O H M Y G O O D N E S S
(Sorry! I can't help jumping up and down!)
Do you know what time it is???
It's time to announce the finalists for
The First Ever Pretty-Much-World-Famous Illustration Contest!!!
 |
But first I have to say that I was thrilled with what a great turn out we got for a first-ever contest! I was hoping we'd get 10, and really hoping we'd get 20, so how completely wonderful that we got 35 entries!!!
And they were all so beautiful and creative and well done!
There were 8 fabulous stories for the illustrators to choose from - stories that won the March Madness Writing Contest last month. Happily, every single story inspired at least 2 illustrators, so all the stories were represented. The entries broke down as follows:
1. The Three Wiggly Worms Bluff by Wendy Greenley - 6 illustrations
2. Goldilockup by Mike Allegra - 5 illustrations
3. Goldibawks And The Three Pairs by Dawn Young - 2 illustrations
4. The Sweetie Witch by Pen Avey - 4 illustrations
5. The Princess And The Stinky Cheese by Lauri Meyers - 9 illustrations
6. Mongoose's Holi Party by Darshana Khiani - 2 illustrations
7. The "Princess" And The Pete by Jennifer Caritas - 3 illustrations
8. The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster by Elliah Terry - 4 illustrations
So a very nice spread!
And now, a few words from our illustrious judges, award-winning author/illustrators Iza Trapani and Lisa Thiesing:
Iza said, "Thank you everyone for the wonderful entries! Lisa and I enjoyed them and regret that we could only pick 6 finalists. You all did a great job. Keep up the good work!"
Lisa said, "We were so impressed with everyone's enthusiasm and how much effort you all put in!"
I say, many thanks to our wonderful judges for donating their time and expertise to pore over all these entries, carefully weighing the merits of each until they could reach a consensus as to which ones should qualify for the finals. Many thanks as well to all the very talented illustrators who took the time and care to produce such beautiful book covers for these original stories! We have enjoyed your work so much, and it's been different and fun to experience a competition for illustration instead of writing!
Please consider each of the following finalists carefully and vote for the one you think you'd be most likely to pluck off a bookshelf :) Remember that the contest rules specifically asked for art only. Some artists chose to include the title/author/illustrator anyway, but covers which do not show title/author/illustrator should not be penalized in your judgment.
Although there's no real way to keep these anonymous, I will show the pictures only, no artist names for now (they will all be shown when I announce the winners on Monday May 5.) I encourage you to share this post with your tribe - the more views these talented illustrators get the better - but I ask that you please not try to influence the vote by saying "Vote for #3!" or whatever. Let's let these gorgeous book covers speak for themselves. It's not supposed to be a contest about who has the most FB friends or whatnot. Thank you all for playing fair. Because many of the finalists are for the same stories, I have identified them with little notes in parentheses to help you remember which is which on the voting poll.
And now, without further ado, I am pleased to present the finalists! Each cover is accompanied by a few words from the judges :)
#1. Cover for The "Princess" And The Pete
 |
| Cover image for The "Princess" And The Pete |
 |
| Cover image for Goldilockup |
Judges comments: The girl is sweet and nicely drawn. The details and design elements were carefully thought out.
#3 Cover image for Goldilockup (black border)
 |
| Cover image for Goldilockup |
#4. Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster (black background)
 |
| Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster |
Judges comments: The character is funny, quirky, interesting and we wonder what he's thinking. We would want to read this book. The whole design is great.
#5. Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster (3 beds)
 |
| Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster |
#6. Cover image for Goldilockup (bears pointing thru bars)
Judges comments: We thought this cover was a good drawing with a nice composition and colors. We could see it standing out on the Barnes & Noble book wall.
Ready, set, VOTE!
Please vote for your favorite by Sunday May 4 at 5PM EDT!
Boy oh boy is it going to be hard to wait until Monday to find out how these finalists finish up!
Have a great weekend, everyone! :)
