May 24, 2017
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
This Strange Wilderness: The Life and
Art of John James Audubon to Represent
Nebraska at National Book Festival
The Nebraska Center for the Book selected This Strange
Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon by Nancy
Plain (University of Nebraska Press, 2015) to represent Nebraska at
the 2017 National Book Festival. The book is the state’s selection
for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places through
Reading” brochure and map. Each state selects one book about the
state, or by an author from the state, that is a good read for
children or young adults. The brochure and map will be distributed
at the Festival on September 2 and featured in the “Great Reads
about Great Places” links on the websites of both the National and
Nebraska Centers for the Book.
This book brings together the amazing story of the career of
John James Audubon (1785–1851), founder of modern ornithology
and one of the world’s greatest bird painters, and the beautiful
images that are his legacy. It details his art and writing,
transporting the reader back to the frontiers of early
nineteenth-century America. Nebraska’s “Great Reads about Great
Places” book is chosen from the previous year’s Nebraska Book
Award winners and this book was awarded the 2016 Nebraska Book
Award in the Children/Young Adult category. Entries for the 2017
Nebraska Book Awards will be accepted until June 30—see
http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html.
The National Book Festival will feature presentations by
award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Festival
attendees can meet their favorite authors, get books signed,
have photos taken with mascots and storybook characters, and
participate in a variety of learning activities. States will
staff exhibit booths to promote reading, library programs, and
literary events. Find out more about the 2017 National Book
Festival (including a list of featured authors) at
http://www.loc.gov/bookfest.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska
Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers,
writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers,
educators, and scholars to build the community of the book,
supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest
in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for
the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the
state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an
advocate for the library and information needs of all
Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide
promotion, development, and coordination of library and
information services, bringing together people and information.
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library
Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website,
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.