Local Author Wins National Book Awards

All About Colorblindness: A Guide to Color Vision Deficiency for Kids (and Grown-ups Too) by life-long Bellmore/Merrick resident Karen Rae Levine recently received recognition by two national independent book contests: The National Indie Excellence Awards and The Next Generation Indie Awards, in the category of Children's Non-fiction.

In this full-color picture book, Corey, a fourth-grader, explains how his color deficiency caused problems in kindergarten. Along the way Corey learns about the special way he sees colors. His color confusion is a physical condition that many people share. It has nothing to do with how smart he is and he doesn’t let it get in his way. Corey's story is followed by a simple explanation of CVD…what it is, how many people have it, how they got it and the kind of problems it might cause.

Karen received an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School in Manhattan. The mother of a bright and vibrant son with Color Vision Deficiency, Karen ( formerly Karen Kanarek) is also a long-time advocate for CVD. With the enthusiastic cooperation of the PTA and administration of the North Bellmore School district administration, she established district-wide pre-K color vision screening.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards, established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 60 different categories, is the largest Not-for-Profit annual book awards program for indie authors and independent publishers.

The National Indie Excellence Awards is a competition judged by independent experts from all aspects of the indie book industry. From their Los Angeles base, they select award winners and finalists based on overall excellence of presentation.

All About Color Blindness is also the winner of the 2011 Independent Book Awards in the category of Health.

For more information visit KarenRaeLevine.com.

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