Susan Thomsen, our category organizer for MG/YA Non-Fiction, posts about a dizzying array of book-related topics on her blog, Chicken Spaghetti, where she's been posting since 2005. Recently, she reviewed a Non-Fiction/Information Picture Book nominee that's bound to come in handy during these wintry holiday days when kids are on vacation from school and looking for something to do. What …
REVIEW
Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder
Fantasy and Science Fiction Round I panelist Eva Mitnick is a Senior Children's Librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library and, as she describes herself, a "crazed reader of books for kids, teens, and adults." She blogs about books as well as children's library issues at Eva's Book Addiction. Eva also reviews books for School Library Journal, where she wrote …
Fantasy/Science Fiction Round 2 Panels
A note from SFF organizer Sheila Ruth: Since the Cybils was founded four years ago, the number of nominations has increased dramatically each year. Back in that first year, Fantasy/Science Fiction was one unified category, with only 88 nominations in the entire category. By the second year, Fantasy/Science Fiction selected two groups of finalists, one for the elementary/middle age group …
REVIEW
Hatter M. Vol. 2: Mad with Wonder
Kim Baccellia is a familiar face on the Cybils Graphic Novels panel and an avid blogger who posts about graphic novels, YA fiction, and the YA writing life at Si, se puede! Yes we can. She is the author of the YA fantasy Earrings of Ixtumea and the upcoming novel Crossed Out. Kim also reviews books for Young Adult Books …
REVIEW
Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up
Sweet on Books is a virtual book community and "a place to help adults match young readers with books at just the right reading level and interest." The site was founded by two book-loving Melissas, one of whom (Melissa Young) is one of our Round I judges for Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books. She and her co-Melissa blog about …
Cybils Bloggers Nominated for Edublog Awards!
Thanks to FPB Round I Judge Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, today we found out that some of our very own panelist bloggers are part of the group of stellar nominees for the 2009 Edublog Awards, which honor the best education blogs on the web. The "Eddies" have been around for six years, which makes them more venerable than …
REVIEW
Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life
Librarian Debbie Nance–one of our Round I judges for Non-Fiction Picture Books–blogs at readerbuzz, where she frequently writes about not only picture books but YA and adult fiction, graphic novels, and various bookish thoughts. She also keeps lists of useful book blogs and library blogs. Debbie recently reviewed Cybils NFPB nominee Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life, …
Give a Little Cybils Love
Somewhere in between organizing the Kidlitcon, heading up the Fiction Picture Books category, blogging at her own site, and posting to the Booklights blog at PBS Parents, the indefatigable Mother Reader–aka Pam Coughlan–somehow found time this year to add a new installment to her fantastic series of Ways to Give a Book posts. If you're looking for holiday gift ideas, …
REVIEW
Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
Round I YA judge Tirzah Price is also known by her blog name, The Compulsive Reader. She's a seasoned Cybils veteran who posts literary news, updates, and reviews of YA books of all genres, interspersed with plenty of fun stuff like polls and contests. She is also part of the YA lit group blog Teen Tuesday. Earlier this year, she …
REVIEW
Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian
Round I poetry judge Sylvia Vardell is well loved around the kidlitosphere for her blog Poetry for Children, but you might not know that besides an avid fan of children's poetry, she's also a professor and an author! She's written or co-written a number of books about children's poetry for librarians and teachers, and she's the editor of Bookbird, a …