A Pirate's Quest WINS BEST Children's Picture Book

St. Paul, MN  - A Pirate’s Quest was announced as the Midwest Book Award winner for Best Children’s Picture Book at the Minnesota Humanities Center, with the help of special guests from Publishers Weekly and Associate Publisher Cevin Bryerman, who is a board member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).

The Midwest Independent Publisher’s Association hosts the annual Midwest Book Awards competition for excellence in independent, academic and non-profit publishing.
More than 667 books were reviewed before reaching winners in 25 categories in this year’s competition.  A Pirate’s Quest was also a Finalist in the Illustrations category.

A Pirate’s Quest, written by Laura Sams and Robert Sams and illustrated by Heiner Hertling, uses wildlife paintings to tell the tale of a one-legged pirate and his quest to find a peg leg -- a family heirloom passed down from his grandpappy to his pappy to him. He loses the peg leg on a tiny lake far from the sea. To find it, he must follow the moving water, from the lakes to the rivers and eventually out to the ocean.

“We’re absolutely thrilled by this honor, especially since this is our first children’s picture book!” Laura Sams said.

Heiner Hertling, an award-winning painter and host of the PBS television show, Your Brush With Nature, painted more than fifty original oil paintings for the book. “Adding a pirate to my usual nature-based scenes was a great challenge,” Heiner said. “I want this book to be something that children will love for the story, nature lovers will love for the nature, and artists will love for the art.

The book also won a Mom’s Choice Award for Adventurers and Heroes, and was a Finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Children’s Picture Book of the Year.

The book's idea came from a song featured in the new underwater movie from Sisbro Studios, called The Riddle in a Bottle. The movie tells the story of two siblings who must solve a mysterious riddle from the ocean, with help from loggerhead sea turtles, dolphins, tide pool fish and a singing pirate.

“We wrote a song about a lost peg leg, to help introduce ways that water moves around the world,” Laura said. “Then slowly we realized the song's story would make a great book, and we are extremely lucky that our artist and publisher came onboard.”

A Pirate’s Quest is available for $19.95 at many area gift shops and book stores, including Borders and Barnes & Noble, or by calling 1-800-552-1867. For more information visit www.apiratesquest.com.

About Sisbro Studios
Founded in 2001, Sisbro Studios creates award-winning high-quality movies, books, music and educational media that entertain and inspire children to learn about and explore the natural world. Sisbro Studios has been presented with over 40 international awards for its smart and entertaining product offering. Product families include:  The Riddle in a Bottle, Lost in the Woods: The Movie, Stranger in the Woods: The Movie and Bearly Alike for films, A Pirate’s Quest for books, and Lost in the Woods: The Soundtrack, and Stranger in the Woods: The Soundtrack for music. For more information about Sisbro Studios, visit www.sisbro.com.