America at War illustrated by Stephen Alcorn edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins Simon & Schuster The poems in the anthology are not about war itself, but about the emotions related to warfare. The anthology is focused on the poetry of war, and the 54 poems inside the book are separated into eight sections, beginning with poems related to the Revolutionary …
REVIEW
The Monarch’s Progress: Poems with Wings
Elaine Magliaro, a former elementary school teacher and school librarian, is one of the Cybils Poetry panelists this year. She herself writes poetry for children–as well as blogging about children's books and poetry at Wild Rose Reader. You might also know her as one of the fabulous and inspiring Blue Rose Girls. Elaine is also a regular contributor to Nonfiction …
REVIEW
You Know Where to Find Me
If you're looking for reviews of teen books and teen books only; if you're looking for news about the YA lit world, links to other kids' book sites, or guest posts from YA authors like Paula Yoo, Melissa Walker, and more–well, look no further than Teen Book Review, the blog of YA Fiction panelist Jocelyn Pearce. Earlier this year, Jocelyn …
REVIEW
The Road to Oz
Readerbuzz is the blog of Debbie Nance, who is a primary school librarian and mom, but also a panelist for this year's Non-Fiction Picture Books category. She posts excellent booklists in the form of the Sunday Salon, puts together interesting themed reading challenges at her other blog, and has a great link list. She's also known for her succinct and …
A Cybilian defends the Newbery Medal
I'm sorry this snuck by me, but I just noticed it yesterday. Erica Perl, who'll be judging in Fiction Picture Books, has a post up at Slate.com from Friday. She takes on the naysayers picking on the Newbery Medal, defending its lofty, if sometimes quirky, choices. Cybils was founded in part to get away from the idea that a great …
REVIEW
A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg
Melissa at Book Nut describes her blog as "[t]he assorted book reviews (and other mostly book-related things) of a Stay-Home Mom with Four Daughters who has an Avid Love of Reading but is cursed with a Bad Memory." Her reviews are down-to-earth and intelligent with an honest personal angle, and she also poses reading challenges, like the upcoming Well-Seasoned Reader …
About The Cybils Awards
Our purpose is two-fold: Reward the children’s and young adult authors (and illustrators, let’s not forget them) whose books combine the highest literary merit and “kid appeal.” What’s that mean? If some la-di-dah awards can be compared to brussel sprouts, and other, more populist ones to gummy bears, we’re thinking more like organic chicken nuggets. We’re yummy and nutritious. Foster …
REVIEW
Goose and Duck by Jean Craighead George
You may know her as Andi or you may know her as Cloudscome, but either way you'll arrive at A Wrung Sponge, where you'll find a multitude of blog posts about multicultural children's books, poetry, gardening, knitting–and, best of all, original poems and photographs. (Yes, Cloudscome is a regular at Poetry Friday!) Earlier this month, she reviewed the Easy Reader …
REVIEW
How to Ditch Your Fairy
Tirzah Price, also known as The Compulsive Reader, is one of our panelists this year for Fantasy and Science Fiction–a daunting but rewarding quest indeed! At her blog, she reviews YA books of all genres, as well as posting book news, hosting contests, and featuring favorite books. Recently, she reviewed the latest novel by Justine Larbalestier, author of the Magic …
A big, fat shout-out with pom-poms and megaphones to our panelists
Three holiday cheers for our panelists, who're busily plowing through the 840+ nominated books on our 2008 list. Sheila Ruth built a fabulous, behind-the-scenes database that shows 89% of the titles have gotten at least one read. Since that number doesn't include the non-fiction picture book folks, it's probably closer to 100%, or just about. I've promised publishers, authors and …