![\"Think](\"http:\/\/www.allendowney.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screenshot-30.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd that reminds me to answer a question I get a lot: do you get to choose the animal on the cover? \u00a0The short answer is no. \u00a0When I worked on my first O’Reilly book (Think Complexity<\/em>), there was a page for O’Reilly authors that laid down the law: cover designers choose the animals, not authors. \u00a0That page seems to be gone, and maybe the rules have relaxed, because I (sort of) got to choose the animal for Think Python<\/em>.<\/p>\n The first draft I saw had a python\u00a0on the cover, but I explained to my editor\u00a0that Python is named after Monty Python, not the snake, so putting a python on the cover is like telling the world that you are not in on the joke. \u00a0She asked if there were any appropriately Pythonic animals, so I suggested either a vorpal bunny\u00a0or a dead parrot.<\/p>\n They were not willing to put a dead animal on the cover, but they suggested a parrot, and I happily agreed. \u00a0I did not realize until much later that the designers had the last laugh: my cover animal is a Carolina parrot, which is extinct. \u00a0In other words, “This parrot is no more! \u00a0THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!”.<\/p>\n The second edition will be published in December, but the early release is available now<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The second edition of Think Python is in production now, and I just got the final draft of the cover: And that reminds me to answer a question I get a lot: do you get to choose the animal on the cover? \u00a0The short answer is no. \u00a0When I worked on my first O’Reilly book … <\/p>\n