Hello all you stingers and wingers out there! I’m Merrill Rainey, the co-creator and illustrator of ON THE AIR WITH DR. DOODLEBUG. Author Susan Goodman and I are so excited to finally be able to share the cover for this book that is set to release this coming October.
As you can imagine, the art of creating a well-crafted book cover doesn’t always come easily. It takes a lot of work to figure out all the things you need include visually to attract your potential readers. I always consider a book cover to be like a mini billboard advertisement. Billboards are designed to grab the viewers’ attention from a distance and tell them what you want them to know or what you want them to do in just a very short amount of time. Think about the last time you walked into any bookstore and how you were greeted by all of the mini billboards facing you on the bookshelves. These mini advertisements were all vying for your attention in the hopes that they would attract your eye and entice you to pick them up and find out what their story is all about.
But how does one go about creating a book cover that will stand out among the rest? Like a billboard, book covers have to be able to tell the story of the book in just a glance of an eye. Typically, what most eyes don’t see are all of the thoughts, ideas, and decisions that we illustrators and designers have to make in order for the covers to draw in the attention of our readers. We do this by giving visual clues that our readers can pick up on very quickly.
Here is a little insight on how I approached bringing the cover for ON THE AIR WITH DR. DOODLEBUG to life.
My process for creating book covers always starts with various doodles. These doodles are also known as thumbnail sketches. Thumbnail sketches help artists quickly work through things like title placements and artwork compositions. I tend to call this my chicken scratch stage where I just scribble down all of my ideas as swiftly as possible. Once I have all of my ideas down on paper, I then look through what I have. I sift through my sketches and start to make decisions on what is working well and what is not. Then, I start to rework them until I get to the point that I feel comfortable sharing ideas with my editorial team.
From there, my editorial team and I will work together to perfect every element of the cover from the title treatment, to the color palette, to the book’s size and shape, until we feel that the cover is ready to tell a story. When bringing any good cover to life, every decision is made with the purpose of helping to show the book’s story in mind.
Below you’ll see just some of the many cover iterations we went through before we landed on the final cover decision.
Now that you know there is deeper thought and purpose to cover illustrations, take a look at the cover for ON THE AIR WITH DR. DOODLEBUG. Can you see any visual clues that tell you what the book’s story is about?
Some fun facts about ON THE AIR WITH DR. DOODLEBUG:
Before we decided on a radio show theme, Dr. Doodlebug was pitched as a flea that would travel the world by hitching rides on various animals. He also had a cat for a sidekick!
Below are some of the other Dr. Doodlebug character sketches that were developed. From a ladybug, to a scooter loving diva, to a mad scientist.
3. Dr. Doodlebug wasn’t always the expert doodler that he is now. The idea of Dr. D. drawing out each of his buggy responses didn’t come until much later in the development of this book.
4. Why a talk radio show you might ask? Well, I love listening to talk radio and radio shows… I love to hear listeners call in and ask for advice. So, after reading all of Susan’s bug based “Dear Sally” letters to Dr. Doodlebug, I knew exactly how we were going to pull this story together
Gotta Fly!
—Merrill
ON THE AIR WITH DR. DOODLEBUG
From award-winning creators Susan E. Goodman and Merrill Rainey comes something really fun: a radio show in a book! Meet our bug expert: Dr. Doodlebug. Dr. D hosts a radio talk show called “On The Air With Dr. Doodlebug”, where he answers the burning questions bugs have. Why does a caterpillar get SOOO hungry before . . . changing? How can lightning bugs use less electricity? With terrific repartee and fabulous illustrations, this comic book-style story will enchant bug enthusiasts, their adults, and educators alike. Bring all your questions. Dr. Doodlebug’s got the answers!
Coming from Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers on October 21, 2025.