, and what they like.

“…perfect for our hallway since our department promotes books and reading all the time…”

Ryan Buck, Mundelein English Teacher

These supersized book covers are actually wraps printed directly onto the cinder block walls that line the English Department hallways. Teacher Ryan Buck described it as “perfect for our hallway since our department promotes books and reading all the time through our Reading Choice reading program.”

That program started after English teachers there got tired of students ‘fake reading,’ and just getting by in the required reading assignments. Its goal is to get students to develop a love for reading and develop reading volume and stamina.

At first, art students were enlisted to recreate some of the life-sized book covers, but using the wraps were chosen later as a way to closely replicate the actual published covers students would see in a bookstore. 

According to the school district, each vinyl wrap costs about $400 a piece and were made by Visual Image Photography, but a reputable print shop in your area should be able to create a wrap like this. 

Thinking something like this through…just be aware of the subject matter each book cover wrap represents and whether your campus/parent associations would be okay with it. One last consideration of the book cover artwork…teenagers can be mischievously creative with such displays, so choose carefully. 

All that aside, it apparently is drawing a lot of interest among students. While the teachers are always talking to kids about books and reading, they are getting different comments prompted by the wraps, like ‘hey, I read that book,’ or ‘that book looks interesting.’ 

In the end, that’s the point…getting students interested in reading a good, well-written story. It starts by drawing them in through their eyes to a compelling tale.