You might know that a spine is the outside edge of a book where the pages are gathered and bound, but did you know that the average children's picture book spine is between a quarter of an inch and a half an inch wide? That's pretty thin for arguably the most important piece of real estate on a book! The spine is the only visible piece of a book when it's on a bookshelf, so it stands to reason that a lot of work can go into designing ones that stand out against the competition in stores and libraries. Designers have developed quite a few tricks to get their book spines noticed by readers, and below are a few of my personal favorites, broken down by design technique.
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Here are some spines that stand out on my shelves and why, broken down into a few categories. And don't forget to check out my other favorites lists:
No Spine, No Problem!
It's rare in illustrated books, but one of the most eye-catching spine designs is basically no spine at all. Now and again you'll see a book where the spine is sort of "open-faced," with the book's bindings exposed. Normally front and back covers are made from one giant board folded in half, but in this case the front and covers are two separate boards that leave the space where the pages are bound together visible. Regardless of whether or not the title of the book is printed on the spine, the book stands out solidly on a shelf!
Art of Protest: Creating, Discovering, and Activating Art for Your Revolution by de Nichols, Diana Dagadita, Saddo, Olivia Twist, Molly Mendoza, and Diego Becas
(Big Picture Press, November 2021)
Little Red Riding Hood by The Brothers Grimm and Sybille Schenker
(mindedition, October 2014)
Fifth Color
A fifth color is any color outside of the usual four print colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (also known as CMYK). Usually neon, fifth colors are the perfect way to make a book stand out on a shelf amidst a sea of CMYK spine colors. I have divided them by color here––you can see there's quite a lot of neon pinks, oranges, and greens!
A Bucket of Questions by Tim Fite
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers, March 2023)
Have You Every Seen a Flower? by Shawn Harris
(Chronicle Books, May 2021)
Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival
(Bloomsbury Children's Books. December 2020)
Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan and Sarah Walsh
A Pair of Pears and an Orange by Anna McGregor
(Scribble US, October 2021)
(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, February 2025)
Clothbound
Books can be bound in all sorts of materials, including cloth! Cloth is a popular choice for gifty books and the cloth can cover anywhere from the entire front and back covers to a portion on the spine (often called a quarter bind).
A Natural History of Fairies by Emily Hawkins and Jessica Roux
(Frances Lincoln Children's Books, September 2020)
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