In 2005, a group of bloggers put their heads together and created an award. Back then, blogs were the go-to way to share reviews and recommendations, so, book bloggers were judges. A lot has changed over these last 18 years, including our name. We’re not (just) bloggers, we’re Book Lovers! What hasn’t changed is our passion to connect readers with …
Presenting the 2022 Cybils Award WINNERS!
As always, our sincere gratitude to the chairs, judges, panelists, and everyone who makes this award possible! Without the time you took away from your busy lives to read and think and discuss, we would not have this award. And to all the winners, our hearty congratulations! We can’t wait to share all these wonderful books with the kids in …
#Cybils2022 Middle Grade Fiction
Air: A Novel Monica Roe Farrar, Straus & Giroux Nominated by: JF Twelve-year-old Emmie is a wheelchair athlete and wants nothing more than to someday own a chair that she can truly show off her skills with, one day maybe even competing in wheelchair motocross. Emmie and her best friend, Claire, put their business skills to work and are …
#Cybils2022 Poetry/Novels in Verse
At the Pond David Elliott, illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford Candlewick Press Nominated by: Lisa Rogers David Elliott adds a celebration of pond life to his collection of charming animal poetry in At The Pond. Following the arc of a day from morning to night, readers meet a variety of pond flora and fauna, ranging from the “delicate, diaphanous, dazzling” …
#Cybils2022 Graphic Novels
Invisible: A Graphic Novel Christina Diaz Gonzalez, illustrated by Gabriela Epstein GRAPHIX Nominated by: cheriee weichel Five Latine students are thrown together because they all speak Spanish. What they know, and others (including the reader) learn is that they are not: they all have distinct experiences and cultures that make them different. Told in alternating viewpoints, they all work …
#Cybils2022 Easy Reader/Early Chapter Books
Cornbread & Poppy (Cornbread and Poppy, 1) Matthew Cordell Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Reshama This charming story follows a pair of mice as they make preparations for winter. Cornbread, a born planner, starts preparing for winter in advance, scouring for berries, buying cheese, and finding grains. His house is all set with food for winter. …
#Cybils2022 Board Books and Fiction Picture Books
10 Little Tractors (10 Little Vehicles) Annie Bailey, illustrated by Jeff Harter Doubleday Books for Young Readers Nominated by: JSJ Ten little tractors have a busy day working, and when the day comes to an end, they all gather together to go to sleep. This is a board book that does everything we ask for in a board book: …
#Cybils2022 Nonfiction
A Perfect Fit: How Lena “Lane” Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal Clarion Books Nominated by: Emma @ Miss Print A Perfect Fit is a children’s picture book biography about Lena Bryant, founder of what would later become Lane Bryant clothing. But more than just being a story about the beginnings of a …
#Cybils2022 Young Adult Speculative Fiction
A Snake Falls to Earth Darcie Little Badger Levine Querido Nominated by: Sondra Eklund Beyond our world lies the mirror world, populated by monsters, spirits, and animals that can take human form. In this mirror world Oli, a cottonmouth, is finding his way for the first time away from his family. His found family forms quickly to include the …
#Cybils2022 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
Children of the Quicksands Efua Traore Chicken House Nominated by: Kim Aippersbach Simi’s mother raised her in a protective bubble in Lagos, which did nothing to prepare her for a summer spent with her grandmother in a remote village, where the magic of the Yoruba gods and goddesses is real, and modern conveniences aren’t. There she is confronted with …