For Halloween, what could be better than a spooky book by a "ghost artist"? Our own Jackie Parker has the details at her blog. For a brief time last summer, Finney was able to forget about his doomed future. See, "for a member of the Bleak family the true measure of success is not what is accomplished in LIFE, but …
REVIEW: In Search of Mockingbird
Many thanks to Cheryl Rainfield, one of our panelists, who’s the first to buy a classified ad here at Cybils. We hope you all clicked on it and visited one of her blogs. She actually has two; the second reviews "Teen books that have something to say", where she has many thoughtful things to say of her own. In today’s …
REVIEW: Tracking Trash by Loree Griffin Burns
Today we bring you a review of a title nominated in this year’s middle grade and young adult nonfiction category: Tracking Trash, by Loree Griffin Burns (Amazon link, BookSense link), reviewed by Mindy from Propernoun.net. Mindy was the administrator for this category last year, and is on this year’s nominating committee. She is a Collection Development Librarian at a book …
A behind-the-scenes look at the nominating panels
Fifty-some bloggers on eight committees are busy finding, reading, and evaluating the hundreds of titles nominated for the 2007 Cybils. What will they be doing and thinking about when choosing the best children’s and YA books of 2007? I. Organizers Each panel organizer supervises the full list of nominations, which includes: Making sure a book has been nominated in the …
REVIEW: Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
As someone who blogs primarily about fantasy and science fiction, it’s not often that I review books outside my genre. So I wanted to take this opportunity to share my review of a book that is nominated in the Young Adult category. Song of the Sparrow is based on the Arthurian legends, which would seem to make it fantasy, but …
REVIEW: Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Today’s review of another picture book comes from Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. It’s called Leaves, by David Ezra Stein: This is a lovely little poem of a picture book (or, as the Publishers Weekly review put it in their starred review, more like a "haiku-like shape," praising Stein for his willingness to let the story assume that …
REVIEW: 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter
As Cybils editor, I see a lot of great book blogs, so I feel a bit self-conscious introducing my own. Book Buds is where I react to children’s books in the form of short- to medium-length reviews. With just enough art history learnin’ in me to cause trouble, I critique both words and pictures. It’s not enough to say "this …
We’re a “classie” group
Hey all, don’t forget we’re selling classified ads for $10. The money will go toward buying an award (likely a fountain pen) for our winning authors and illustrators. Follow this link to buy a classified on our BlogAds page. Check "Classie" and fill out all the other stuff. Your ad’ll appear about halfway down the center column. Send a shout …
REVIEW: Here’s a Little Poem
Just in time for Poetry Friday, today’s review comes from Kelly Fineman, our Poetry organizer: Earlier this year, I purchased one of my favorite anthologies of children’s poetry — a Very Big Book called Here’s A Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrated by Polly Dunbar. If you have a …
REVIEW: Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Hi, Liz B. here. My blog is "A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy," where I blog about, well, just about everything related to story. This year, I’m involved with both Middle Grade and YA for the Cybils, but I read and discuss other books, as well as TV and movies. I started the blog so I could have …