This week the American Library Association announced the winners of their awards. So many people think of an award as the pinnacle of success or a final destination. What they don't see is the journey that continues. Our journey has been filled with ongoing financial, emotional and intellectual investments. They don't know about all of the people behind the scenes who pulled together to keep the engine running. Our team of people believed in possibilities and knew that if we were going to get these books published, we were going to do it the right way. Paying close attention to detail, the "little things" really matter because we may have only one chance to present our end product. We have poured ourselves into this process of writing children's books because we know our concept is timely, unique and something our society needs.

In life, there are awards and there are rewards. The awards are milestones, but the rewards are priceless. For us, the true prize is won when we see evidence that our books have affected others, such as:

1. People falling in love with the books as soon as they hold them
2. Seeing children act out our stories as we are doing book readings
3. Parents sharing stories with us about their kids who will not go to bed without our books being read to them
4. School districts adding our books as part of their curriculum
5. Reporters calling because they are intrigued by our story
6. The many people approaching us to thank us for publishing our books
7. When our readers don?t keep us or our books a secret

Bur Bur and Friends is our children's book series. Bur Bur and Friends is a cast of multicultural characters who educate kids about sports and outdoor exploration. Recently the first three books in our series won awards based on educational content, quality, flow and aesthetics. When we found out about the awards we were excited and honored, as well as curious as to where these awards would lead us to next. Our books have won the following awards:

1. Bur Bur's Boating ABC's (2008 Teachers Choice Awards For the Family, iParenting Media Awards in the category "Greatest Products 2007")
2. Bur Bur's Fishing Adventure (iParenting Media Awards in the category "Greatest Products 2007")
3. Bur Bur Throws Out the First Pitch (iParenting Media Awards in the category "Greatest Products 2007")

It took many people working together for a common purpose to bring our stories to life. The truth is that winning these awards are the beginning of an unchartered process. We are holding on and planning to enjoy the ride.

[Originally posted at http://burburandfriendsblog.com ]