Judging Book by Its Cover: The Red Pony (John Steinbeck)

Judging Book by Its Cover is a blog feature where I analyze book cover art, compare it with its content, as well as with covers from few other editions.

Book summary:
Young Jody Tiflin lives on his father's California ranch. He is thrilled when his father gives him a red pony, and later promises him the colt of a bay mare. Both these gifts bring joy to Jody's life--but tragedy soon follows. As Jody begins to learn the harsh lessons of life and death, he starts to understand what growing up and becoming an adult really means. - Goodreads

My own review

My copy is a 1992 Penguin Books edition

I love the barefooted little boy and the pony in this cover art, it truly represents Jody and his love of his red pony. I also love the pale minty-green and brownish-yellow streaks on the horizon, as if indicating how Jody wakes up very early every morning to be with and take care of his pony. A very nice cover art, and very true to the story!


Now, let's pick three more cover arts from different editions.

Penguin Classics, 1994

A red pony grazing in the field on a warm sunny day is a perfect cover art for a book titled The Red Pony. But it's all really about the boy who owns the pony, not the pony; the red pony only appears in a quarter of the book. So, I feel something’s missing in this cover art. And does red ponies usually that red? I've always imagined they are more of earthen clay red than blood red.

Penguin Books, 1993

Another of the horse-only cover art. But in this one, the horse is less dominant. It's just a little shadowy thing perched on a cliff on a full moon that makes everything looks red. I won't even know it's a horse if not clearly hinted on the title - I would've thought it a wolf! A nice art perhaps, but not giving the book the credit it deserves.

Penguin, 2017

The last one is another boy-pony dynamic, but on a more modern style of a cover art. I love this one too; the bottle-green background, the font, the boy's overall, and the pony's head tilting beneath the boy's caress.

My favorites are definitely the two of the boy-pony covers, but it's hard to pick one. Both are gorgeous cover arts, but maybe the modern one features a little too-matured-image of Jody? The one of my own copy (the first one) seems to be more appropriate. And I always love a few brushes of pastel colors in cover arts, so I pick that one as a winner!

What do you think? If you have read the book, which cover art do you think truly represents the story? And if you haven't, which one appeal to you most?


P.S. How come that all those gorgeous editions are of Penguin group? Haven't other publishers published this book? Or have they become rare?