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A
Note to Members of the Media and Web Site Developers
We.invite
you to sign up for our media email list. Our email list is confidential
and not shared with any other sources. We send out only three press
releases per year. One release announces the opening of nominations
for the new year's program--and the other two announce the winners (one
in the fall immediately after the judge's decisions are released to the
press, and a follow-up release in the spring which re-caps the winners).
To get on the mailing list, send an email to NOBA Chair Ron Watters at
wattron@isu.edu.
2000 National
Outdoor Book Award Winners
Contact: Ron Watters (wattron@isu.edu)
(208) 232-6857
NOTE: Cover scans of
all books mention below are available for download.
See also the announcement
of the winners & reviews on our website
To download the following release
(in Microsoft Word format), click here: NOBA00.doc
The following release consists
of three sections:
General
Release | Quick Summary of Winners | Complete
Reviews of Winners
2000 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD WINNERS
ANNOUNCED
Kristin Hostetter is a judge with an outdoor bent. A outdoor
book judge that is. And when it came to judging the Children's Category
in the National Outdoor Book Awards, she went right to the source:
children.
Kristin, from Seattle and an editor with Backpacker Magazine,
tried out the books at her son's day care center, judging their reactions
as the books were read. Most of the other judges in the contest did
much the same: reading the books to their children or grandchildren.
And so who won the children's category? Kristin and her
fellow judges gave top honors to two books.
The first is Ann Dixon's Blueberry Shoe, a sweet and tender
tale about a baby's shoe which is lost while a family is picking blueberries.
Filled with colorful and enchanting illustrations and marvelously written,
it's a book that will delight children and reassure their sense of belonging
to the natural world.
The other winner is Jellies: The Life of Jellyfish.
Full of color photographs and written by Twig C. George, the book helps
make science appeal to the minds and hearts of children.
Blueberry and Jellies are two of twelve books which were honored
at a special evening ceremony of the International Conference on Outdoor
Recreation and Education. This year's conference was held at Miami
University in Oxford, Ohio on November 9. NOBA is the largest and
most prestigious national award program for authors and publishers of outdoor
books. It is sponsored by the Association of Outdoor Recreation and
Education and Idaho State University.
Other 2000 winners include The Wildest Dream: The Biography
of George Mallory by Peter and Leni Gillman. Lots of books have
been written about the legendary Mallory who disappeared in the mists of
Everest in 1924, but no book has captured Mallory's character as well as
this one has.
The winner of the Literature Category is Celtic Tides by
Chris Duff. The book is a vivid and moving account of the first ever
circumnavigation of Ireland by sea kayak.
Two books won the Nature and Environment category. One by
Terry Grosz is Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game
Warden, an absorbing story of one man's 30-year struggle to protect
wildlife in America.
The other is Penguin Planet by Kevin Schafer. It
is a beautifully written and photographed book of some of the most endearing
creatures in all of nature.
Taking the top award in the Design and Artistic Merit is Bradford
Washburn Mountain Photography. This large format book with exquisitely
reproduced black and white photographs, represents the life-work of the
famous explorer, scientist and cartographer Bradford Washburn.
The winner of the instructional category is The National Outdoor
Leadership School's Wilderness Guide. By Mark Harvey, this is
a backpacker's handbook filled with practical and well-tempered advice
about equipment, planning, clothing, traveling, navigation, and safety.
Guide to Marine Mammals & Turtles was the judge's favorite
for the Nature Guidebook Category. Extraordinarily well done and
easy-to-use, it's the guide of choice for identifying marine animals while
traveling the coastal waters of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
Winner of the Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category is Guide
to Sea Kayaking Central and Northern California. The book is
so well written that even non-paddlers will enjoy reading it.
Honorable mention in the Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category
went to Montana and Idaho's Continental Divide Trail, a guidebook
filled with full-color photos, great graphics, and eminently usable maps
for hikers and mountain bikers.
The Outdoor Classic Award was won by Aldo Leopold's Sand County
Almanac. This was a no-brainer for the judges: Sand County
Almanac is simply one of the great works of nature literature.
Leopold's book was first published over 50 years ago, but his words and
insights are as fresh as ever.
Complete reviews of all of the books are found on the National
Outdoor Book Awards website: www.isu.edu/outdoor/bookpol.htm
A summary of the winners along with full titles
and publishers follows:
Children's Category. Blueberry Shoe. By Ann
Dixon. Linocut Illustrations by Evon Zerbetz. Published by
Alaska Northwest Books, Portland.
Children's Category (2nd Winner). Jellies: The Life of
Jellyfish. By Twig C. George. Published by Millbrook Press,
Brookfield, Connecticut.
History Biography Category. The Wildest Dream: The Biography
of George Mallory. By Peter and Leni Gillman. Published
by The Mountaineers, Seattle.
Literature Category. On Celtic Tides: One Man's
Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak. By Chris Duff. published
by St. Martins Press, New York.
Nature and the Environment Category. Wildlife Wars: The
Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden. By Terry Grosz.
Published by Johnson Books, Boulder.
