The Look

Why do some book covers instantly grab your attention, while others never get a second glance? Fusing word and image, as well as design thinking and literary criticism, this captivating investigation goes behind the scenes of the cover design process to answer this question and more. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW As the outward face of the text, the book cover makes an all-important first impression. The Look of the Book examines art at the edges of literature through notable covers and the stories behind them, galleries of the many different jackets of bestselling books, an overview of book cover trends throughout history, and insights from dozens of literary and design luminaries. Co-authored by celebrated designer and creative director Peter Mendelsund and scholar David Alworth, this fascinating collaboration, featuring hundreds of covers, challenges our notions of what a book cover can and should be.

Striking and stylish, Look Look! is the ideal first board book for babies just beginning to look and learn and a perfect gift for little hands. Look, look! Children run, fish swim, stars shine . . . all for baby's eyes to see. This sturdy board book, full of high-contrast black-and-white cut-paper art perfect for staring at, is just the thing for the eyes of the youngest babies. A few words in curving red type on each spread describe the scenes—a car races, a cat stretches, flowers bloom—and extend the book's age appeal so that it will be fascinating to older babies, too.

Babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers love to look at the world around them. Each page of this book is packed with quirky, delightful illustrations of familiar objects, which toddlers can point to and name and pre-schoolers can use as an enchanting first step to reading. An enjoyable way of turning looking into learning with Claire Rollet's eye-catching ink drawings.

A brand-new book of fashion secrets by New York Times best-selling author, model, and Parisienne extraordinaire, Ines de la Fressange. Ines de la Fressange’s personal style is chic yet relaxed in every situation. While a navy-and-white- striped nautical top with slim, cropped jeans and flats is a classic French look, it’s harder to pinpoint how Parisians unfailingly blend elegance and allure with such ease. In this sequel to her best seller Parisian Chic, the world’s favorite style icon demonstrates how to achieve her quintessentially Parisian look throughout the year. Her style secrets start with the building blocks of wardrobe staples—an LBD that can be dressed up or down, timeless riding boots you’ll wear for a lifetime, or the perfect pair of jeans—which she combines with panache to suit every situation, adding seasonal items like costume bangles, a top in this season’s on-trend color, or the right shade of lip color.

The Look-Alike By: Joseph A. Levy Michael Biton is a young, ambitious law student. He has completed his first year at Brooklyn Law School, and everything is going perfectly for him as he is doing an internship with the City of New York. Suddenly out of nowhere, he gets identified, arrested and subsequently indicted for a rape that he insists he did not commit. His future, which had been unlimited, now becomes uncertain as he must pay a lot of money to a high-profile criminal defense lawyer, while at the same time deal with an arrogant, overzealous prosecutor who is determined to convict him at any cost. As he awaits trial, he starts to find out that there are many weird aspects to the case and that it is raising a lot of questions for which there are no answers. He also finds out that there is a person who looks exactly like him who attends the same law school and who worked in the same building as he. The Look-Alike is more than just a legal thriller. It is an intense, personal drama about Michael Biton getting a legal education – an education far different from the casebook law that he has been getting in law school. It is a book that will leave you guessing to the very end.

Tana Hoban never ceases to mesmerize and stimulate her young admirers. Using her unmistakable full-color photographs and an intriguing die-cut format, she has created a striking concept book that will have young viewers scrutinizing and thinking about what they see -- and don't see. In the tradition of Just Look and Take Another Look, here is yet another window of discovery to our everyday world.