FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/27/25
Cedar Pruitt, author and M.Ed.
https://cedarpruitt.com
Boston, MA. Fire Flight: A Wildfire Escape has been long-listed for the 2025 Green Earth Book Awards. The Green Earth Book Awards “raise awareness about how the next generation can be environmental stewards and encourage young people to reflect on the beauty, resiliency, and fragility of our natural world.”
This lyrical STEM nonfiction picture book from Capstone Editions, written by Cedar Pruitt and illustrated by Chiara Fedele, is a true story of climate change and connection as seen through the eyes of a firefighting helicopter pilot and one little owl as they both fly high above a burning forest. An ideal read-aloud for ages 3-8 with a rhythmic blend of rhyming, non-rhyming, and onomatopoeia, the book features the actual photo taken by the pilot which made headlines around the world.
“It’s always an honor to be recognized, but if being on this award list increases the chances that even one child will deepen their empathy and awareness through the humor, suspense and hope of this amazing true story, then we’ve succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” said author Cedar Pruitt.
The full list of books honored by Green Earth serves as a rich resource for engaging the next generation in the important acts of learning, thinking, and brainstorming their way to environmental stewardship. See the complete long list for the 2025 Green Earth Book Awards here.
As a work of easy-to-understand poetic nonfiction, FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape is aligned with the recommendation from The National Council of Teachers of English, which urged an increase in nonfiction in the lives of children in grades K-12: “With so much to offer young people as readers and thinkers, nonfiction should play a far more robust role in the reading and learning lives of young people in and out of school.”
See the author interviewed a CBS morning show about how FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape provides opportunities to build literacy, awareness, and empathy – while inviting discussion about natural habitat and climate change. Her second lyrical nonfiction picture book, WHAT MARCEL FOUND: THE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY OF THE LASCAUX CAVE PAINTINGS, with award-winning illustrator David Litchfield (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 2026), tells the story of four kids searching for treasure in a forest in occupied France in 1940 – who uncover exquisite 17,000-year-old cave paintings that permanently change our understanding of humanity.
FIRE FLIGHT: A WILDFIRE ESCAPE can be purchased wherever books are sold, in hardcover with library binding at $18.99. The ISBN is 9781684468867.
About Cedar Pruitt: Cedar Pruitt is the author of the children’s books FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape from Capstone, about an owl’s real-life surprise ride in a firefighting helicopter, and the forthcoming WHAT MARCEL FOUND: The Incredible Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings from Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster. Cedar Pruitt holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University and works as a consultant in culture and leadership. She lives in greater Boston, Massachusetts.
Website: CedarPruitt.com
Instagram: @CedarPruittBooks
Cedar Pruitt 