24 April 2009

Unnecessary Sequel First Place Winner: Harry and the Can of Purple Spray Paint

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for... First place in Saints and Spinners' Unnecessary Children's Book Sequels That Never Were Contest goes to Kate Coombs with her unnecessary sequel to Crockett Johnson's masterpiece, Harold and the Purple Crayon:
Harry and the Can of Purple Spray Paint: Whatever you do, don't call him Harold. He's a big boy now, and he wields a mean can of spray paint! Follow Harry up and down dirty alleys and streets, also beneath overpasses, in this touching sequel. Remember: when you see that magical purple tag, an H with a skull-handled dagger slashing through it, you know Harry's been there and left his mark. -Kate Coombs


So there you have it! Congratulations, Kate!

And a big thanks to everyone who submitted their awesome suggestions... and thank you Melangell and Phil for judging and of course, thank you Farida for thinking up and organizing the contest!

11 comments:

Saints and Spinners said...

And thank you, Minh, for creating all these covers! You went way beyond the call, and I admire you for it.

tanita✿davis said...

I LOVE the innocent expression on H-dawg's face as he tags... it gives him just that same special joy as the crayon did...

AAS said...

haha. love it! Harold & the purple crayon was my favorite children's story back in the day, and is the only appropriate book to sit on the bottom shelf of my bookshelf...

Minh said...

I just realized that Kate's submission was "the Can of Purple Spray Paint", not the "Purple Can of Spray Paint" like I have in the picture... that was not an editorial decision on my part, it was just a goof up! Sorry, Kate, I'll fix it when i get home.

Farida: go team!

Tanita: thanks! I toyed with the idea of a more devious harry, but decided against it... looks like it was the right decision!

Alexandra: i had to really control myself not to give Harold a handlebar moustache or an afro like on our old photoshop wall of shame...

Tricia said...

This has been too much fun. Thanks to you both for dreaming this up. I've enjoyed it tremendously! There are so many creative (and twisted) people out there!

Kate Coombs said...

Wow, it looks GREAT! I especially like the incorporation of the author on a poster on the wall. I did notice the migration of "purple"--I figured it was meant to match the cadence of the original title more closely. Of course, I was in uptight English teacher mode when I put "purple" just before spray paint! Anyway, thanks to you and Farida for a very fun contest and some fantastic new cover art. The Taking Tree is well done, as well, but I'm particularly partial to the kitten-and-meteor-of-death thing best.

Kate Coombs said...

WHY do I keep writing these things at 6:00 in the morning? Please mentally correct my poorly edited comment, deleting "best" and ignoring or fixing the "well" repeat (author pet peeve)!

BookChook said...

Congratulations to Kate, Minh, and Farida!

Kate Coombs said...

Minh, I finally got organized and wrote a post thanking the Academy, also linking all this to my site and showing off my butterfly herder. (You SURE you don't have time to do a book jacket of Owl Rabies or The Steadfast Tin Soldier: Judgment Day?) Anyway, you should go pro with this stuff!

Minh said...

Kate, i'm glad you caught the poster of Crockett Johnson... did you also catch Harry's old friends, the moose and the porcupine?

and thanks for entering and congrats on winning! I'm glad people had fun!

p.s. if you have any tips on going pro, i'm all ears!

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