Kid Stuff: Book Award Winners

Three children's books received the 2009 "Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children's Literature Award" from Junior Master Gardeners on July 24 at a ceremony held during the American Horticultural Society's 2009 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, hosted by the Cleveland Botanical Garden in Ohio. This award program recognizes children's books that effectively promote an appreciation for gardening, plants, and the environment.

This year's winners, selected from books published in 2008, are:

The Apple-Pip Princes by Jane Ray (Candlewick Press)
Big Yellow Sunflower by Frances Barry (Candlewick Press)
Flip, Float, Fly – Seeds on the Move by JoAnne Early Macken and illustrated by Pam Paparone (Holiday House)

“This collection of plant-themed picture books are wonderfully engaging, novel and will draw in a wide audience of young readers,” says Randy Seagraves, national curriculum coordinator for the National Junior Master Gardeners Program, which jointly administers the award program with the American Horticultural Society. “From unfolding a larger-than-life sunflower, to following seeds' travels in poetry, to becoming lost in a barren kingdom while it is transformed by the gift of a single precious seed, these diverse titles exemplify excellence in children's literature,” he adds.