Doodle 4 Google

While Makenzie Melton's drawing, which today graces the Google.com homepage, isn't as exciting as the Google version of Pac Man, it's message is more important. Melton, 9, of El Dorado Springs, Missouri, won Google's U.S. contest, "If I Could Do Anything, I Would …"

She writes, "I chose this doodle because the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals. I love everything except spiders and snakes, but I would still save them." Google received more than 33,000 student submissions from around the nation, picking Melton's, meaning she gets a $15,000 college scholarship, a netbook computer, and a $25,000 technology grant for a new computer lab at her school.

This year, a group of "Expert Jurors", well-known illustrators, cartoonists and animators helped narrow down the final 40 doodles and attended an in-person awards ceremony.