National Outdoor Book Awards
921 South 8th Ave  Stop 8128  Pocatello, ID 83209
(208) 282-3912  http://www.noba-web.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2011
Contact: Ron Watters (208) 232-6857
wattron@isu.edu
NOTE: Color scans (print quality), complete reviews, and other supplementary art work
may be downloaded from: http://www.noba-web.org/bookrel11.htm
2011 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
POCATELLO – The works of John Muir were honored along with the winners of the
2011 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA). The annual awards program recognizes
the best in outdoor writing and publishing - past and present.
“John Muir is a giant in the outdoor world.” said Ron Watters chairman of the award
program. “He died in 1914, but the legacy he left us with is incalculable. Muir’s
writings and work helped save such American treasures as Yosemite National Park.”
Muir published six books during his lifetime. Additional books and collections of his
writings have been published since then.
This year’s Classic Award went to a new edition of My Summer in the Sierra which is
perhaps Muir’s best loved book. Illustrated with photographs by Scot Miller, and
including reproductions of Muir’s original journal and sketches, the new edition
celebrates the 100th anniversary of the book’s first publication.
“Muir is truly one of the great wilderness figures of all time,” said Watters, “And we are
delighted to take this opportunity to recognize his body of work and his contributions to
America’s outdoor heritage.”
In addition to Muir’s work, eleven other books were honored in this year's National
Outdoor Book Awards. The awards program is sponsored by the National Outdoor Book
Awards Foundation, Idaho State University and the Association of Outdoor Recreation
and Education.
Among the winners is Salvaging the Real Florida by Bill Belleville. It won the Natural
History category. “Belleville’s collection of essays fits in quite nicely with John Muir’s
work,” said Watters. “In fact, in one essay he writes about Muir’s 1867 visit to Florida.”
“Belleville is a talented writer and a sheer pleasure to read,” continued Watters. “He
takes the reader throughout Florida on hikes, paddles and dives—and through lagoons,
forests, and swamps. Intermixed with his stories are fresh insights and strong reasons
why the remaining wild lands of Florida need to stay that way.”
The winner of the Outdoor Literature Category is Fire Season by Philip Connors. In the
book, Connors who mans a fire lookout in New Mexico reflects on the nature of
wilderness, the place and role of fire, and simple pleasures of his solitary work.
“Connors finds himself among some pretty heavy company,” said Watters, noting that
Edward Abbey, Jack Kerouac, Norman Maclean, and Gary Snyder all wrote about their
experiences on fire lookouts. “This is Connors first work,” he said, “but if these literary
forbearers could somehow manage to unite, it’s not hard to imagine them inviting him
over and raising a toast to Fire Season.”
A beautifully illustrated book about trees was the winner of the Nature and Environment
Category. In Seeing Trees, author Nancy Ross Hugo and photographer Robert Llewellyn
explore the tree world from a close-up and revealing perspective.
The winner of the Nature Guidebook category is Naturally Curious by Mary Holland, a
new nature guide to New England. What makes this abundantly illustrated guide stand
out is the way it’s organized. Starting in March, with the first signs of spring, it covers
the changes in the natural world, on a month to month basis.
The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs won the Children’s Category. This wonderfully
illustrated nature guidebook is designed for children from 8 to 13 years old, and is the
perfect companion to help them identify and learn about bugs right outside the backdoor.
Winning the Design and Artistic merit category is Raptors of the West. It’s a book of
action photography, freeze framing raptors in timeless images. The book is graphically
appealing with photos throughout.
Complete reviews of these and the other 2011 winners may be found at the National
Outdoor Book Awards website at: www.noba-web.org.
Here is a list of winners.
Classic Award. The Works of John Muir. Including My First Summer in the Sierra,
Stikeen, Steep Trails and others. In specific, the judges honored the following book: My
First Summer in the Sierra: 100th Anniversary Illustrated Edition of the American
Classic. By John Muir. Photographs by Scot Miller. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
Boston.
Natural History Literature. Winner. Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in
the State of Dreams. By Bill Belleville. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Outdoor Literature. Winner. Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout. By
Philip Connors. HarperCollins, New York.
Nature and the Environment. Winner. Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary
Secrets of Everyday Trees. By Nancy Ross Hugo. Photography by Robert Llewellyn.
Timber Press, Portland.
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner. Raptors of the West Captured in Photographs. By
Kate Davis, Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop. Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, MT
Children’s Category. Winner. The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs. By Judy Burris and
Wayne Richards. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA.
Children’s Category. Winner. To Market, To Market. By Nikki McClure. Abrams
Books for Young Readers, New York.
History/Biography. Winner. Take a Seat: One Man, One Tandem and Twenty
Thousand Miles of Possibilities. By Dominic Gill. Falcon Guides. Guilford, CN.
History/Biography. Honorable Mention. An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the
Heroic Age of Antarctic Science. By Edward J. Larson. Yale University Press. New
Haven.
