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Home Blog January Cybils on Substack (a little late)

January Cybils on Substack (a little late)

February 1, 2026

Forgive us: January was Januarying super hard this year. But, we’ve collected ourselves, and our new Scribbles Substack is live. You can read it here.

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February is winding down, so that must mean it’s

February is winding down, so that must mean it’s time for the latest edition of the Cybils Scribbles.

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things Cybils. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

This edition includes:

📚 A salute to U.S. Postal Service’s Literary Arts Series
📚 Some Olympics musings
📚 A book list for Black History Month
📚 Other bookish news, recommendations, & more!

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).

Books featured in this post:

📖 How Sweet the Sound by Kwame Alexander & illustrated by Charly Palmer
📖 How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith & adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul
📖 The History of We by Nikkolas Smith
📖 And She Was Loved by Andrea Davis Pinkney & illustrated by Daniel Minter
📖 When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson & illustrated by London Ladd
📖 Malcolm Lives! byIbram X. Kendi
📖 Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature by Caroline Brewer
📖 Maya Angelou Finds Her Voice by Connie Roop & Peter Roop & illustrated by Noa Denmon

@imtanner320 (Debbie) recently reviewed A Year Wit

@imtanner320 (Debbie) recently reviewed A Year Without Home by @vtbidania, a powerful novel in verse inspired by the author’s own family story as refugees in the wake of the Vietnam War. Here’s an edited excerpt from her blog, The Book Search:

🌎🌎🌎

The story is told by Gao Sheng, who is the oldest child in her family and as a girl, she is not considered as important as her brother, Yia. She is expected to be hard working, dutiful, and well-behaved and she tries hard to fill that role. Her home in Laos contains most of her immediate family-her grandmother, her aunts and uncles, her parents and siblings and they have most everything they need. Her father is an officer in the Laotian military and when the Laotian government falls to the communists, he knows it's time to go. Their harrowing journey through Laos and finally to the refugee camp in Thailand is a gripping reminder that immigrants don't always have an option to just get on a plane and come to a new country. Sometimes it's a journey fraught with peril and the poems do an excellent job of showing what that was like.

Once in the refugee camp, there are also hurdles, like finding a place to sleep and navigating the systems that the relief agencies put in place. There is also a lot of information about Hmong culture, the food they like to eat, how families are connected, the importance of education, and the role of women.

The free verse poetry structure makes the book really approachable. I think kids are going to love this one.

📖 Check out the full review on Debbie’s blog, The Book Search (www.imtanner.blogspot.com/). 📖

And grab a copy of A Year Without Home, out now from @penguinkids.

#novelinverse #penguinkids #vtbidania #historicalfiction #middlegrade #bookreview #booksforkids #kidlit

@sarapennypacker (2011 Cybils Awards Finalist, Cle

@sarapennypacker (2011 Cybils Awards Finalist, Clementine and the Family Meeting) is back with The Lions’ Run, the story of Lucas Dubois, an orphan who finds bravery during the Nazi occupation of his French village.

@imtanner320 (Debbie) recently reviewed it for her blog, where she had a lot of great things to say. Here’s a small excerpt:

🐎🐎🐎

In addition to the very compelling characters, there are big themes of survival during a time of conflict, kindness, doing the right thing, found families, and empathy.

I loved this book and read it in mostly one sitting. I think kids are going to love it too.

📖 Check out the full review on Debbie’s blog, The Book Search (www.imtanner.blogspot.com/). 📖

And grab a copy of The Lions’ Run, out now from @mackidsbooks.

#historicalfiction #middlegrade #bookreview #sarapennypacker #mackidsbooks #balzerandbray #kidsbooks #booksforkids #bookrec

A good book is always necessary, and that’s espe

A good book is always necessary, and that’s especially true in tough times. For the latest edition of the Cybils Scribbles, we have you covered with plenty of recommendations.

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things Cybils. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).

Books featured in this post:

📖 The Anxious Exile of Sara Salt by Gabrielle Prendergast
📖 Bread Days by Hannah Chung
📖 The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes
📖 How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico
📖 If I Could Go Back by Briana Johnson
📖 King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin
📖 A Summer Without Anna by Kate Jenks Landry & illustrated by Risa Hugo
📖 This Side of Falling by Eunice Chan

#cybilsawards #cybilsscribbles #kidsbooks #yalit #mgbooks #mentalhealthbooks #lunarnewyear #horrorbooks #kidlit #picturebooks #booklists #bookrecs

There are few authors who stand as bright in the c

There are few authors who stand as bright in the children’s book canon as James Marshall, and @jerroldconnors shows why in JIM! Six True Stories About One Great Artist: James Marshall.

Cybils team member @pluckedfromthestacks (Christopher) recently reviewed it:

🦛🦛🦛

Packed with a deep appreciation for its subject, JIM! Six True Stories About One Great Artist: James Marshall is a blueprint for all future picture book biographies.

