ERIC Number: ED255937
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Do Children Judge a Book by Its Cover?
Campbell, Susan; And Others
A study examined the responses of children at several age levels to seven visual elements presented to them on book jackets. Subjects ranged in age from kindergarten to fifth grade. The pairs of book jackets that were selected represented contrasting treatments of seven visual elements: (1) action, (2) color, (3) style, (4) characters, (5) detail, (6) proportion, and (7) space. Almost no choice patterns for book jackets emerged for kindergarten children, whose only consistent choices seemed to be for illustrations depicting deep space. The only preferences of second grade students were the bright colors selected by the males. Third grade students were more discriminating: girls preferred illustrations with bright colors, while boys' preference for bright colors was correlated only with the illustrations showing no action. Boys also chose illustrations with less detail. The elements for which fourth and fifth grade children seemed to have definite opinions were in the areas related to color, detail, proportion, and space. The study concluded that males prefer bright colors, less detail, and deep space in cover illustrations while females prefer illustrations with more detail. The study suggests that librarians who select books should be aware of the great degree to which the visual elements affected the choices of older children. (A list of books used in the study is appended.) (HTH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A