Bird Key author awarded for children's art book

The art world can be a complicated space for young minds to explore, with intricate terms and layers upon layers of contextual knowledge needed to understand a piece. But one Bird Key author has taken on the task of opening this world to viewers of all ages with his newest book, and the Florida Book Awards has recognized that effort.

Mifflin Lowe recently received a gold medal award in the Older Children's Literature category, named after Jean E. Lowrie for her endowment supporting children's literacy.

The book is titled "Art: An Interactive Guide," and it breaks down 150 of the world's greatest artists and their masterpieces in a bright, easily digestible way.

"Aesthetics are important, but more important to me is making this a book that gives artists personalities," he said.

Photo by Dana Kampa

This isn't Lowe's first foray into children's literature. He penned multiple books on history, highlighting some of the country's finest unsung heroes.

Lowe got his degree in art history at Princeton University, so this project was a perfect union of the two interests.

After offering an overview of the major art eras and movements throughout time, the book breaks down each featured artist and his or her most famous pieces.

Lowe said he didn't want the book to merely list dates and dry timelines of the artists' lives. Rather, he sought to engage readers with memorable stories, accompanied by those useful facts.

For example, Hokusai, creator of the iconic "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," was known by 30 different names in his lifetime.

The interactive elements help bring the book to life as well. One of Lowe's favorites is a spinning wheel that shows which metallic oxides give stained glass its vibrant colors.

David and Stephanie Miles created these elements. Bushel & Peck Books published the volume in 2025, qualifying it for the most recent round of competition.

Lowe said finding out in the February announcement that his book had won was a pleasant surprise, considering he wasn't the one to enter it.

Florida Book Awards Executive Director Keith Simmons said the fact the book uses so many techniques to engage readers is what helped set it apart from the 15 other entries in the category.

The organization has been celebrating Floridian authors for 20 years. For each of the 11 categories of books, three jurors review the entries. In total, they reviewed about 160 submissions for 2025.

Simmons said Lowe should be particularly proud of winning the Jean E. Lowrie medal. 

"Jean was really passionate about children's literature, and one of the things she and her family wanted to do, as a component of wanting to celebrate that love of literature, was to create an endowment to support those writers that are writing outstanding books," he said.

Simmons said growing the selection of books geared toward readers at the middle-school level across many different subject matters is an important step forward in fostering a lifelong love of reading.

"It has definitely grown quite a bit over the past couple of years, which is why we're excited for authors like Mr. Lowe," he said.

Lowe found his talent for writing at a young age. He recalls when his seventh-grade English teacher thought the essay he turned in was so well-written it must have been done by Lowe's mother and went so far as to call her into school.

"Well, I knew I could write then," he said.

Looking to the future, Lowe hopes to revisit the idea that partly inspired the art guide. In the same style as his other history books, he hopes to shine a light on the ideas and inventions that people from around the world who immigrated to the United States have contributed. He said the timing would be fitting for another installment as the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.