Every year at Cybils we comb through our judges' blogs looking for book reviews. Or we comb through the lists of books looking for reviewers. Either way, we kill two birds with one stone by highlighting both a nominee and one of our bloggers.
For the first review of the 2011, we're showing off our newest genre, Book Apps, and a blogger who's blazing a trail on this techno-frontier.
Carisa Kluver has reviewed more book apps than any other judge so far — 34 of the 58 nominees, according to organizer Mary Ann Scheuer. Carisa's a mom and wife to app developer Marc. The couple started Digital Storytime, where they review iPad book apps.
In her review of Cinderella, by app developer Nosy Crow, Carisa describes how her son's interaction with the story helps shape how it's told:
He said his very favorite part was getting to help Cinderella & the fairy godmother gather all the items needed for her trip to the ball. The requests for help are made directly from the characters in speech bubbles, creating a seemless experience for the reader. I especially enjoyed getting to choose the color of Cinderella's dress, since changing the color affects all the scenes that follow. It is as if the you are part of the story, shaping the experience as the characters not only leap off the page but also talk directly to the reader.
Read the full review here.