Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Maynard, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Part 1)


About my book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is about a little girl who grows up in the "poor-er" side of Brooklyn in the turn of the 19th Century. Her father is an alcoholic and her mother supports the family with multiple jobs. The little girl (Francie) loves to read and uses the stories she finds in book as an escape from her reality. Francie's thirst for knowledge and education defeat her unlikely odds and later in life she puts herself through college.

The "heaven tree," which grew out of the concrete outside Francie's window, is used a metaphor many times throughout the book for overcoming insurmountable odds.

I focused on the tree in my thumbs since it is the metaphor for the entire book. The first few show the tree growing out of something. However, I think the idea I like best is having the very top of the tree shown on the front with a folded strip separating the title copy, and other book information. As you fold the strip down, the tree grows. The tree would be made in a collage style out of quotes from the book.

4 comments:

  1. I really like the idea of having a tree popping out on top of the book etc. but i am wondering if it would ever get annoying while reading the book. so far i like that idea the most, but i think you need to play around with where its placed, how big its, etc.

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  2. what if you made the cover look like a tree stump and as you unfold it, more of the tree is revealed and looks like it's "growing" as you unfold it into the poster? Not sure if that could be too complicated.

    I agree with Adam about the tree popping out. Is it supposed to pop out and stay out as the reader is reading the book? That could be a bit annoying. or is it the poster?

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  3. Your concept of the tree growing as you unfold the cover is a really good idea, I just think you should try and keep it simple. I agree with the other 2 about having the top of the tree being distracting if it were too large. I like the idea of forming the tree with quotes from the book.

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  4. Thanks guys! I had also played with the idea of the stump only being shown and the tree growing up from the cover. After the tree "grows" up from the cover though it would become a poster to be removed. Or I suppose you could fold it back up and keep it on the book.

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