News For Immediate Release Date: May 26, 2005 Contact: Carl R. Sams II 1-800-552-1867 carlsams@carlsams.com © Copyright 1980-2006 Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick All Rights Reserved		"Lost in the Woods" wins Independent Publisher Award for Best Children’s Picture Book Lost in the Woods, by best-selling authors Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick, is the 2005 winner of the Independent Publisher Award (IPPY Award) for best Children’s Picture Book. The IPPY Awards were conceived in 1996 as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing. "We commend the independent spirit it takes to compete and succeed in a very difficult bookselling market," said IP editor and awards coordinator Jim Barnes. "Great books come from publishers of all sizes and budgets, and we judge with that in mind." The 2005 Independent Publisher Book Awards attracted books from over 1500 publishers around the world; from all 50 U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces, and 18 foreign countries. The 2005 Awards saw a continued increase in quality and diversity — entrants come in all sizes and from all walks of life. More than 150 children's picture books were entered. In Lost in the Woods, an explosion of green foliage, colorful wildflowers, and an assortment of feathered and furry forest friends, the talented husband and wife duo transport readers into the world of a newborn fawn. Weaving a warm and loving story interlaced with beautiful photography, the animals of the woods become concerned for a fawn they fear is "lost in the woods". The animals eventually discover the fawn isn't really lost. He is alone because Mother Doe instinctively knows she cannot stay with her fawn since her scent will attract predators. Sams and Stoick’s first children’s book, Stranger in the Woods, won several national and international awards and spent many weeks on the New York Times, best-seller’s list. "We weren’t sure how we could follow the success of Stranger in the Woods. We wanted to be sure Lost in the Woods was as good, or even better," Sams explained. "Being chosen as the Independent Publisher’s Children’s Picture Book of the Year is an honor and confirmation that maybe we’ve done what we set out to do." Pulitzer Prize finalist and Detroit News columnist Betty DeRamus described Lost in the Woods in a recent column as a "chunk of pure magic…that made me smell grass, see wildflowers and hear the croaking, chirping, whirring songs of the universe." Awards will be presented at Book Expo America in New York City on June 3, 2005, at the 9th Annual IPPY Awards Celebration: "Magic In Manhattan". Lost in the Woods can be viewed at www.lostinthewoods.biz. For information about IPPY and the Book of the Year awards visit www.independentpublisher.com

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