Nature and the Environment Category (2nd winner). Penquin Planet:
Their World, Our World. By Kevin Schafer. Published
by North Word Press, Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Design and Artistic Merit Category. Bradford Washburn:
Mountain Photography. Photographs by Bradford Washburn.
Edited and Compiled by Antony Decaneas. Published by The Mountaineers,
Seattle.
Instructional Category. The National Outdoor Leadership
School's Wilderness Guide. By Mark Harvey. Published by
Simon & Schuster, New York.
Nature Guidebook Category. Guide to Marine Mammals &
Turtles of the U.S. Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico. By Kate Wynne
and Malia Schwatz. Illustrated by Garth Mix. Published by Rhode
Island Sea Grant / University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Adventure Guidebook Category. Guide to Sea Kayaking Central
and Northern California. By Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner.
Published by Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut.
Adventure Guidebook Honorable Mention. Montana and Idaho's
Continental Divide Trail. By Lynna Howard. Photography
by Leland Howard. Published by Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood,
Colorado.
Outdoor Classic Award. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches
Here and There. By Aldo Leopold. Published by Oxford University
Press, New York.
Full reviews of each book follows:
Children's Book Category. First Winner: Blueberry Shoe
By Ann Dixon. Illustrations by Evon Zerbetz. Published by Alaska Northwest
Books
This sweet and tender tale is about a baby's shoe which is
lost while a family is picking blueberries. A wondrous scene unfolds
as a sequence of creatures come along and sleep and play with the shoe.
One, a bear, even thinks he might eat the shoe. Filled with colorful and
enchanting illustrations and marvelously written, it's a book that will
delight children and reassure their sense of belonging to the natural world.
(For ages 4-8).
Children's Book Category. Second Winner: Jellies: The Life
of Jellyfish
By Twig C. George. Published by the Millbrook Press
Beautifully photographed, Jellies is an extraordinary
book which manages to make science appeal to the minds and hearts of children.
It's rich in facts about this fascinating creature of the sea, but even
richer in imagination and the joy of discovery. (For ages 8-10)
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner: Bradford Washburn: Mountain Photography
Photography by Bradford Washburn. Edited and Compiled by Antony Decaneas.
Published by the Mountaineers
Traveling the world for eight decades, mountaineer, explorer,
scientist and cartographer Bradford Washburn has documented the world's
landscapes like no other. This is his life's work as seen through his own
camera: one hundred large format mountain photographs, all exquisitely
reproduced. The book includes a short interview with Washburn, but
it is the photos which speak volumes about him and his artistic genius.
History/Biography Category. Winner: The Wildest Dream: The
Biography of George Mallory
By Peter and Leni Gillman. Published by The Mountaineers
Biographies don't get any better than this. Supremely
well researched and documented, erudite, and masterfully written, this
book isn't so much about what happened to Mallory in 1924 when he and his
climbing partner Irvine disappeared in the mists of Mt. Everest, but rather
it seeks the answer to another, almost more fascinating question:
who was this man Mallory? This is the book to read to find the answer.
Outdoor Literature Category. Winner: On Celtic Tides: One Man's
Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak
By Chris Duff. Published by St. Martin's Press
A transfixing memoir, Celtic Tides is the vivid account
of the first ever circumnavigation of Ireland by kayak. Told
with sensitivity and care, Duff's odyssey is about a lone man and a capricious
sea and its moods of tranquillity and contrasting terror. But
the book is more than an adventure story. It's also about haunting
beauty, ancient history, and spiritual renewal found along the storm-lashed
coasts of an enchanting land.
Instructional Category. Winner: The National Outdoor Leadership
School's Wilderness Guide
By Mark Harvey. A Fireside Book Published by Simon & Schuster
The National Outdoor Leadership School is one of outdoor world's
most respected wilderness education programs. They were one of the
first schools to extensively promote and instruct wilderness users in the
techniques of treading lightly and minimizing impact on the outdoors.
This is their manual: a compilation of many years of experience, a backpacker's
handbook filled with practical and well-tempered advice about equipment,
planning, clothing, traveling, navigation, and safety.
Nature Guidebook Category. Winner: Guide to Marine Mammals & Turtles
of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
By Kate Wynne and Malia Schwartz. Illustrated by Garth Mix.
Published by Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island
This is an extraordinarily well done and easy-to-use guidebook
that will help you identify marine mammals while traveling the coastal
waters of the east. Printed on water-resistant paper, it covers whales,
dolphins, porpoises, seals, manatee and turtles. It's truly a model
guidebook. Each and every detail has been designed with user convenience
in mind, from its organization and lay-out, to its photographs and map
graphics, to its carefully researched and understandable writing.
Nature and the Environment Category. First Winner: Wildlife Wars:
The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden
By Terry Grosz. Published by Johnson Books
Wildlife Wars is the absorbing story of one man's 30-year
struggle to protect wildlife in America. This is what it's like on
the front lines. Terry Grosz, a natural and gifted story teller,
brings us face to face with a captivating cast of characters--on both sides
of the law--as he matches wits with poachers, commercial hunters, and others
who are bent on destroying America's natural heritage. If you start
this book, you won't want to put it down. It's that good.
