Eva Lou Phillips ’25 (Illustration), winner of MICA’s 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Competition, recently landed a two-book deal with Tundra Books. Her winning entry to the competition, Frogatha’s Birthday, will be the first book published, arriving in bookstores in spring of 2028. 

Frogatha’s Birthday is a story about a young frog girl who is anxious and afraid. She wants to fit in with the humans around her, but worries about the attention she will receive on her birthday. Phillips will release a second book in 2029.

The Ezra Jack Keats Competition is a partnership between the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and the MICA Illustration Department. MICA juniors, seniors, and graduate students are invited to create an original illustrated storybook. 

More about Eva Lou Phillips can be found on her website.