Tomie dePaola Contest

Once again I entered SCBWI's Tomie dePaola Contest. This year there were several changes from previous years. Because of the success of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, and other black and white illustrated books, Tomie set the criteria that the illustrations must be in black and white instead of color, and the text must be included on one side of the spread. Also, instead of giving us a specific text to illustrate, Tomie let us choose the text from one of three books, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I chose to illustrate a scene from Tom Sawyer.  The text is part of a scene where Tom and Becky are exploring a cave and got separated from the rest of the group. Tom realizes that they are in serious trouble and must conserve their candles. When Tom blows out the candle, Becky loses hope.

Don't miss seeing the other entries on the Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award page! You'll be amazed at all of the talented illustrators!

Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) is now over. Some days felt like I was in the middle of a desert with ideas as hard to come by as water. Other days felt like the heavens opened up and ideas rained down on me. The month of cycling between the drought and flood of ideas evened out and I ended up with 32 ideas, which successfully completed the challenge! Thirty-two ideas to work on until next November when I'll take the challenge again. I haven't gone through my list yet to see which ones have enough merit to work on but I have a year to work through the list along with any other ideas that come my way.

Congratulations to everyone who took the challenge whether you were able to come up with 30 ideas or not. To those who couldn't come up with the 30 ideas in the month, don't worry, there is always next year. The point is to open yourself up to the creative process. To put yourself in the position and develop habits to assist you in the process. Try again next year and it certainly will be easier!

Now down to my next challenge, completing the Tomie dePaola Contest illustration. Only 11 days left to finish the illustration. I'm almost there!