Nature and the Environment Category. Second Winner: Penguin Planet:
Their World, Our World
By Kevin Schafer. Published by NorthWord Press
Some of the most endearing creatures of all of nature are penguins.
They've often been photographed, but never have they been captured in such
vivid detail and in all their intimate and strutting glory as in Penguin
Planet. But Kevin Schafer not only takes sumptuous pictures, he writes
well in a engaging style, generously complementing an affectionate portrait
of the world's most popular bird.
Classic Award. Winner: A Sand County Almanac: A Sketches Here
and There
By Aldo Leopold. Published by Oxford University Press
What can be said of Sand County Almanac? It is
simply one of the great works of nature literature and from it has sprung
the environmental movement. This special edition of Sand County Almanac,
published by the original publisher, is a tribute to Leopold, commemorating
the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth. It was over 50 years
ago that the book was first published, but his words and insights are as
fresh as ever.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category. Winner: Guide to
Sea Kayaking Central and Northern California
By Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner. Published by The Globe Pequot
Press
Well designed and written, this is a splendid sea kayaking
guide. The authors do what should be done in all guidebooks: show
they're having fun! Even if you've never dipped a paddle, you'll
be drawn in by the book's cheery personality. And then there's the
maps. Created with the reader in mind, they are gems--pleasing to
look at, easy to grasp, and accurate.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category. Honorable Mention: Montana
and Idaho's Continental Divide Trail
By Lynna Howard. Photography By Leland Howard
In the design department, this book tops the chart: artistic,
full-color photos, eminently usable maps, elevation charts, trail access
symbols, and user friendly lay-out throughout. If you're planning
on doing some hiking on the Continental trail, this is the book to get.
# # #
To download the above release (in Microsoft Word format), click here:
NOBA00.doc
If you are unable to use
the Microsoft Word document, above, a simple way to transfer the press
release to your word processor is to highlight the text of the above press
release with your mouse, choose EDIT--COPY, and then paste it in your word
processor. Another way is to choose FILE--SAVE AS (TEXT) on your
Browser Menu. This method saves the entire page, but once you open
the file in your word processor, you can delete any text you don't want.
Note that both of the above methods will not retain formatting.
Cover Scans of
all 2000 Winning Books
For your convenience, we have made high resolution
scans of all 2000 NOBA winners. The covers were scanned with a graphic-quality
scanner at 300 dpi, a resolution suitable for most print media work.* All
scans were saved in a TIFF file format. A zip file with all scans
is also available. To download, click on one or more of the following:
Children's Category (Winner #1). Blueberry
Shoe.
Children's Category (Winner #2). Jellies:
The Life of Jellyfish.
History Biography Category. The
Wildest Dream: The Biography of George Mallory.
Literature Category. On
Celtic Tides: One Man's Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak.
Nature and Environment Category (Winner #1). Wildlife
Wars: The Life and Times
Nature and Environment Category (Winner #2). Penquin
Planet: Their World, Our World.
Design and Artistic Merit Category. Bradford
Washburn Mountain Photography.
Instructional Category. The
National Outdoor Leadership School's Wilderness Guide.
Nature Guidebook Category. Guide
to Marine Mammals & Turtles
Adventure Guidebook Category. Guide
to Sea Kayaking Central and Northern California. Adventure
Guidebook Honorable Mention. Montana
and Idaho's Continental Divide Trail.
Outdoor Classic Award. A
Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There.
Zip file of the covers of all winning books above (13,900 kb): noba00sc.zip
National Outdoor Book Awards Medallion
* Low resolution (72 dpi) scans suitable for website
images are also available: 2000
Winners.
NOBA Medallion
The following links will download a high resolution
scan of the NOBA medallion. The medallion is copyrighted. However,
media sources (such as newspapers, periodicals and other news outlets)
may use it without permission to illustrate informational articles on the
NOBA program. The medallion was scanned with a graphic-quality scanner
at 300 dpi, a resolution suitable for most print media work. The
scan was saved in a TIFF file format. To download, click on the following:
Winner Medallion
National.Outdoor
Book Awards Winner Medallion
(Scanned as a TIFF file
and available for download in three file types)
Winner Medallion TIFF format: MedalWin.tif
(878 Kbytes)
Winner Medallion TIFF format (placed in a zip file): MedalWin.zip
(281 Kbytes)
Winner Medallion TIFF format (placed in a self-extracting zip file:
MedalWin.exe
(310 Kbytes)
(Note on self-extracting zip file: After downloading,
select START, RUN "MedalWin.exe" to extract MedalWin.tif)
Honorable Mention
Medallion
National.Outdoor
Book Awards Honorable Mention Medallion
(Scanned as a TIFF file
and available for download in two file types)
Honorable Mention Medallion TIFF format: MedalHon.tif
(744 Kbytes)
Honorable Mention Medallion TIFF format (placed in a zip file):
(MedalHon.zip)
(283 Kbytes)
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