Cybils

Introducing Anastasia Suen, Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books Category

Learning how to read was magic for me. It opened up a new world - one where I could go anywhere and do anything. When I grew up, I helped others enter this magic world - I taught Kindergarten ESL and first grade, and helped children learn how to read. Now I recommend great books for this magic stage on my literacy blogs. My easy reader blog is 5 Great Books for Children Learning to Read and my early chapter books blog is Weekend Reads: Booktalks for Ages 6-12.

--Anastasia Suen

2010 Call for Judges

Yes, it's that time of year, when we ask kidlit bloggers around the world to stop what they're doing and join us. It's going to be another crazy contest year, so we're again reminding everyone:

1. judging is loads of fun work. For which we pay you tons nothing. 
2. you should skip skim read every word of this post here. 
3. you'll also find an explanation of the secret handshake rules there too.
4. The deadline to sign up is September 15th.

Okay, here's the tricky part:

We want you to email us at cybils09 (at) gmail (dot) com. BUT ... if you don't have the right phrase in your subject line, we'll know you didn't read this little post here, like we asked.

And you'll be beheaded disqualified. 

See you all soon!

-Anne Levy, Cybils admin.

Cybils 2010 Bling for Your Blog

We're back! And we're all very excited about this year's awards--the books...the bloggers...the fame and fortune...oh, wait. Maybe we do it for the love. And, okay, getting to read a ton of awesome books is a great side benefit. Whatever your reason for loving the Cybils, we want YOU to help us by showing your love.

That's right, we've got Cybils logos. Three sizes of 'em, in fact, in this year's nifty new color scheme. To download your chosen size (note: actual logos are larger than they appear!), simply right-click the size you want and select Save As. Feel free to use these to publicize the Cybils as much as you want. No, really. And stay tuned for an announcement of your favorite Cybils swag from our CafePress store!

500 x 283 pixels:

288 x 163 pixels:

180 x 102 pixels (great for sidebars!):

Pardon our dust

Ah, we ordered this fancy new blog header and the delivery guy comes and installs it and it doesn't fit in the space! We ordered the wrong size, so we're sending it back and getting a new one. It was either that, or move to a larger blog in a nicer neighborhood, preferably one with a pool.

Of course, once the new header's ready, we'll probably have to redecorate the whole blog. The color scheme just needs a little something, don't you think? Maybe granite countertops.

Do bear with us. A new Cybils season will be upon us a little late, but very soon. Promise.

--Anne Levy, Decorator-in-Chief

UPDATE: There, much better. Many thanks to Sarah, our editor and designer, for the new look. I'll be updating font colors throughout the week as I play with them (ooh, colors! Pretty!).