Christophers Honor Best Films,

TV Shows, Books

Seven films, five television/cable shows and 11 books were honored March 15 with Christopher Awards in New York.

The Christophers, sponsor of the awards, estimated that 114 writers, directors, producers and illustrators in all were honored. The organization recognizes works that affirm the highest values of the human spirit.

Scene from “The Nativity Story"

Films receiving awards were “Akeelah and the Bee,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Miss Potter,” “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” “The Nativity Story,” “World Trade Center” and “Water.”

The TV/cable programs honored were HBO’s “Baghdad ER,” “A Simple Twist of Fate” from ABC’s “20/20,” TNT’s “The Ron Clark Story,” Cinemax’s “Cinemax Reel Life: Favela Rising,” and “Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History” from PBS’ “Nature.”

Best Books

Six books for adults and five books for young people also were honored.

The six books for adults were all nonfiction titles: “Barefootin’: Life Lessons From the Road to Freedom” by Unita Blackwell with JoAnne Prichard Morris; “Enrique’s Journey” by Sonia Nazario; “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Francis S. Collins; “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust” by Immaculee Ilibagiza with Steve Erwin; “My Life With the Saints” by Jesuit Father James Martin; and “The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East” by Sandy Tolan.

The five winners in books for young people were in different age categories:

• Preschool: “Hero Cat” by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Jo Ellen McAllister Stammen.
• Ages 6-8: “How We Are Smart” by W. Nikola-Lisa and illustrated by Sean Qualls.
• Ages 8-10: “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline.
• Ages 10-12: “Listen!” by Stephanie S. Tolan.
• Young adult: “Bread and Roses, Too” by Katherine Paterson, author of the perennial favorite children’s novel, “Bridge to Terabithia.”

Ch. 13’s President Honored

Also presented during the ceremony was only the fourth Christopher Leadership Award in the 58-year history of the Christopher Awards to longtime television executive William F. Baker, and a Special Christopher Award to NBC’s long-running “The More You Know” public service announcement campaign.

The Christophers, founded in 1945, goes by the credo “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

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