I was going through my feed reader the other day, and I noticed a press release from the American Bookseller’s Association announcing their new Revisit & Rediscover initiative, highlighting older (called backlist in the industry) titles. They describe it as this: Each quarter, the Kids’ Indie Next List will highlight three backlist titles each, plus bookseller blurbs, for picture book, middle …
Review: Mr. Pants: Trick or Feet!
Tomorrow’s Halloween, so you kind of knew today’s review would be Halloween-themed, right? The one that jumped out at us was Graphic Novels nominee Mr. Pants: Trick or Feet!, by Scott McCormick, reviewed by Gary, a first round Graphics judge who blogs at What’s Not Wrong?. He writes: Mr. Pants: Trick or Feet! is a wacky Halloween-themed adventure featuring the cockeyed cat Mr. …
REVIEW: Another Kind of Hurricane
The recent news about Hurricane Patricia has got me thinking about the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Ten years out, there were several good books published about that event this year including Middle Grade Fiction nominee Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith. Our review comes from first round Middle Grade Fiction judge Debbie, who blogs as The Booksearch. She …
REVIEW: Leo: A Ghost Story
With Halloween coming up fast, today’s book review features another ghost story–this one for younger readers, as a nominee in the Fiction Picture Books category. The review of Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson comes to us from Benji Martin, a round 2 Fiction Picture Books judge hailing from Alabama and blogging at Tales …
REVIEW: Took: A Ghost Story
As we creep closer to Halloween, it seems only fitting that we take a look at a ghost story from the Elementary and Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction category. (And isn’t that cover art SUPER creepy? Yipes.) Today’s review of Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is brought to you by Round 1 judge Mark Buxton, aka sixth-grade language arts …
REVIEW: Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France
Roberta Gibson, Round 1 judge for Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction, brings us our review of the day, from her children’s lit blog Wrapped in Foil. She focuses primarily on children’s and YA nonfiction, and has an interest in both biographies and STEM titles–both of which could describe EMNF nominee Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France …
REVIEW: Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly
Today’s review comes from Sonderbooks, the online home of Sondra Eklund, one of our Round 1 judges this year for Fiction Picture Books and longtime Cybils participant. She posts a wide range of reviews from picture books to books for grown-ups, and one of her reviews earlier this year described Easy Readers nominee Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly by …
REVIEW: Metamorphabet
Welcome to the first featured blog review of the 2015 Cybils Awards contest! We’re starting right at the top of the list of categories with a Book App called Metamorphabet, reviewed by Round 1 Book Apps judge Jill Goodman. Jill is an academic and a veteran explorer in the world of book apps, and she blogs at appoLearning, now known …
The 2015 Cybils are OPEN!
Welcome to the TENTH annual Cybils awards! The nominations are now open! Some quick reminders: First off, be sure to check out our category descriptions. If you don’t know where the book should go, please read through the descriptions to help you decide. If you’re still not quite sure, make your best guess, and we can straighten things out behind the scenes. Take a minute …
The 2015 Cybils Logo!
In case you haven’t heard already: it’s the Cybils 10th year! We are super excited that we’ve been able to work with you volunteers to select the best and most kid-friendly books each year for TEN WHOLE YEARS, that we thought we deserved a logo to match our celebratory spirit. And so, our illustrious logo-designer, Sarah, came up with this: …