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Naturally Curious: A Photographic Field Guide through
the Fields, Woods and Marshes of New England. By Mary Holland. Trafalger Square
Books, North Pomfret, VT.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner. The Rio Grande: A River Guide to the
Geology and Landscapes of Northern New Mexico. By Paul W. Bauer. New Mexico
Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM.
Instructional Category. Winner. The Cycling Bible: The Complete Guide for all
Cyclists from Novice to Expert. By Robin Barton. Falcon Guides, Guilford, CN.
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SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: FULL REVIEWS OF WINNING TITLES
Classic Award. The Works of John Muir. Including My First Summer in the Sierra,
Stikeen, Steep Trails and others. (My First Summer in the Sierra: 100th Anniversary
Illustrated Edition of the American Classic. By John Muir. Photographs by Scot Miller.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. ISBN 9780618988518.)
Note: My Summer in the Sierra, Stikeen, Steep Trails, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf
and others by John Muir are available from a variety of publishers.
This year, with the submission of My First Summer in the Sierra by Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, the judges decided to take the opportunity to honor the writings of John Muir
and the monumental contributions he made toward preserving the American outdoor
heritage. John Muir who died in 1914 published six books during his lifetime.
Additional books and collections of his writings have been published since then. Muir’s
prolific pen and his activism helped save such American treasures as Yosemite National
Park, and he is truly one of the great wilderness figures of all time.
This new edition of My Summer in the Sierra celebrates the 100th anniversary of the
book’s first publication. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Scot Miller, this is
perhaps the best loved of all of Muir’s books. Written in journal style and covering his
travels in the high Sierra of 1869, it is a work of personal discovery: discovery of the
natural world, of flora and fauna, and of the geological processes which shaped the
soaring heights of Yosemite Valley. But it goes deeper than simple observation. This is
Muir, after all. His thoughts lead him toward the concept of the interconnectivity among
all living things. In time, this idea will become a part of his litany for the preservation of
wild areas. Muir can hardly contain his excitement, especially when expressing the
beauty of nature, and his writing brims with religious intensity. He is, in fact, a religious
figure, an evangelist for the wild outdoors, and because of his writing and his work, we
are all the richer for it.
Natural History Literature. Winner. Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in
the State of Dreams. By Bill Belleville. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
ISBN 9780813035772.
Bill Belleville is the sort of guy that you’d want as a companion on an outdoor trip. He
has a child-like curiosity and wonder that is catchy—and he can tell a pretty good story to
boot. He is also very much a mature and accomplished author, and his writing is an
absolute pleasure to read. This collection of essays, full of hidden gems and wonderful
insights, never disappoints. We saunter along with him throughout Florida on hikes,
paddles and dives—and through lagoons, forests, swamps, and under coastal waters.
Pick up a copy, settle back with a glass of backwoods sweet tea, and enjoy a spirited ride
through Florida’s natural world.
Outdoor Literature. Winner. Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout. By
Philip Connors. HarperCollins, New York. ISBN 9780061856366
In this sensitive and elegant work, Philip Connors mans a fire lookout overlooking the
Gila Wilderness, the first established wilderness area in the US. It’s a perfect place, in
more than one respect, to write and reflect on wild places and why such places are
important in civilized life—and he does so with an honesty and understanding which is
remarkable for its depth of thought and insight. Connors finds himself among some
pretty heavy company: Edward Abbey, Jack Kerouac, Norman Maclean, and Gary
Snyder all wrote about their experiences on fire lookouts. This is Connors first work, but
if these literary forbearers could somehow manage to unite for a little backcountry
revelry, it’s not hard to imagine them inviting him over and raising a toast to Fire Season.
Nature and the Environment. Winner. Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary
Secrets of Everyday Trees. By Nancy Ross Hugo. Photography by Robert Llewellyn.
Timber Press, Portland. ISBN 9781604692198
Author Nancy Ross Hugo is smitten with trees. In fact she’ll unabashedly tell you that
tree viewing is as exciting as bird-watching. And you’ll see why. Just spend a little time
paging through this book—sample a bit of Hugo’s personable and insightful writing,
absorb Robert Llewellyn’s splendid photography—and it becomes clear. What this book
does differently than many is to examine trees in a close up and personal manner: the
resplendent emerging leaves of a white oak, the secreted and graceful immature seed
pods of the redbud, the thrilling appearance of a red cedar flower. This striking and
delightful book will draw your eyes upward toward the world of leaves and entwining
branches, and like Hugo, you may find yourself smitten and thrilled by what you see.
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner. Raptors of the West Captured in Photographs. By
Kate Davis, Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop. Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, MT
ISBN 9780878425754.
This is a book of action photography and it will rock your socks! The cover draws you in
immediately: two bald eagles, talons spread and about to lock, one above and one below
upside down, yellow eyes glaring: the tumbling, breathtaking violence of a fight over
food captured in a timeless manner. Raptors is a type of book that you can read in parts
when time permits. By design, there’s no overarching text, rather each of the photos have
instructive captions which explain the behavior pictured. Quite simply, it’s among some
of the best action bird photography ever published.
