Melissa Taylor is one of our Round I judges for Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books this year. She's also a teacher, a freelance writer, book editor-at-large for Colorado Parent magazine, a mom–and a blogger who posts reviews of kids' books ranging in age from board books to middle grade fiction. She blogs at Imagination Soup and Bookmarkable. This fall, …
Cybils Panelists and Nominees Rock the Winter Blog Blast Tour
If you've never heard of the Blog Blast Tours–Summer and Winter–you're missing out! It started in summer of 2007, organized by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray, and has been going strong twice a year ever since. The Blog Blast Tours are a semi-annual week of in-depth interviews with authors and illustrators, with a particular focus on children's and YA authors. …
REVIEW
Spilling Ink by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer
Sarah Mulhern Gross is a 6th grade teacher who has blogged about books, reading and writing at The Reading Zone since 2007. She's also one of the brains behind the recent ARCs Float On campaign to get more books into classroom libraries. Sarah has spent a few years as a loyal Middle Grade Fiction judge, but this year she's lending …
Holiday Shopping Helps the Cybils!
Y'all are probably old hands at this, but don't forget that when you click on the Amazon links in the Cybils site, ANY shopping you proceed to do on Amazon gives a teeny-tiny commission to the Cybils–or a big commission, if you decide to buy something major, like a big-screen TV or one of those nifty Brewbot things. You'll be …
REVIEW
Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai
Sherry Early of the Semicolon blog is one of our Middle Grade Fiction Round I judges this year, and a familiar face at the Cybils. Don't miss her extensive Saturday Reviews roundups of books from around the blogosphere–or her book reviews, booklists, and other fantastic resources for readers, parents and homeschoolers. One of the books Sherry reviewed earlier this fall …
REVIEW
Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber
Amanda Snow of A Patchwork of Books is no stranger to the Cybils. This year she's a Round I judge for Young Adult Fiction, a perfect role for someone who's a Youth Services Librarian. On her blog, she reviews a wide range of YA and children's books, as well as posting interviews, book challenges, memes and other fun goodies. One …
REVIEW
The Buzz on Bees by Shelley Rotner & Anne Woodhull
Abby Johnson, aka Abby (the) Librarian, is in her third year on the Cybils, where she's served on the YA Fiction and Middle Grade Fiction panels. This year she's a Round I judge for Non-Fiction and Information Picture Books. On her blog, she reviews books and talks about life as a children's librarian. Recently, Abby reviewed Cybils nominee The Buzz …
Hey! You! Want a Widget?
Thanks to Tracy Grand at JacketFlap, our new Cybils widget is here! Isn’t it purty? (I’ll pause a moment so you can nod enthusiastically.) Just like in past years, it shows off a different nominated title whenever you refresh the page, and you can even customize it to show just your favorite genres. It comes already loaded with our Amazon …
REVIEW
Meanwhile by Jason Shiga
If you've never visited Betsy Bird's blog A Fuse #8 Production, then you're missing out on one of the pillars of the kidlitosphere. No jive. Now housed on the prestigious School Library Journal website, Fuse #8 examines children's books in illuminating and entertaining detail, as well as covering other topics related to the world of children's literature. Betsy is a …
REVIEW
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman
Wild Rose Reader's Elaine Magliaro has been a longtime Cybils advocate and participant, and this year she's on our Round I Poetry panel. A former elementary school teacher and school librarian, she's a children's poet in her own right, and posts some of her own work to her blog as well as blogging about children's poetry books and resources. Earlier …