O H M Y G O O D N E S S !!!
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!!!
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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
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| Cover image for The “Princess” And The Pete |
Judges comments: This is a cool image and the illustrator has left plenty of space for a great type design.
# 2. Cover image for Goldilockup (green border)
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| 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)
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| Cover image for Goldilockup |
Judges comments: This illustration is very well done. It is a humorous, strong, eye-catching image. It would be very appealing to a lot of young readers.
#4. Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster (black background)
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| 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)
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| Cover image for The Jackrabbit Who Cried Gila Monster |
Judges comments: The bunny is cute, with an especially nice face. The picture makes us curious about the story.
#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! 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Congratulations to all the finalists, very hard choosing from such a wonderful list!
congratulations finalists 🙂
There were so many wonderful entries! Congratulations finalists! Every illustration up there is beautifully done.
I voted, but it was hard! So many great choices! Good luck to the finalists! 😀
What a great set of finalists! I'm glad you broke down the numbers because I lost count I which story seemed to pop up the most. I've known my fav from the get go and am glad the judges agreed with me and including it in the final set. 🙂
There are terrific! Congratulations finalists!
Three Cheers to the finalist! Each illustration is very well done, so well done that if I were looking for an illustrator at this moment, I'd consider myself in heaven due to the talent that's been displayed during this fantastic contest. Although I had to cast my vote for one choice, I'd consider all of these finalists winners 🙂
Wow, so much talent! Congrats to all the finalists. It was tough, but I voted.
Again, congrats to the finalists and to all the artists for your wonderful works!
Wow, congratulations to all of you. What wonderful covers!
It was so hard to choose! Everyone is so talented!!!
Great Illustrations, it was so hard to decide! This just goes to show that an illustrators ideas can bring a lot to the table for a story–just look at the differences in illustrations made from the same story! Thanks for having this contest Susanna, how great to give illustrators a chance!
Hooray! My two favorites made it into the finals. Boo-hoo! Now I have to choose just one. Thanks to Susanna and the judges. And congratulations to all the participants, especially the top six. Wonderful contest!
Fabulous. well done finalists. What a hard job the judges had, glad it wasn't me deciding. 🙂 I voted and put the call out for others to come see the art. 🙂
Voted (of course)!
And this, my dear Susanna, has been the coolest contest ever. It deserves to be pretty much world famous.
Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to pick just one?! These are ALL brilliant.
lol, Arlene!
Thank you, Susanna, Iza and Lisa – your time, effort and care are what motivates us all to put our hearts into it! Another successful growth spurt for me that happened because of your support! Forever grateful!
Oh how wonderful! These are excellent finalists! Congrats, everyone! I'm so happy for all of you, you've each made excellent illistrations! I know I would have picked these entries for finalists! Now, how to choose which one to vote for…. Uh! So difficult! ^.^ congratulations again, all! And same to those who did not reach finals– you got yourself out there! I know I've learned a lot. 🙂
These are all so great. It's going to be hard to vote. Congrats to everyone who participated!
Wowser! Way to go illustrators – these are terrific!
They are awesome. It was difficult to vote for just one! Thank you Susanna, Iza and Lisa.
All great, but I confess I did have a favorite this time. I reckon Michael Garland is a lucky man seeing the winner's portfolio!
Thanks for hosting this contest Susanna! They are all brilliant!
Congrats to all the finalists! They are ALL so great, it's a difficult decision to pick just one. Thank you, Susanna, for all the FUN!
What a tough choice! They are all very good.
Thanks to Susanna, Iza and Lisa…wonderful choices…each of these would be at home on any bookstore display!!!
It's going to be difficult to pick just one…but I will because those are the rules. 🙂
What an awesome contest, Susanna…maybe I will give it a try next year.
It was terribly difficult to decide on a favorite. They're all fantastic!
Super congrats to the finalists and to all who entered. I learned so much from everyone's entries as well as being inspired. I appreciated this opportunity soooo much and had such fun. I love these finalists' illustrations – they are full of personality and make you want to read the story. Thanks Iza and Lisa for your time. And Susanna, thank You for making this community a family of support and encouragement – and FUN!
Oh wow, that was tough! I did have a favorite too, but really all of them are really good and I could see all of them standing out at the Barnes & Noble book wall. Though I haven't had time to enter this competition I have really enjoyed seeing all the entries.
Thanks for voting, Teresa! I'm glad your favorite was among the choices 🙂
I reckon he is 🙂 And the winner will be lucky to have him critique!
Thank you for voting, Stacy 🙂 It sure is a difficult choice!
Aren't they amazing? I really feel that any one of them could be on the shelf at B&N!
And congrats to the writers of the wonderful stories that inspired these amazing illustrations! 🙂
So true, Ellen! It's hard to pick form the final 6, but it was very hard to narrow down to 6. The entries were all amazing, yours included! 🙂
Impressive! I voted, but it wasn't easy.
Congratulations to all the finalists. All entries are fantastic. Tough to choose for voting.
Well we sure were partial to your effort, Julie! 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed the contest!
I know! Seriously! It's totally unfair 🙂
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Cheryl! And Ellen's illustrations were really superb. She should be pleased and proud 🙂
Have some chocolate. It will help 🙂
Hahaha! 🙂 You may be right! I love the top 6, but I loved yours too 🙂
Thank you, Mike, I'm glad you think so! I'd say the fact that 3 of the final 6 belonged to your story proves that it's an inspiring idea!
Thank you for voting and sharing, Cecilia, and for your wonderful entry. I'm glad I wasn't a judge this time – I never could have chosen!
I'm glad you enjoyed the contest, Joanne! I certainly enjoyed your entry! Thanks so much for voting – I know it was tough! 🙂
It was my pleasure, Kimberly! I think we all got to learn something about how an illustrator's vision can influence the story – very interesting!
They're amazing, aren't they Sylvia? If we do this again, I hope you'll have time to enter. Hope your mentor thingy went well!
They're all amazing, aren't they, Ruth? Thanks so much for voting!
I completely agree, Angela! And I think we all know where to go the next time we need a book cover designed 🙂