The California Reading Association announced its first list of Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award recipients on October 19, 2010. Willow Bascom, a resident of Plymouth Notch, VT, won a Silver Award for her book, Paisley Pig & Friends: A Multicultural ABC, published in 2010 by PublishingWorks, Inc. of Exeter, NH.
The California Reading Association (CRA) is a non-profit professional organization of educators who are actively involved in all aspects of reading and language arts education, from kindergarten through university levels. An affiliate of the International Reading Association (IRA), the state Association consists of more than 55 active local reading councils located around the state, and publishes the professional journal, The California Reader. Over 3,000 professional educators hold membership in the organization.
The CRA established the Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award in 2010 to celebrate and honor nonfiction children’s books. The award, which is the first of its kind dedicated to identifying quality non-fiction children’s books, will assist teachers, librarians, and parents in identifying outstanding nonfiction books for their students and children. The 2010 awards are the first of what will be an annual event.
Willow Bascom is a self-trained artist inspired by her love for indigenous art. She lived in Saudi Arabia and Panama as a child and traveled extensively around the world. Multi-faceted in her approach to artistic expression, Ms. Bascom has lines of children’s clothing, note cards, stickers and bookmarks, all featuring her unique art and illustrations. Her work has been showcased in Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine, and her color drawing, Peace Dragons, was featured in the Hartford, CT, newspaper, The Hartford Courant, on August 18, 2008. Paisley Pig & Friends: A Multicultural ABC is the first book in a planned series of children’s books that will explore nature, natural life, and decorative styles from around the world. Willow is currently working on an Activity Book to complement Paisley Pig & Friends.
For more information, contact the artist at 802.672.5390; or her publicist, Abby Anderson, at PublishingWorks: 603.772.7200.
Image: "Batik Butterfly," for the letter B
