Here’s a fun thing I saw while perusing book covers: two 2021 children’s literature books featuring donuts on the cover. But these aren’t just donuts.

They’re donuts that do double duty.

Sarah Moon’s Middletown features a pink frosted donut that double as a road. How clever are the sprinkles that are also the lane dashes? Here’s the middle grade’s book description:

Thirteen-year-old Eli likes baggy clothes, baseball caps, and one girl in particular. Her seventeen-year-old sister Anna is more traditionally feminine; she loves boys and staying out late. They are sisters, and they are also the only family each can count on. Their dad has long been out of the picture, and their mom lives at the mercy of her next drink. When their mom lands herself in enforced rehab, Anna and Eli are left to fend for themselves. With no legal guardian to keep them out of foster care, they take matters into their own hands: Anna masquerades as Aunt Lisa, and together she and Eli hoard whatever money they can find. But their plans begin to unravel as quickly as they were made, and they are always way too close to getting caught.

Eli and Anna have each gotten used to telling lies as a means of survival, but as they navigate a world without their mother, they must learn how to accept help, and let other people in.

 

Here’s the other double duty donut cover:

The first book in a juvenile graphic novel series, Stephan Patis’s Squirrel Do Bad also features a pink frosted donut, but this sugary sweet also serves as the home for some interesting creatures. The description for the book which comes out August 31:

Wendy the Wanderer has lived in Trubble Town her whole life but never had the chance to go exploring. For this reason, she thinks she was definitely misnamed. Her dad likes to know where she is to make sure she’s safe, so she’s never been anywhere on her own. Then, her dad leaves on a trip and the babysitter doesn’t reinforce all the usual rules. Or any of the usual rules! Suddenly, Wendy is free to do what she wants, and what she wants is to live up to her name…and find Trubble.

Turns out, there’s lots going on in Trubble Town. As she encounters endearingly goofy animals and hilariously hapless townsfolk, Wendy’s very first adventure takes more twists and turns than she could have ever expected. She learns some really valuable life lessons and even teaches a few of her own.

 

I really enjoy these delightfully fun covers and also hope that there are more double-duty donut covers coming soon.