About a month ago, I shared the not-so-secret case cover art for YOU ARE NOT A CAT which is due out this fall. The image (seen above) will appear under the jacket (seen below), and in some situations—perish the thought—might go completely unnoticed. One can excuse readers for not looking under jackets because for years…decades really…many of us who love, read, and make picture books were under the assumption that the art of the case of a book always matched that of the jacket. As a picture book designer, I was told it cost more, and there wasn't enough money in the production budget for a separate image. But thankfully, that is no longer *ahem* the case.

So, if picture books and sneak peeks at cool stuff are your thing, you might want to check out Carter Higgins' blog Design of the Picture Book where she and Travis Jonker (a.k.a. 100 Scope Notes) have launched “The Undies Case Cover Awards” to celebrate the sometimes overlooked but always meaningful art of the case. There’s a really great gallery of books that have been submitted thus far, and if you’d like to nominate one that you know of, there’s information about that too.

Thanks Carter and Travis for drawing attention to our undies!