For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeanne Brown
703-964-7414
Environmental Books Win Green Earth Book Award
Books Honored at the Read Green Festival
March 27, 2012 -- McLean, Va. -- The Newton Marasco Foundation (NMF) announced the winners
of its 2012 Green Earth Book Award, a nationally recognized literature award given to authors and
illustrators whose books best inspire young readers to appreciate and care for the environment.
In support of the award and its message of environmental stewardship, Senator Barbara Milkulski (D-MD)
serves as the Honorary Chair of the 2012 Read Green Festival.
"I invite everyone to join us in telling the story of the natural world and the importance of taking care of our planet.
These Green Earth Award winning books spark imaginations and inspire a lifetime of wonder that will set our youth on
the path to become responsible environmental stewards, now and throughout their lives,” said Amy Marasco Newton,
president and founder of NMF.
The four winners to receive the 8th Annual Green Earth Book Award:
Picture Book
Arthur Turns Green
written and illustrated by Marc
Brown (published by Little, Brown and
Company)
Children’s Nonfiction
The Mangrove Tree: Planting
Trees to Feed Families
written by Cindy Trumbore and
Susan L. Roth and illustrated by
Susan L. Roth (published by Lee &
Low Books)
Arthur comes home from school
and begins sneaking around the
house, taking notes and talking about
a Big Green Machine. D.W. is suspicious of her brother's
weird behavior, but when Arthur shows up late for dinner
with green hands, she really gets the creeps! But it turns
out Arthur is making a poster listing all the ways to save
energy at home--and go green!
For a long time, the people of
Hargigo, a village in the tiny African
country of Eritrea were living
without enough food until Dr. Gordon Sato changed their lives
for the better with his mangrove tree-planting project.
Children’s Fiction
Young Adult Non Fiction
Wild Wings
Gaia Warriors
written by Gill Lewis and illustrated
by Yuta Onoda (published by Simon and
Schuster)
The majestic osprey is an endangered
bird that hasn’t been seen in Scotland
for years, so when Iona McNair
locates an osprey nest, she’s desperate
to keep the bird safe from poachers.
written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by
James Lovelock (published by Candlewick Press)
This book takes a clear look at how and why
Earth’s climate is changing and the ways we
can deal with it. At once comprehensive and
accessible, this galvanizing call to arms includes web links and
resources that make it easy to join the cause.
In addition, seven books received Honor Awards:
Honor Book Winners
101 Ways to Save the Planet
written by Deborah Underwood (published by Raintree)
Extraordinary Endangered Animals
written by Sandrine Silhol and Gaëlle Guérive and illustrated by Marie Doucedame (published
by Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Global Warming: A Personal Guide to Causes and Solutions
written by Sneed B. Collard III (published by Lifelong Learning, Inc., DBA Project CRISS)
Human Footprint: Everything You Will Eat, Use, Wear, Buy, and Throw Out in Your
Lifetime
written by Ellen Kirk (published by National Geographic Books)
Luz Sees The Light
written and illustrated by Claudia Davila (published by Kids Can Press)
Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest
written by Caitlyn Vernon (published by Orca Book Publishers)
Riparia's River
written by Michael J. Caduto and illustrated by Olga Pastuchiv (published by Tilbury House)
The Green Earth Book Award is the nation’s first environmental stewardship book award for children and young adult
literature.
Over 120 books were nominated in five categories: Picture Book, for children from pre-school to age eight where the
pictures and illustrations are as important as the text; Children’s Fiction, which encompasses novels for young readers up to
age 12; Young Adult Nonfiction for readers from age 13 to 21; and Young Adult Fiction for readers from age 13 to 21 (no
winners were selected in this category for 2012).
Panels of literary and environmental professionals chose the winning books for their emphasis on environmental
stewardship. Since 2005, NMF has honored 27 books with the Green Earth Book Award and recognized 54 Honor
Books.
NMF presents the awards April 11, 2012, at the Salisbury University Read Green Festival in Maryland. Author
presentations and book signings at university seminars and local elementary schools are scheduled for the week. Each
award includes $2,000 to the winning author and illustrator, as well as the contribution of winning books to schools and
youth organizations in the Greater Washington DC area.
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NMF is an environmental non-profit that inspires and empowers youth to make a difference. We
reach our nation’s youth through innovative environmental stewardship programs in literature,
science and the arts.
The official sponsors of the 2012 Green Earth Book Award Festival are Salisbury University, the Salisbury
University Foundation, Booz Allen Hamilton, SRA International, and S.L. Bassford & Associates.
www.NewtonMarascoFoundation.org