2015 Children’s Book Illustration Award Honors Wildlife Art Excellence
Jackson Hole, Wyo.—January 7, 2015—Once again for 2015, the winner of the annual Bull-Bransom Award, given for artistic excellence in wildlife illustration for children’s books, will be announced as part of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Celebration of Young Artists event to be held on May 7, 2015 at the museum in Jackson Hole, Wyo. This will be the museum’s sixth year of presenting the national honor, with previous winners participating in the judging to select this year’s honoree. North American artists and illustrators whose work was published in a book for children during 2014 are eligible to compete for the award, with submissions due by January 31, 2015. Details on submitting a book for the 2015 award are available here.
Created in the tradition of such prestigious awards for illustrators of children’s books as the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and Hans Christian Andersen awards, the Bull-Bransom Award is presented in the form of a medal and $5,000 in cash. The judging committee will announce five finalists for the 2015 award in February, with the winner invited to Jackson Hole for the museum’s Celebration of Young Artists event and Bull-Bransom Award announcement and presentation on May 7.
Last year’s winner of the Bull-Bransom Award was Peter Brown for Mr. Tiger Goes Wild (Little Brown and Co., 2013). Previous winners are Eric Rohmann for Oh, No! (Schwartz & Wade Books, 2012); Sylvia Long (2012) for her illustration of A Butterfly Is Patient (Chronicle Books, 2011), written by Dianna Hutts Aston; Kevin Waldron for the 2010 picture book Tiny Little Fly (Walker Books), written by former UK Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen; and Jerry Pinkney for his 2009 picture book The Lion and the Mouse (Little Brown).
In celebration of the sixth year of Bull-Bransom, this year’s award will be complemented by Quack! A Picture Book Festival at the Teton County Library. Past year’s Bull-Bransom Award-winning books will be featured at regular story times at the library during the week of May 4th. On the evening of Friday, May 8, children’s illustrators will present via a Pechakucha at the library in a fast-paced program discussing the illustrators’ art processes that encourages active participation.
About the National Museum of Wildlife Art
The National Museum of Wildlife Art, founded in 1987, is a world-class art museum holding more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featuring prominent artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Robert Kuhn, John James Audubon, and Carl Rungius, the unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into the hillside and overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the Museum received designation as the “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. Boasting a museum shop, interactive children’s gallery, café, and outdoor sculpture trail, the Museum is only two and a half miles north of Jackson Town Square and two miles to the gateway of Grand Teton National Park. Located at 2820 Rungius Road in Jackson; 307-733-5771.
Image: "The Lion and the Mouse" (left) by Jerry Pinkney was winner of the first Bull-Bransom Award in 2010. "Mr Tiger Goes Wild" (right) by Peter Brown was the 2014 winner.
