Down to the Last Detail: ALWAYS BEGINNING

Check out the foil on the cover of this book! Can't think of a better way to visually articulate the Big Bang, how pretty!

LTPB Top 15 Design Details: #1-#3

And here are the top 3 details posts from the site! 

3) Wee Unicorn by Meg McLaren (Charlesbridge, February 2025)

2) Rock by Laurel Croza and Matt James (Groundwood Books, March 2025)

1) HaiCuba/HaiKuba: Haikus about Cuba in Spanish and English by Lawrence Schimel, Carlos Pintado, and Juan José Colsa (Ediciones NorteSur, September 2024)

Next week we culminate the Top 15 series with illustrator interviews!

LTPB Top 15 Design Details: #4-#6

We're down to numbers 4-6 on the top details posts on this site!

6) The First Snow by Marie Stumpfova and Radek Maly (Albatros Media, August 2024)

5) When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson and London Ladd (Holiday House, May 2025)

4) Unnaturally Blue by Dorson Plourde and Byron Eggenschwiler (Kids Can Press, June 2025)

LTPB Top 15 Design Details: #7-#9

Today is numbers 7-9 of the top details posts on the site!

9) Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps by Sandra Nickel and Julie Paschkis (Peachtree Publishing, June 2025)

8) Lily the Pond Mermaid by Lucy Fleming (Candlewick Press, April 2025)

7) Safe Crossing by Kari Percival (Chronicle Books, January 2025)

LTPB Top 15 Design Details: #10-#12

We're continuing our countdown of the top 15 details posts on the site! Today we're showing off numbers 10-12.

12) When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lyn Ray and Felicita Sala (Chronicle Books, September 2024)

11) Future by María José Ferrada and Mariana Alcántara and translated by Kit Maude (Tapioca Stories, May 2024)

10) Alphabeasts: A Monstrously Fun Book by Hazel Quintanilla (Flowerpot Press, September 2023)

LTPB Top 15 Design Details: #13-#15

For those just tuning in, this month I'm celebrating 15 years of the blog with the 15 most viewed posts across the site. The first week of the month we took a look at the top 15 casewraps/undies, last week was the top 15 endpapers/endies, and this week we're looking at the top 15 details posts, like spot glosses, copyright pages, foil stamping, and more. Tune in all week long to take a look back over the years with me!

15) The Shadow and the Ghost by Cat Min (Levine Querido, April 2024)

14) Let's Go! by Julie Flett (Greystone Kids, May 2024)

13) Bao's Doll by Bo Lu (Abrams Books for Young Readers, June 2024)

Down to the Last Detail: MINH AND THE MAGIC GRAINS OF RICE

I'm so excited about this foil! It looks blue-purple at first, but as you move it around it turns into a rainbow foil!

Down to the Last Detail: LILY THE POND MERMAID

I mean . . . do I even need to say why I'm featuring the foil stamping of this book?!

Down to the Last Detail: WEE UNICORN

This book is a three-fer! We have spot gloss on the front PLUS a subtle, white sparkle treatment for the wee unicorn and book title, AND there's a cute barcode design on the back! Chef's kiss!!

Down to the Last Detail: THE FIRST SNOW

As it gets colder, my mind keeps going back to this gem from the summer and thinking about how far away being chilly felt when I received it! Not so far away any more...Such a beautiful foiling job on this book!

Down to the Last Detail: MY NAME IS A GIFT

This extra shiny magenta foil on the cover is so beautiful and so perfectly used! What a special way to make the book feel like a gift of its own.

Down to the Last Detail: WHEN I BECAME YOUR GRANDPA

I am just gaga over the foiling on this cover! Everything about it is perfect, from the intentional placement of each strand of wheat to the extra shiny gold the team chose!

Down to the Last Detail: ON A SUMMER NIGHT

I must share the gorgeous foil on the cover of this book, it's so evocative! You can practically feel the heat coming from the setting sun behind the child as the gold foil shimmers across the sunlit spaces in the doorway. Absolutely sublime!

Down to the Last Detail: SEA OF CONSTELLATIONS

Question: What's better than a picture book cover with foil stamping? Answer: A picture book cover like Sea of Constellations which has HOLOGRAPHIC foil stamping! The rainbow sparkles twinkle so delightfully as you move the book around, and the holographic/rainbow effect wonderfully captures the tone of the story.

Down to the Last Detail: IMPERFECTLY PERFECT

The way this gold foil shines as it cracks across the cover of this book is total chef's kiss emoji! And love that the foiled detail creeps its way onto the spine. Such an imperfectly perfect detail!

Down to the Last Detail: THE LITTLE TIGER

I just love this foil detail! It's so rare to see foil stamping within the pages of a book, but this special treatment is given to every title in Nicola Killen's sweet My Little Animal Friend picture book series (check out my interview with her about The Little Kitten here). Every book gets a different color, so it's fitting for an orange tiger to get blue foil (love that nod to complementary colors!).

Down to the Last Detail: WHAT'S INSIDE A CATERPILLAR COCOON?

Seriously loving the gorgeous gold foil stamping all over the cover of this book! The typeface of the title is a solid bold font so that the shine from the foil is quite the visual treat!

Down to the Last Detail: ALPHABEASTS

I'm just absolutely obsessed with the cover treatment on this book! Embossing? Check! Spot gloss?? Check!! Glitter foil??? Check!!!

Favorite Laser Cut Books

LASER CUT BOOKS

Some books have pages or portions of pages with intricately-cut shapes. The process of creating these decorative contours is called laser cutting, which is exactly what it sounds like: a precision laser vaporizes any material (in this case, paper) within the negative space of the image. These laser cuts are especially common in pop-up books and carousel books to provide an extra layer of depth to the images.

                        

click on a book cover to see more

Favorite Carousel Books

CAROUSEL BOOKS

Carousel books, sometimes called 360° books or 3D pop-up books, are a sub-category of pop-up books, but they're so distinct that they deserve their own list here on the site. Carousel books are bound like regular picture books, but the front and back covers are designed to touch so that the book opens all the way into a 360° circle (they usually have ribbons or magnets to connect the front and back covers).

              

click on a book cover to see more