Children’s Category. Winner. The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs. By Judy Burris and
Wayne Richards. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA. ISBN 9781603425636.
Judy Burris and brother and photographer Wayne Richards are into bugs. What sort of
bugs? Let’s see. There are grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies, dragonflies, spiders,
crickets and more. All of these creatures are shown in close-up photographs, each
showing different stages of the bug’s life cycle. Clear and understandable explanations
accompany each new section. This is the perfect nature guidebook for children, and it
will help lead and instruct them through the fascinating world just outside their doors.
Age group: 8 to 13 years.
Children’s Category. Winner. To Market, To Market. By Nikki McClure. Abrams
Books for Young Readers, New York. ISBN 9780810997387.
Nikki McClure is a master of the cut-paper technique and she uses it with unblemished
effect in her new book To Market, To Market. The story that unfolds in the book is about
a bustling farmers market. A young boy and his mother shop for apples and cheese, and
salmon and greens. As they go about the market, the farmers explain how they grow the
items they sell—and the skill and work that goes into it. Finally with their basket full, the
boy and his mother return home, and all of the members of the family join in a feast
celebrating good, healthy food and the farmers that make it possible. Age group: 4 to 8
years.
History/Biography. Winner. Take a Seat: One Man, One Tandem and Twenty
Thousand Miles of Possibilities. By Dominic Gill. Falcon Guides. Guilford, CN. ISBN
9780762770694.
Dominic Gill planned to bicycle from Alaska to the southern tip of South America.
Before leaving on the journey, a film producer suggested that he use a tandem bike as a
way of spicing things up, making the trip more interesting. Gill thought the idea
ridiculous. But when Gill wobbled off at the beginning of his journey on a grey, cold day
in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the shiny new bike he was riding was a tandem. As the trip
progressed, at points here and there, he would invite strangers that he met to join him.
Sure enough, many took him up on it, adding their energy to his. Some rode with him a
few miles, some rode for many days. In the process strangers became friends. Take a
Seat is Gill’s engaging story of his two-year-long journey and the friends that helped him
along the way.
History/Biography. Honorable Mention. An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the
Heroic Age of Antarctic Science. By Edward J. Larson. Yale University Press. New
Haven. ISBN 9780300154085.
In An Empire of Ice author Edward Larson takes a different tact than most literature of
the genre. He chronicles British expeditions to Antarctica—doing it quite well—but he
does it from a scientific perspective. Scientific discovery was, after all, a main
justification for polar exploration and it helped in raising the funding necessary for efforts
of the size and magnitude involved. Consequently, considerable scientific research was
undertaken on the expeditions and the body of science benefited. Larson adeptly
describes the research, the obstacles faced by scientists, their failures and achievements,
and handily places early twentieth century exploration in a broader, more far-reaching
perspective.
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Naturally Curious: A Photographic Field Guide through
the Fields, Woods and Marshes of New England. By Mary Holland. Trafalger Square
Books, North Pomfret, VT. ISBN 9781570764257
Naturally Curious is a marvelous new nature guide. And quite naturally, it’s by Mary
Holland, one of the East’s most seasoned naturalists. She’s also something of a
Renaissance woman: educator, advocate, columnist, and photographer. In fact, all 900
color photographs in Naturally Curious are Holland’s. What makes this guide stand out
is the way it’s organized. Starting in March, with the first signs of spring, it covers the
changes in the natural world, on a month to month basis. You can’t go wrong with this
guidebook. It’s one that you’ll use over and over—naturally.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner. The Rio Grande: A River Guide to the
Geology and Landscapes of Northern New Mexico. By Paul W. Bauer. New Mexico
Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM. ISBN 9781883905286
This colorful and remarkably well done guide, covering 153 miles of the Rio Grande, is
packed full of information for flatwater and whitewater paddlers. But it’s not just for
river runners. Hikers, anglers and cyclists will also find it invaluable in their trips to Rio
Grande country. The maps are first rate. They were developed from an aerial photo base
and use a blend of colors and shaded relief to make the river topography stand out. The
geological information, both textual and illustrative, is some of the best the judges have
seen in a river guide.
Instructional Category. Winner. The Cycling Bible: The Complete Guide for all
Cyclists from Novice to Expert. By Robin Barton. Falcon Guides, Guilford, CN. ISBN
9780762769995.
The title of Robin Barton’s 350-page work couldn’t be more apt: it is, indeed, a bible,
covering all aspects of cycling from recreational riding to road racing to mountain biking.
Nicely designed and filled with crisp, instructive color photographs, the Bible includes
up-to-date information on equipment, step-by-step tutorials on cycling technique, sage
advice on safety and fitness, helpful hints on maintenance and repairs, and great rides
throughout the world.
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