Last week we took a closer look at a few of the Cybils categories to find out a little more about the nominees, from the category organizers' perspectives. What stood out? Was there a gaggle of zombies or a flock of vampires? Was the decision about finalists particularly difficult or were there standouts? Today, we take a look at Graphic …
REVIEW
The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
Our finalist review today comes courtesy of Cybils veteran and poet extraordinaire Elaine Magliaro, who blogs at Wild Rose Reader. Elaine is also one of the intrepid Blue Rose Girls, who have provided their insightful insider perspectives on children's lit and publishing since the early days of the kidlitosphere. Back in November, Elaine wrote a review of Cybils Poetry finalist …
REVIEW
The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner
Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray is practically a celebrity in the kidlit blogging world, not just for organizing the Summer and Winter Blog Blast Tours of top-quality author interviews but also for her thought-provoking blog posts about a variety of literary topics. Colleen is also a reviewer for Bookslut, and her column last month looked at several non-fiction titles including …
REVIEW
The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton
SimplyScience is an indispensable blog for any teacher looking for great kids' books to incorporate into classroom science curriculum–Shirley Smith Duke not only reviews books but also provides suggestions for lessons and activities to accompany each one. Shirley is a Round II Judge this year for Non-Fiction Picture Books. Today's featured review is Shirley's post about The Day-Glo Brothers, written …
The Inside Scoop on Nominees, Part I
Welcome to the first installment of a three-part series of posts we're calling The Inside Scoop. Aren't you curious what the category organizers thought about this year's crop of Cybils nominees? I know I am, so I asked them to provide a quick blurb about the process so far: their impressions of the group of nominated titles, anything that stood …
REVIEW: Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey
Tasha Saecker, who blogs at Kids Lit, is not only a Round II Judge in Fantasy and Science Fiction, but was also the category organizer last year. Her blog is a familiar fixture to many of us kidlitosphere "old-timers," who enjoy reading her impressions of kids' and YA books from the perspective of a longtime children's librarian and public library …
REVIEW
Good Dog, Aggie by Lorie Ries
If you're over a certain age, the title Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs brings back memories of the unforgettably-illustrated children's classic, but it also happens to be the blog of Amanda Blau, one of our Round II Judges for the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books category. Amanda is a children's librarian in the Chicago area who posts reviews …
REVIEW
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook
We're getting back to posting reviews here on the Cybils blog, while the judges are busy poring over the lists of finalists–but just so you know, we're ONLY posting reviews that were written prior to the judging period. Today's finalist review comes from GN Round I panelist Nicola at Back to Books. Middle Grade Graphic Novel finalist The Secret Science …
The Best of the Best: A Cybils List-tacular
During the nominations reading period, hundreds of books were devoured and discussed by our faithful panels of Round I judges, so that we could bring you the fabulous list of Cybils finalists. In the process, a lot of our panelists generated their own lists of favorite books from 2009–not predictions, DEFINITELY not hints, and probably not prophecies, but certainly a …
REVIEW
Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
Amanda Snow of A Patchwork of Books is a repeat Cybils panelist, and this year she's a Round I judge for the Young Adult Fiction category. Amanda is a children's librarian in Virginia who reviews all genres of children's books (and even some adult books) on her blog. Cybils YA nominee Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger was featured on …