Goodnight Mister Tom

Here is my submission for this years Penguin book cover competition. I chose the children's book 'Goodnight Mister Tom', which tells the story of the relationship of a man and a boy, each with their own struggles, during the war. The brief asked to make this book stand out on a busy shelf, as well as on an online setting. I noticed that the original covers often saw a young boy, an elderly man and a dog, accompanied by war planes in the background. I wanted to ensure this book appealed to a young audience of today, despite it being such an old story, which allowed me to play with colour and show a new take to the story. I explored the theme of planes in a way that appeals to children through paper airplanes in a dot-to-dot formation. Not only does this link to the book being set in the war, but it picks up on the narrative in the story in which the young boy is interested in art and painting. I was also able to explore the narrative of the young boy not being able to read or write. This gave me the idea to use hand writing guides that are often used in school to help children learn to form letters correctly, which also gave the cover a childlike feel.