SCBWI

Tomie dePaola is one of my all-time faves, as both a writher and illustrator.

So imagine my joy when I saw that his annual Illustrator Award for the SCBWI members was looking for black and white work.

The challenge is to pick a bit from one of three classic books. I choose Tom Sawyer, a great book... full of kids behaving badly, or perhaps just naturally.

This is Tom during his prolonged absence from ordinary life. I kind of see him as (a) confused by the words on the facing page - he plays hooky a lot (b) perplexed by the mystery sound in the text and (c) beginning to feel the metaphorical deepness of life, which Twain represents as the Mississippi River.