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This photo was shot at the Social Media Institute hosted two weeks ago at National Louis University in partnership with the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books and SCBWI.  It shows me sitting between the illustrious Mike Lewis (he of the oddly fuzzy tie) and the incomparable Colby Sharp.

So the question before you is this: What am I thinking?

It’s a caption contest, folks.  Go!

by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

Next year—2014—is going to be a hectic year for me. In January, I’ve got a new book called DUCK DUCK MOOSE releasing, illustrated by the fabulous Noah Z. Jones and published by Hyperion. But that isn’t it for the year! No, I’ve actually got THREE more picture books and a couple novels in the pipeline. It’s going to be quite a year!

I can’t share all the upcoming books with you, but I am thrilled to be able to do this:

A DOUBLE COVER REVEAL!

That’s right, folks, not just one gorgeous cover, but TWO!

ORANGUTANGLED:
Two orangutans reach for some mangoes, fall, and land in a gooey, gummy mess. Other animals join the fray until there’s a big ball of mango-juice-covered animals rolling down a long hill to the ocean—will they be okay? Or will they make a gooey-gummy tiger treat?
Illustrated by Aaron Zenz

SNORING BEAUTY:
Tucked in his little bed inside the castle walls, Mouse is eager to get a good night’s sleep before his wedding tomorrow. But just as he begins to drift off, he’s awoken by a tremendous roar. SNOOOOGA-SNOOOOOM! KER-SCHUPPP! Sleeping Beauty is snoring . . . again! When the handsome Prince Max arrives, Mouse thinks he’s found the perfect scheme: He’ll convince the prince to kiss Beauty and wake her up! But when Prince Max learns that Beauty is the one making such monstrous noises, will he still want to kiss her . . . or will he run away from the noisy princess, leaving her snoring for another hundred years?
Illustrated by Jane Manning

Now, these covers are in no way alike at all. BUT…what strikes me about both of them is that they are screaming to be captioned!

What are those tangled Orangutans saying?

What is the Princess thinking as the prince gets closer? Like this:

CAPTION CONTEST!

IN HONOR OF THE DOUBLE REVEAL, I’m happy to announce a new giveaway. Here’s what you have to do—just write a caption for one of these covers and put it into a comment below. We’ll keep it open for 7 days and then I will pick my favorite one. The winner will receive a signed book of his or her choice as soon as the books become available!

Good luck, and I’m looking forward to reading your captions!

The time has come to announce our Caption Contest Winner!  Contestants were asked to provide a caption to this picture…

It was a tough decision so let’s go through the finalists:

Jamie Rouse was our first entry and possibly the most artistic.  Jamie’s caption offers the reader several insights into the photo, most importantly the psychological state of the cat:

Black cat nine lives

Short days long nights

Livin on the edge

Not afraid to die

(Lyrics from Janet Jackson’s Black Cat)

Bryan Osborne’s was perhaps the cleverest turn of phrase and also offered a plausible back story:

I said that I wanted your “Cat food” not your “CATFU!”

Our second song reference, Dee Bell gets points for creating a Pun that is actually funny:

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, those CATS were fast as lightning…

W.B.’s caption is a shout out to the LOLCATS and scores for simplicity:

Aggressive Cat be…Aggressive.

And the winner is:

Bryan Osborne!  Congrats Bryan, you will be contacted in one of two ways: either a Publisher’s Clearinghouse style Prize Patrol or by email…  prepare yourself.

Thanks to all our entries and stay tuned for the next contest!

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