Science fiction and fantasy take us to realms of the imagination: places and times and realities where the rules of life may be different than our own and where the impossible and improbable become real. But good science fiction and fantasy does more than that; a book about magic for its own sake isn’t a very interesting book. Good science …

Jules here, organizer for the Fiction Picture Books committee. What exactly will we obsessive picture book lovers be doing and looking for? "The picture book is a peculiar art form that thrives on genius, intuition, daring, wrote Maurice Sendak in 1997. A picture book gives us what no other type of book can: the merging of text, art, and design …

In the foreword to his 1996 book, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative, comics veteran Will Eisner said, "I hold that the story is the most critical component in a comic. Not only is it the intellectual frame on which all artwork rests, but it, more than anything else, helps the work endure." In the Graphic Novels category of the Cybils, …

What do we mean by "middle grade" fiction?  Is it defined simply by what it is not — it is not picture books, it is not early chapter books, it is not young adult. It’s "I’ll know it when I see it." Middle grade is for the kids who have mastered reading well enough to leave those early readers behind …

Middle Grade and Young Adult Nonfiction covers a wide swath of territory: from history, biography and science to sports, astronomy and dinosaurs. Homeschooling parents are using single-subject nonfiction books to supplement or replace textbooks. Teachers and librarians are recommending nonfiction titles to expand upon classroom subjects and to pique the interest of kids passionate about particular topics. And kids of …

Pick a topic. It can be anything, as long as it’s something kids want to know about: biography, history, biology, astronomy, gastronomy… whatever. Then write about it. Maybe in the form of a story, or a scrapbook, or just some really engaging prose. Just make sure it says something true, something surprising, in a way that hasn’t been said before. …

The poetry committees will be looking for this year’s best poetry collection for kids. The key to this category is the word "collection", because picture books that tell a single, rhyming story belong in the picture book category.  Collections need not be the work of a single author, but may be an anthology.  Collections need not be picture books — …

You’ll find no dragons or magic, fairies or robots here. Just real people, in the real world, in real situations. In a good YA novel teens will find themselves and discover their world. A great YA novel will do both of those while respecting and appealing to its audience. We are looking for a handful of the greatest teen novels …