Kathleen Welton Receives International Recognition Through the NYC Big Book Award®

2025 NYC Big Book Award Winner

"Be WHOO You Are" by Kathleen Welton. Illustrated by Nuno Alexandre Vieira.

Author Kathleen Welton

2025 NYC Big Book Award winner

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, October 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 2025 NYC Big Book Award recognized "Be WHOO You Are" by Kathleen Welton in the category of Picture Books - All Ages as the winner.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, designers, booksellers, librarians and professional copywriters. Winners and distinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.

"Be WHOO You Are"

Ollie the Owl wonders what his true purpose will be. Will he be like the busy bees who cultivate sweet nectar and nature's beauty or will he be like the industrious beavers who build protective dams and sturdy structures? When Ollie's dear friend Betty the Bunny chases a butterfly and loses her way, Ollie wants to help. That's when Fred the Firefly appears, casting a warm, guiding glow. Together, Fred and Ollie embark on a mission to reunite Betty with her family before darkness envelops the land. When Ollie spreads his wings, he discovers his unique talents for kindness, listening intently, and lending a helping hand-or wing-to those in need. Ollie listens to his heart and realizes that he's already exactly WHOO he's meant to be!

NYC Big Book Award received book submissions worldwide. Journalists, well established authors, small and large press, and first time indie authors participated in record numbers. Entries this year were received from the United States as well as countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Cities represented among the entries were Chicago, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Quebec, Rome, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, and Victoria.

Publishers included Berrett-Koehler; Brown Books Kids; Central Avenue / Simon & Schuster; Forbes Books; New Harbinger Publications; New York University Press; Old Stone Press; Oxford University Press; Pegasus Books; She Writes Press; University of Massachusetts Press to name a few.

Winners included "What is My Legacy?" by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Marc Kielburger and Craig Kielburger; "Mikhail Gorbachev - How he changed our lives" by Bettina Schaefer; Berrett-Koehler's "From Founder to Future: A Business Roadmap to Impact, Longevity, and Employee Ownership" by John Abrams; The Cooking Lab's "Modernist Bread at Home" by Nathan Myhrvold; and "Wild Fox Ridge" by Xue Mo to name some key titles on the awarded list.

"With so many quality publishers and authors from around the world participating this year, I’m eager to share these books with a global readership," said awards sponsor Gabby Olczak.

View the NYC Big Book winners: https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/2025-winners.

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NYC Big Book Award is announced every fall. NYC Big Book Award is open to all authors, publishers, and illustrators, and includes submissions from the big five publishers: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster.

Join us for the Independent Press Award, deadlines every December and announced every spring, is open to independent authors and publishers. Visit: https://www.independentpressaward.com/2025winners.

Join us at the Awards Dinner on April 25th to celebrate the recipients of both programs as they receive their awards on stage. The dinner is part of the BookCAMP event, a publishing industry conference held in the New York metro area, April 24-25, 2026, https://www.independentpressaward.com/ipabookcamp.

Gabby Olczak
NYC Big Book Award
+1 973-969-1899
gabby@NYCBigBookAward.com
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