I love graphic novels! When I found out that many of the Cybils books I loved started out as webcomics, I was thrilled. “You mean I can read some of the best sequential art out there for free on the internet? And it’s legal?!” What is a webcomic? It is a comic that is posted online as it is made. …
List Fun: Dynamic Duos in Books for Beginning Readers
When Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad Are Friends was first published, it introduced easy-going Frog and gruff, curmudgeonly Toad to a generation of beginning readers, who readily devoured the antics of this mismatched pair of friends. The tradition Lobel started back in 1970 continues today. Many easy reader series feature characters (mostly animals) with opposing personalities who must figure out …
List Fun: Listening to the Cybils
School is almost out – time to make your summer reading lists. Whether you have a preference for audio books or you want to see what all the fuss is about I’ve got you covered! When I was a round one judge for the 2013 Cybils I was thankful that audio books were an acceptable way to “read” the nominees, …
Interview with Matt de la Peña
First off, congrats!! We are all thrilled The Living won! Could you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for this book? MdlP: I’m so honored that The Living won! Thank you, thank you, thank you! The book was a bit of an experiment for me. First of all, I was coming off four much quieter novels, …
List Fun: Easy Readers for Toddlers
Contrary to popular belief, easy readers are not just for emerging readers. Easy readers are a great source of fun characters, simple storylines and engaging illustrations for toddlers as well. Many early level easy reader books feature the same enlarged font and simple sentence structures as picture books. The difference with easy readers is that most follow a slightly …
Interview with Brandy Colbert
First off, congrats! Pointe is a terrific first novel! Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration for it? BC: Thank you so much—I’m honored! Pointe was initially a kidnapping story. I was inspired by the abduction of Steven Stayner in the 1970s, whose experience was later told in a TV movie called I Know My First Name Is Steven. I …
List Fun: YA Graphic Novels with Diverse Characters
My very first time as a Cybils judge was in 2006, as a part of the Graphic Novels round 1 panel. I’ve participated every year since then (not always in Graphic Novels, but often), and one of my favorite aspects of Cybils judging is having the opportunity to read such an immense variety of books with intriguing, diverse characters and …
Interview with Jen Wang
First off, congrats! In Real Life is a fantastic graphic novel. Could you tell us a bit about how the book came to be? JW: Sure! I’d previously done a book for First Second called KOKO BE GOOD, and sometime after that had come out and I was in between projects that weren’t working out, First Second approached me about …
List Fun: Cybils Books with Latino Flair
I’m very passionate about diversity in YA and children’s literature. As a former bilingual teacher, I found a huge discrepancy on what was out there during the 1990s/2000s especially stories with Latin@ protagonists. This was the driving force behind me writing Earrings of Ixtumea which has a Latina protagonist being thrust into a parallel world where she has to confront the …
Interview with Carrie Alexander (from Rocketwagon)
First off: congratulations!! Can you tell us what inspired you to tackle the app as a medium, rather than, say, a traditional book form? CA: My husband, Jon, is a freelance creative who has a background in graphic design, video game development, writing, and video editing. He had no app development experience, but because of these other pursuits was aware of …