FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2007
CONTACT: Martyn Beeny, (605) 773 8161, martyn.beeny@state.sd.us

Three More Awards for South Dakota State Historical Society Book

PIERRE, S.D.—Nine national awards for books in one year—that is what the South Dakota State Historical Society can claim in 2007. 

The latest honors are for The Discontented Gopher and Tatanka and the Lakota People.  The Discontented Gopher, by L. Frank Baum, with illustrations by Carolyn Digby Conahan, has won a gold medal from the Mom’s Choice Awards and a bronze medal from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.  Tatanka and the Lakota People, illustrated by Donald F. Montileaux, has won a gold medal from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

The Mom’s Choice Awards, presented by The Just for Mom Foundation, are given to recognize authors, inventors, companies, parents, and others, for their efforts to create quality family-friendly media, products, and services.  The awards guide parents, caregivers, educators, and retailers in selecting quality materials and products for children and families.  The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are presented by Independent Publisher Online to honor the year’s best children’s books, authors, and illustrators.

“We are delighted to have received these wonderful awards,” said Nancy Tystad Koupal, director of the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.  “Carolyn Digby Conahan’s charming illustrations have made L. Frank Baum’s Aberdeen-based Discontented Gopher come to life, while Donald Montileaux’s dramatic American Indian images draw attention to the important story in Tatanka and the Lakota People.  It is extremely gratifying to know that the esteemed judges for both awards think so too.”

The Discontented Gopher tells the story of Zikky, a young descendant of the Thirteen-lined Gophers of America.  Zikky finds more than he bargained for when, bored with his Gopher Fairy-granted treasure, he ignores their warning to avoid humans.  Riches abound, adventure beckons, and danger lurks around every corner.  Ultimately, wisdom is hard earned in this fable, set in the era of gopher bounties on the prairies of South Dakota.  It is the first book in the Prairie Tale series.  The series has an accompanying website, www.prairie-tale.com.

Tatanka and the Lakota People is part of the Lakota creation legend.  Based on centuries of storytelling, it tells how the buffalo came to live with the Lakotas so that they would

have life-sustaining food, shelter, and clothing.  Tatanka and the Lakota People is presented in both English and Lakota.  It describes the Lakota’s creation, the trickery that caused them to move from the Underworld, and their ultimate survival in this world.

The Discontented Gopher is available for $14.95 and Tatanka and the Lakota People is $16.95 (both plus shipping and tax).  Both can be purchased from most bookstores, or ordered directly from the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.  Visit www.sdshspress.com or call (605) 773-6009 for more details.

The full list of awards for the South Dakota State Historical Society Press’s books in 2007 is as follows:

Tatanka and the Lakota People: A Creation Story—Spur Award; Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Gold Medal; Aesop Accolade; Silver IPPY The Discontented Gopher—Mom’s Choice Awards, Gold Medal; Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Bronze Medal Picturing the Past: South Dakota’s Historic Places—Education Project Award from the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers for Excellence in Historic Preservation; Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History Dakota Flora—Bronze IPPY