List Fun: Kid-Friendly Biographies

As a panelist, we always discuss all books on their merits both literary and kid appeal.  Sometimes, librarians find picture book biographies to be a tough sell.  Not me!  I am fortunate in my school to have the opportunity to collaborate with some amazing classroom, special education, and special area teachers.  The third grade team at my school has created …

List Fun: Read Aloud Fiction Picture Books

Whether you’re snuggled up with your own kids, or you’re seated in the “teacher chair” for a group story time, if you want a lively read aloud experience, you look for picture books that encourage children to think, to notice, and, quite often, to laugh. Here are book suggestions from the Cybils archives. Too Many Toys written and illustrated by David …

List Fun: Robot Stories for Elementary Readers

Robots are a perennially popular topic among books nominated for the Cybils. Here are some favorites from seasons past. Boy and Bot by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino Nominee, Fiction Picture Books, 2012 When a boy’s new robot friend falls down and bumps his power switch, the boy brings him home to nurse him back to health, only to …

List Fun: Read Aloud Non-Fiction

In recent years there has been an upsurge in nonfiction that’s great for reading aloud to preschool and kindergarten-age kids, either one-on-one or in classrooms and storytimes. Here are a few great read-aloud titles that Cybils has taken note of. Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Steawart:  The 2014 Finalist and Winner in the Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction Category is a great read-aloud. Simple sentences make …

Cybils Flyers

Our wonderful media guru, Sarah Stevenson, has worked her magic and provided a printer-friendly flyer listing all of this year’s Cybils finalists. You can find it here.  Feel free to print it off, hand it out, pass it around, and generally get the word out. You can also find lists of our past finalists (and winners) in the books section of …

2014 Finalists: The Ones that Got Away

Every year, our panelists read hundreds of books (generally). Which means, every year, when they as a group narrow the books down to finalists, there are some that don’t make the cut. Here are some posts by panelists highlighting great books in their categories that didn’t quite make the cut. Kim at Si, Se Puede highlights some of her favorite …