Young Birder of the Year Honored with Roger Tory Peterson App and Apple iPad 2

SAN ANSELMO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Birding Association (ABA) Young Birder of the Year Rachael Butek could not believe what she was reading. Only one week ago, Rachael learned she had won the ABA Young Birder of the Year contest. And today, an email from Nigel Hall, President of Appweavers, Inc., arrived to let her know she would receive a brand new Apple iPad 2 along with Appweavers’ latest app, Peterson Birds of North America for the iPhone and iPad.

“We are 100% behind the ABA’s push to encourage young birders, and when we heard Rachael had won the Young Birder of the Year competition, we knew we had to find a way to recognize her achievement”

Ms. Butek, a homeschool graduate from Colfax, Wisconsin, completed the ABA’s seven-month long contest taking first place in two of four competition categories. A second and third placement in the two remaining categories gave her the overall win and title Young Birder of the Year.

The ABA’s Young Birder of the Year contest is an annual competition that tests the wits of birders aged 10 through 18 years. Participants submit entries in four modules—field notebook, writing, illustration, and photography. Submissions are judged by a team of volunteer birding experts who this year included noted birding author David Sibley, nature writer Laura Kammermeier, and director of guidebooks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Lisa White.

“We are 100% behind the ABA’s push to encourage young birders, and when we heard Rachael had won the Young Birder of the Year competition, we knew we had to find a way to recognize her achievement,” said Nigel Hall, President, Appweavers. “The iPad is such an amazing tool for birders, and our unabridged adaptation of Roger Tory Peterson’s classic Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America looks astounding on the device.”

Appweavers is a San Francisco Bay Area software company focusing on nature guide apps for mobile computing devices. The company has a multi-product licensing agreement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for development of mobile apps based on the highly respected Peterson Field Guide series of books. The company is getting ready to release its second app, Peterson Feeder Birds of North America.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the world’s largest provider of educational products and solutions for pre-K–12 learning. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt education products and services are used by 57 million students throughout all 50 U.S. states and 120 countries. With origins dating back to 1832, the company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers.

For more information about Peterson apps, visit petersonguides.com

Peterson Birds of North America is available now from the iTunes App Store

For more information on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, visit hmhco.com.

For more information on the America Birding Association, visit aba.org.

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