Category Organizer: Julie Danielson (Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast) Nominating Panel: Julie Danielson (Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast)Marcie Flinchum Atkins (World of Words)Annie Teich (Crazy for Kids Books)Cheryl RainfieldPam Coughlan MotherReader Judging Panel: Mitali Perkins (Mitali’s Fire Escape)Nikki Tate (Work in Progress)Gail Wilson (Through the Studio Door)Barbara Johansen Newman (Cats and Jammers Studio)Stacey Shubitz (Two Writing Teachers)

Category Organizer: Kelly Fineman (Writing and Ruminating) Nominating Panel: Kelly Fineman (Writing and Ruminating) Laura Purdie Salas (Writing the World for Kids) Elaine Magliaro (Wild Rose Reader)Wendy Betts (Blog from the Windowsill)Sylvia Vardell (Poetry for Children) Judging Panel: Gregory K. (Gotta Book)Jone Rush MacCulloch (Check It Out)Sara Lewis Holmes (Read Write Believe)Cloudscome (A Wrung Sponge)Franki Sibberson (A Year of Reading)

Thanks to the overwhelming response, we’ve filled all the slots on our committees for both rounds of judging. Things are getting underway here in Cybils land. We’ll be profiling our volunteers all this week, and nominations open on Oct. 1. We hope you’ll also come back to read reviews and features throughout Cybils season, which lasts until our Big Announcement …

We’re putting up the scaffolding and donning our hard hats… a site redesign will be underway soon as we prep for the 2007 Cybils. You’ll see gradual changes as we tinker with the layout (buh-bye, black background!) and update the logo. We plan to start posting new content around the middle of the month, with nominations opening Oct. 1. Mark …

A big hello to the members of SCBWI who found the Cybils via the March/April SCBWI Bulletin. We’ll be opening nominations for the 2007 Cybils awards in the Fall.  Please return in September to begin nominating your favorite children’s and YA titles of the year. Thanks to Susan Salzman Raab of Raab Associates for the wonderful article on the Cybils.  …

Back in January, we asked for feedback on the nominating process, and you answered. Big time. And we heard you. We also promised you’d be invited to our post mortem, the term editors use for dissecting their publication after it hits the stands. Or, in this case, the tubes. What went right? What needs tweaking? What needs an extreme makeover? …

Because Kelly and I are such amazingly efficient people, all our calls to publishers have been made, all the i’s are dotted on the press release, and we’re just sitting on our hands waiting for TypePad to publish the list. So why wait? Why indeed. I have fiddled with the settings and the results will post just before noon Central …

Many thanks to the Orlando Sentinel’s parenting blog for their shout out to us, and a big welcome to Orlando-area parents reading us for the first time. Scroll down to see finalists in all eight categories. Leave us a comment if you’re outraged or thrilled or curious how we picked that book.

On behalf of Team Cybils, I’d like to wish all our Jewish readers and their families, friends, pets, co-workers, neighbors and casual acquaintances a Happy Chanukah, which begins at sundown tonight. Here’s hoping the latkes are hot, the doughnuts are fresh and there’s heaps of delicious books in crisp wrapping paper next to your menorah. We’ll see you throughout next …

Today, Kimberly Pauley reviews Robert Cormier: Daring to Disturb the Universe, a book nominated in the Non-fiction (MG/YA) category.  Kimberly writes for the popular site, Young Adult (& Kids) Book Central.  And, she was impressed.  Here’s her review: —————————————————————– If you’ve read my past reviews, you know that Cormier books are not my favorite reads. I’m not saying they aren’t …