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Animal Behavior Society's Outstanding Children's Book Award

Children's lives are enriched immeasurably by an appreciation of nature and science. In 2001, the Animal Behavior Society’s Education Committee established the Outstanding Children's Book Award in order to encourage and reward accurate and compelling authorship of children's books about animal behavior. Each year, the Outstanding Children’s Book Award subcommittee solicits publishers for outstanding children's books published that year. From the contributed books, members of the book award subcommittee select up to five finalists, and then coordinate review of the books by hundreds of elementary school children across the country. The students then read the finalist books and their rankings determine the recipient of that year's award.

Ribbon's Way, by Sarah E. Turner; Publisher Sono Nis Press has been selected as the 2013 winner of the Animal Behavior Society Outstanding Children's Book Award!

Information for Publishers
Review and Award Criteria
Review Process
Contact Information



2012
WINNER           Animal Eggs: An Amazing Clutch of Mysteries and Marvels!, by Dawn Cusick and Joanne O'Sullivan (EarlyLight Books)
FINALISTS        Leaps and Creeps, by Robin Koontz (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark)
                      Seabird in the Forest, by Joan Dunning (Boyds Mills Press)
                      Bug Shots: The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly, by Alexandra Sly and Dennis Kunkel (Holiday House)



2011
WINNER           How Animals Work, by David Durnie (DK Publishing)
FINALISTS        Animal Snoops, by Peter Christie (Annick Press)
                      Tricky Behavior, by Kimerly Jane Pryor (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark)
                      What in the Wild, by David Schwartz and Yael Schy (Random House Children's Books)


2010
WINNER           Bug Butts, by Dawn Cusick (EarlyLight books)
FINALISTS        Bubble Homes and Fish Farts, by Fiona Bayrock (Charlesbridge)
                      The Strange Life of the Land Hermit Crab, by Wendy Pfeffer (Mondo Publishing)
                      Animal Aha!, by Diane Swanson (Annick Press)


2009
WINNER           Animals at Play, by Marc Bekoff (Temple University Press)
FINALISTS        Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl, by Bruce Hiscock (Boyds Mills Press)
                      Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator, by Sarah Campbell (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark)
                      The Puzzle of the Platypus: And Other Explorations of Science in Action, by Jack Myers (Boyds Mills Press)


2008
WINNER            Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed and Revealed, by David Schwartz and Yael Schy (Tricycle Press)
FINALISTS         Survival Secrets of of Sea Animals, by Mary Jo Rhodes and David Hall (Children's Press)
                        Octopuses, by Sandra Markle (Lerner Publications Company)


2007
WINNER            Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?, by Stanley Coren (Kids Can Press)
FINALISTS         Hey There, Stink Bug, by Leslie Bulion (Charlesbridge Publishing)
                       Little Lost Bat, by Sandra Markle (Charlesbridge Publishing)
                       Well-Schooled Fish and Feathered Bandits, by Peter Christie (Annick Press)


2005
WINNER            Lupe: a wolf pup's first year, by Rebecca L. Grambo (Whitecap Books Ltd.)
FINALISTS         Animal groups: how animals live together, by Etta Kaner (Kids Can Press)
                        Baby Ground Squirrel, by Aubrey Lang (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
                        Rain, Rain, Rainforest, by Brenda Guiberson (Henry Holt and Co.)


2004
WINNER            Amazing Things Animals Do, by Marilyn Baillie (Maple Tree Press)
FINALISTS         A Little Lemur Named Mew, by Joyce A. Powzyk (Millbrook Press)
                       Borealis: A Polar Bear Cub's First Year, by Rebecca L. Grambo (Whitecap Books Ltd.)
                       It's a Hummingbird's Life, by Irene Kelly (Holiday House)


2003
WINNER            Animal Talk: How Animals Communicate through Sight, Sound and Smell, by Etta Kaner and Greg Douglas (Kids Can Press)
FINALISTS         Where Does a Tiger-Heron Spend the Night, by Margaret Carney and Melanie Watt (Kids Can Press)
                        Giant Pandas, by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House)
                        Look Closer, by Gay Holland (Millbrook Press)


2002
WINNER            A Pair of Wings, by Marilyn Singer (Holiday House)
FINALISTS         Headgear that Hides and Plays, by Diane Swanson (Douglas & McIntyre)
                       Will You Sting Me? Will You Bite?, by Kimerly Jane Pryor (Stemmer House Pub Audio)
                       Slap, Squeak, and Scatter: How Animals Communicate, by Steve Jenkins (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)

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