Tuesday, January 1, 2013

BEST OF 2012: Favorite Book Trailers

Happy New Year! New Year's Day is traditionally the time for looking forward, but first we are looking back on the year that is past. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting about our favorite books of 2012. But before I identify our Best Books of 2012, we thought it might be nice to whet your appetite a bit!

Here are our favorite Book Trailers of 2012... Don't they make you want to read the book?!

Honorable Mentions


The Case of the Deadly Deperados by Caroline Lawrence
The unabashedly cheesy sound effects and continued shooting effect won me over.



In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
Short, sweet, and visually appealing, with a touch of humor.



Team Human by Justine Larbalestier
Wonderfully silly satire, and the back-and-forth suits the book and keeps the pace moving.



The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
The accompanying song has definite earworm potential and Ana Juan's fabulous illustrations get animated. What's not to like?


The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
While I'm not a fan of the unreadable overlapping of colored text midway through, the rest of the trailer is delightfully fun and loopy. Definitely makes me want to read the book to see if it is equally amusing.




A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle; adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson
I love how this trailer pays tribute to L'Engle's classic and yet make it seem like a completely fresh story. The music, brief comments, and—most of all—the wonderful panels from the graphic novel itself are all that's needed.



The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
I haven't seen a bad trailer yet for a Maggie Stiefvater book. I love that she does her own animation and music. As I've said before: A very talented lady!




The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf
Gorgeous illustrations come to life, with an extra sense of wonder. Also, the it's superbly narrated.



The Diviners by Libba Bray
I love the innocent, silent movie treatment at the start—which serves to make what comes next all the more deliciously creepy.



52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody
Fun and funny. The cinematic treatment—surprisingly close to movie trailer quality—works well here.


The Top 5

#5

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
This trailer has a charming, free-spirited energy that I love. Rather than reiterating plot, it captures the tone and relationships of the book visually. For some reason, I just can't stop watching it. It just makes me happy :)


#4

Beautiful Creatures Novels by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
This is actually a trailer for the entire saga, leading up to Beautiful Redemption (2012), which I think is brilliant. Even more brilliant: the trailer brings life to the eerie "Sixteen Moons" song that is revised throughout the series and shows artistic representations of key scenes and images from across the series. It's creepy, romantic, and irresistibly mysterious. My one quibble is the image immediately before the "Beautiful Darkness" title. I think it's supposed to be Ridley with one of her lollipops, but it looks more like an olive on a stick...


#3

Breasts: A Natural and Unnantural History by Florence Williams
The book is a mix of serious scientific observation interspersed with amusing humor and anecdotes, and this trailer is the perfect compliment: funny and  irreverent, but with some factual and intriguing scientific data mixed in. Plus, I love the candid interviews and clever imagery. And though it's more than a little silly, I can't help but admire the cleverness of the boob-inspired rewrite of "99 Luftballons."


#2

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Clever, sly, and suspenseful, with plenty of ironic humor. Love it!



#1

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Such a simple idea, superbly executed. The music adds a magisterial quality to the artwork that kept me mesmerized from page to page.


So, those are our favorites from 2012. If you want more great Book Trailers, please check out our Book Trailers and Other Videos board on Pinterest!

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