Now, what could be better than having your book win a prestigious, national literary award?

Well, how about three?

That’s the number of awards recently bestowed upon “Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas,” a nonfiction children’s picture book about the Southern resident orcas that live in the Salish Sea.

Written by Dr. Sally Hodson, former executive director of the The Whale Museum, and illustrated by Orcas Island artist Ann Jones, Granny’s clan was selected the 2013 Book of the Year, children’s category, by the Izaak Walton League, 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award, as a finalist in the category of children’s non-fiction, and earned first place in the Purple Dragonfly Children’s Book Award Children’s Picture Book category.

Published in September, 2013, by Dawn Publications, Granny’s Clan takes young readers on a real-life adventure with two young orcas and Granny, the clan’s 100-year-old matriarch as they welcome a new baby, “see” with sound, hunt for salmon, play, face dangers and encounter humans. Weaving science with story, it celebrates the importance of family and friendship, as children learn about the lives and behavior of killer whales, and dangers that threaten them.

A collaboration of Hodson, a K-12 educator, who lives on Orcas, and Jones, who’s signature pastel art is frequently on display at Orcas Island Artworks, the award-winning Granny’s Clan is available for purchase at Friday Harbor’s Griffin Bay Bookstore and The Whale Museum, Darvill’s Bookstore on Orcas and Lopez Island’s Lopez Bookstore.