"Ein prekäres Bestiarium“ is "Knowledge Book of the Year"!
And the winner is … the „prekäre Bestiarium” by Citizen Conservation! Our story book “Von Okapi, Scharnierschildkröte und Schnilch – ein prekäres Bestiarium” (translated, this means “Of okapi, box turtle and schnilch – a precarious bestiary”), published by Galiani Berlin in February 2022, has won the prestigious “Knowledge Book of the Year” award. In the category “Entertainment – the most exciting book”.
A jury of eleven science journalists from Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung to WDR, SWR, Max Planck Research and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt have awarded prizes to the best science books of the year for the magazine “bild der wissenschaft”. The twelfth vote was cast by the readers – 2,437 people voted. We are particularly pleased that not only the professionals voted for the “prekäre Bestiarium “, but also most of the readers.
Enamoured amazement at the curious diversity
Jury member Lukas Meyer-Blankenburg of SWR2 Wissen justifies the award with the beautiful words: “The authors never make fun of their readers’ half-knowledge – at most of their own. Their humour is rather an enamoured amazement at the curious diversity of the animal kingdom – a feeling that one definitely shares when opening this book.” Read the entire rationale for the award here.
Without lecturing, but with a lot of empathy
Daniela Schmidt reviews the “Bestiarium” for mdr Wissen on the occasion of the awarding of the prize “and can only recommend it: A book without a raised forefinger, butwith a lot of empathy for animals that we urgently need to get to know.”
Read the book, become a patron
“Von Okapi, Scharnierschildkröte und Schnilch – ein prekäres Bestiarium” brings together 49 texts on animal species that would probably have become or are becoming extinct without conservation breeding. They illustrate the meaning of Citizen Conservation with numerous practical examples, from Parosphromenus alfredi to Zhou’s box turtle, from bison to the bearded vulture. The texts were written by Heiko Werning, Ulrike Sterblich and Björn Encke, originally for CC’s Creature Podcast, which continued to run in 2022 and where numerous celebrity supporters gave their voices for the ex situ keeping of endangered animals, including the current Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winner Ana Marwan, the “Tatort Münster” commissioner Axel Prahl and the bestselling author Frank Schätzing (“The Swarm”).
The fees for the book go entirely to CC, the publisher adds half a euro per copy sold. Anyone from the readership who would like to support us beyond that can do so with a patronage: 150 euros for species protection, and as a thank you you will not only receive a card signed and stamped by the authors, but also a CC T-shirt with a vignette of your favourite animal from the book. Wildly Stylish
T-Shirts: These shirts are available as a thank you for a patronage – with a vignette of the favourite animal from the book!
Authors: The brains behind the "Bestiarium": Ulrike Sterblich and Heiko Werning think and write for Frogs & Friends and Citizen Conservation.