RADFORD – Radford University English professor Rick Van Noy recently earned top prize in the book category of the 2009 Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment.

Van Noy received the honor for his 2008 book, A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting with Kids and Nature Throughout the Seasons.

The Southern Environmental Law Center of Charlottesville presents the awards annually for categories in books and journalism.

A Natural Sense of Wonder examines the challenges of a father attempting to lure his children away from the temptations of television and video games and into the world outside their doors. Through narrative essays, Van Noy describes journeys with his kids outside their home and tells of the pleasures of walking in a creek, digging for salamanders and learning to appreciate vultures, and suggest ways parents and kids of all ages can experience the wonder found only in the natural world.

A Natural Sense of Wonder was published in June by the University of Georgia Press. Van Noy also is the author of Surveying the Interior: Literary Cartographers and the Sense of Place.

Reed contest judge Janet Lembke said that A Natural Sense of Wonder is “a delight throughout, a page-turner, filled with fine ideas and suggestions for action between parents and children to introduce young-uns to the natural world.”

Van Noy will receive the honor Saturday during a special event and reading featuring author Jan DeBlieu as part of the annual Virginia Festival of the Book. The event begins at 10 a.m. at SELC’s Downtown Mall headquarters, and is free and open to public. Van Noy also will conduct a reading of A Natural Sense of Wonder at noon that day at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in Charlottesville.