Author and illustrator Jerrold Connors uses short chapters (reminiscent of the vignettes in Marshall’s George and Martha series) to highlight six threads of Marshall’s life. His journey to becoming a children’s author, his friendships with folks like Arnold Lobel and Maurice Sendak, his relationship with his partner Billy, and his personal struggles as an artist are all included. Connors tells these as engaging stories while focusing on how these situations and people impacted his creative viewpoint that was later distilled into his books. The result is a touching tribute, particularly in the final section, which portrays Marshall in the hospital at the end of his life. While concerned about whether children will understand where he’s gone after he’s passed, he’s comforted knowing his audience is smart and they’d figure it out. They always had.

Above all, JIM!, much like its namesake, is fun. Connors has filled these pages with references to Marshall. While his famous (and many less-so) characters make appearances, everything from the bold lines and color palette to the use of vibrant animals representing people (a fox for Jim, a cat for Billy) has a Marshall-esque wink while being uniquely Connors.

Heartfelt and a joy to read, JIM! is a perfect celebration of a literary giant.

📖 Grab a copy of JIM!, out now from @penguinkids. 📖

#jerroldconnors #jamesmarshall #penguinkids #dialbooks #childrensbook #pbbiography #kidlitnonfiction #nonfiction #nonfictionkidlit #biography #picturebook

What can you do with a little earth and water? Loo

What can you do with a little earth and water? Look no further than Mud to the Rescue!: How Animals Use Mud to Thrive and Survive by @tanyakonerman and illustrated by @melcatstories for the answer.

Cybils team member @pluckedfromthestacks (Christopher) recently reviewed it:

🐘🐘🐘

Mud, glorious mud! It’s not just an ingredient used by outdoor pie bakers, but also a vital resource animals use daily across the globe.

In Mud to the Rescue!, author Tanya Konerman digs deep to highlight all the ways this mixture is vital. Uses range from a building material for homes to a cooling coating that doubles as a sunblock and even a digestant that helps soothe some animals’ stomachs. Through careful research and a healthy dose of alliteration (and onomatopoeia!), Konerman has packed this book with the not-so-dirty truth about an everyday substance humans often take for granted.

This is all aided by Melanie Cataldo’s wonderful illustrations. While the animals she portrays are realistic (and often adorable), it’s her attention to mud, its different consistencies, and its functions that makes her artwork pop.

Both lyrical and informative, Mud to the Rescue is all fun and no mess.

📖 Grab a copy of Mud to the Rescue!, out now from @weboflifebooks. 📖

#weboflifebooks #tanyakonerman #melaniecataldo #nonfiction #nonfictionpb #sciencebook #sciencepb #childrensbooks #stembooks #stembooksforkids #kidsbooks

It’s hard to resist a book featuring a cat. Fort

It’s hard to resist a book featuring a cat. Fortunately, @brianlies has another brilliant one to add to the stack.

Here’s an edited review from the blog Sonder Books, written by Cybils Awards team member @sondy2019 (Sondy):

🐈🐈🐈

Cat Nap is the story of a kitten chasing a mouse through art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There's a fun refrain:

Does Kitten follow?
Of course he does.

But what makes the book stunning is the art. As in The Three Pigs, by David Wiesner, the cat's portrayal changes on each spread to match the art where he is currently hunting.

So that would be interesting enough if it were simply different styles of drawing - but Brian Lies actually uses sculpture in many frames - when the cat interacts with a ceramic dog and a mask with a bird. He made actual stained glass windows when the cat interacts with a medieval stained glass pane.

There's an extensive Author's Note at the back with the works of art identified. And pictured without the cat.

[...] Oh yes, and besides that wonderful Author's Note, the book gives an engaging story. What's not to like about a kitten chasing a mouse through entertaining obstacles?

📖 Check out the full review on Sondy’s blog, Sonder Books (www.sonderbooks.com). 📖

And grab a copy of Cat Nap, out now from @greenwillowbooks.

#catbook #picturebook #artbook #childrensbook #kidsbook #authorillustrator #recentread #greenwillowbooks #brianlies #readingtime #booksforkids

Winter is coming, and you know what that means …

Winter is coming, and you know what that means … Well, yes, we agree that it’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book. BUT it also means it’s time for the latest edition of the Cybils Scribbles!

If you’re not a regular reader of the Scribbles, it’s our official Substack newsletter dedicated to all things Cybils. It’s packed with news, book lists, and other features curated for readers like you.

Check it out over at cybilsawards.substack.com/ (link also in bio).

This edition includes:

❄️ Books fit for a winter’s day
❄️ Mystery books perfect for armchair detectives
❄️ How E.B. White’s granddaughter is standing up for his literary legacy
❄️ Archaic comic book laws in Sacramento
❄️ And more!

Books featured in this post:

📖 The Heart of Winter by Alessandro Montagnana
📖 I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Mariama J. Lockington
📖 Is This … Winter? by Helen Yoon
📖 Joy to the Girls by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick
📖 The Old Sleigh by Jarrett Pumphrey & Jerome Pumphrey
📖 Snow by Meera Trehan
📖 The Song of Orphan's Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt
📖 The Winter of the Dollhouse by Laura Amy Schlitz

#cybilsawards #booknews #winterreading #mysterybooks #ebwhite #comicbooks #booknews #bookishfeatures #winterbooks

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