Pan Macmillan Storybook - Previous Winners of the Pan Macmillan Compeitition

'The Truth About Old People' by Ellina Ellis

Her winning entry was called ‘The Truth About Old People’. Waterstones bookseller and judge Leilah Skelton said of Elina’s entry: "What I loved about the winning submission was the energy and fun throughout, the assured use of line, and the brilliant message beneath the humour about challenging stereotypes."

This suggests that the judges are looking for energy and fun, they want a fresh take on storybook style. The illustrator has made sure the piece's layout has high variation and she has been unafraid of negative space. Something we found particularly interesting was that the background is in black and white whilst only the characters are in colour. This makes them vibrant and interesting on the page, really grasping the characterisation the judges are looking for. We are particularly interested in making the characters in our composition the focus and we can potentially do this by adding spikes of colour in their clothes.

'Hide and Seek' by Grace Suen

Chair of Judges, Picture Books Art Director at Macmillan Children’s Books, Chris Inns, says: “You can’t fail to be moved by Grace's work as it’s so uniquely atmospheric. She’s not only technically skilled, but her illustrations are saturated with meaning and layers of story. She knows how to manipulate her audience and we were all intrigued, unsettled and enthralled. Each image draws you in and keeps a firm grip on you, long after you’ve walked away.” 

This indicates that the piece needs to have layers of meaning through illustrative techniques, similar to Laura Carlin's ideas. The technical side is only one aspect and really the design needs to echo something greater and more meaningful - almost like a fable for the child reading it.'Intrigued, unsettled and enthralled' really indicates to me that the story could have a darker side, its so important children shouldn't be patronised as an audience.

Oliver and the Dinobird by Harriet Lynas 
Lengths by Lucy Grainge

These pieces again show incredible artistic foresight and style. I particularly think Lengths is relevant to our work as it shows a collaged handmade approach, with clean contemporary execution. Its important that although we are using collage for the design, it still maintains precision and clarity.