Today’s book review comes to us from YA Nonfiction Round 2 judge Adrienne Gillespie of the blog Books and Bassets (don’t miss the cute photos!). A 4th grade teacher and former librarian from Portland, OR, Adrienne reviewed Poetry nominee The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Chris …
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 …
On Diverse Books for Kids, Agendas, and More
Here at the Cybils, one of our primary goals has always been to promote a diverse range of books for kids and young adults—books that are both high-quality and high-enjoyment. Kids need to see representations of themselves in books, and it’s just as important for them to see authentic representations of people NOT like themselves. As author Mitali Perkins put …
Cybils Judges and Authors on Women’s History
It's Women's History Month, and in honor of that, two of our longtime Cybils judges, Kelly Jensen and Kimberly Francisco of the blog STACKED, invited 10 female YA authors (ahem, including your temporary blog editor) to write about either female YA authors, female YA characters, or broader topics about girls in YA. I had a lot of fun talking about …
Twitter Love for Cybils 2014
As if we weren't excited enough simply to announce this year's fantastic winning titles, we're also running high on the lovely things people have been saying in reaction to the winners announcement. It makes us so thrilled to be able to spread some love to deserving authors and illustrators (and their publishers, too), and here's what some of them had …
REVIEW: Dragonbreath #9 by Ursula Vernon
Today's featured review comes from Laura Purdie Salas, a Round 1 judge for Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books. Besides being a past Cybil-ite, she's an author herself–and, in fact, a Cybils winner in 2012 for her poetry collection Bookspeak. So she knows whereof she speaks, when it comes to kids' books. Last week, Laura reviewed Early Chapter Books nominee …