Press Releases
| For Immediate Release September 17, 2007 |
Contact: Cristina Allegretti (202) 277-2034 |
2007 JAMES MADISON BOOK AWARD WINNER
ON CONSTITUTION DAY
$10,000 Award Goes to Book about Founding Father Benjamin Franklin
PHILADELPHIA – Lynne Cheney announced today that A Dangerous Engine: Benjamin Franklin, from Scientist to Diplomat, written by Joan Dash and illustrated by Dušan Petričić, would receive the fifth annual James Madison Book Award. Mrs. Cheney revealed the winning book and recipient of the $10,000 prize at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia at an event that not only commemorated the 220th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution but also launched The Constitutional Sources Project, www.ConSource.org, to the public. Local students from Independence Charter School attended the program.
“Joan Dash and Dušan Petričić make American history come alive for children,” said Mrs. Cheney. “I am thrilled that on Constitution Day, a time when we remember the framers who created this enduring document, we can honor Benjamin Franklin, whose wit and wisdom greatly influenced the convention proceedings.”
Published in 2006 by Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, A Dangerous Engine draws young readers into the life of Benjamin Franklin, a founding father who was equally adventurous in his home-based laboratory and on the world’s stage. Using a little-known book by Franklin containing his experiments and observations on electricity, Joan Dash describes Franklin’s scientific discoveries in fascinating detail. Middle school students will become acquainted with Franklin as a human being and not just a historical figure, as they witness how his fierce desire to understand the world around him fueled his work as a scientist and characterized his successful career as America’s first foreign diplomat. With imaginative pen-and-ink illustrations by Dušan Petričić, this book captures Benjamin Franklin’s unique spirit and that of the revolutionary times in which he lived.
Mrs. Cheney established the James Madison Book Award in 2003 to present an annual prize of $10,000 to the book that best represents excellence in bringing knowledge and understanding of American history to children ages 5 to 14. To underwrite the award, Mrs. Cheney donated $100,000 from the profits of her children’s books, America: A Patriotic Primer and A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women.
The James Madison Book Award Selection Committee chose A Dangerous Engine from submissions received from publishers for nonfiction books copyrighted in 2006. The Selection Committee also named two outstanding children’s books as “Honor Books”: Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (author: Russell Freedman; publisher: Holiday House), and Saving the Buffalo (author: Albert Marrin; publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction).
A Dangerous Engine author Joan Dash has written numerous short stories for magazines and other publications and is the author of several notable books for young readers. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York and received her B.A. in English from Barnard College. She is a resident of Seattle, Washington. Dušan Petričić is the award-winning illustrator of more than twenty books for children. He was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and graduated from the Belgrade Academy for Applied Arts. A former professor of illustration and book design, Petričić’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, and The Toronto Star. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
The National Constitution Center is the first-ever museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution. Located in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, it is just steps away from Independence Hall, where 39 patriots signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
The Constitutional Sources Project, www.ConSource.org, is creating the first complete and fully searchable online database of original source materials for the United States Constitution.
The James Madison Book Award Selection Committee is comprised of members of the sitting Advisory Council, a 36-member group made up of scholars, teachers, authors, parents, and grandparents. The 2007 Selection Committee members were Lynne Cheney; Celeste Colgan of Denver, CO; Peggy Duckett of Philadelphia, PA; Peter Gibbon of Boston, MA; and Christine Parker of Bethesda, MD. Dr. Colgan chaired the committee.
“The committee members were impressed by this entertaining and well-researched account of one of America’s most beloved founding fathers,” said Dr. Colgan. “Middle schoolers will delight in learning how Franklin conducted his famous kite-and-key experiment and traveled to France on a secret mission.”
The James Madison Book Award Fund is a separate fund of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, a Wyoming 501(c)(3) public foundation. For more information about the James Madison Book Award Fund, please visit www.jamesmadisonbookaward.org.
Lynne Cheney is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., whose work has long emphasized the importance of knowing American history and teaching it well. She is the author or co-author of ten books, including Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America, A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America, When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots, A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women, and America: A Patriotic Primer. She is married to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Learn more about the 2007 Award Winner.