Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese has taken the world of Graphic Novels by storm. A finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Printz award, American Born Chinese emerged triumphant as the winner of the 2006 Cybil for Graphic Novels (ages 13 and up) as well. Laura Atkins, of Tockla’s World of Children’s Literature, interviewed Gene Yang …
An Interview with Mélanie Watt
Out of over 100 nominated picture book titles, Scaredy Squirrel rose to the top to collect the Cybils Award. The book stars a squirrel who’s afraid of everything and won’t leave his comfort zone, until one day…well, you should really read the book. What sets this book apart from the pack is its kid appeal. Kids of all ages–including grown-up …
Buzz
The net is buzzing with news of The Cybils. Here’s what the internet has to say: Susan at Northern Suburban Library Systems immediately makes the blogging connection, writing “Congratulations to the group of bloggers who have diligently read and voted on the 2006 best children’s books. They just announced (on a blog, of course) their top choices in nine categories.” …
Some Interesting Facts about The 2006 Cybils
Just a few things I’ve noticed, the day after… When we opened nominations for the 2006 Cybils back in October, we made sure to mention that the only rules were that nominated books have a 2006 copyright date and be published in English. So, we’re glad to report that, even though The Cybils are run out of Chicago, Illinois, two …
Spreading the word
As the deliberations come to a close, I’m left wondering about an important part of the awards process. Since there are plenty of smart people in and about the kidlitosphere, perhaps one to one hundred of you can offer your advice. Here’s the question: How to get the word out? It’s as simple as that. We e-mailed the big bookblogs–the …
Meet Pam Coughlan
Today meet Pam Coughlan, a.k.a MotherReader! Pam writes great reviews and essays about kids books, making us laugh along the way. She’s serving as a judge for the Picture Book category, a genre she knows extremely well. Let’s find out more about MotherReader: Q: How long have you been blogging, Pam? A: Since January 23, 2006 Q: Why do you …
Meet Snow Wildsmith
Snow Wildsmith is a Youth Services Librarian and a judge in the Graphic Novel category. These judges are working double duty as they will be awarding two prizes–one for Graphic Novels intended for the 12 and under crowd, and one for Graphic Novels for teens. Snow blogs at Kiddie Lit and says she’s "a geek who likes comic books and …
Who do you think you are?
One question that has popped up here and there in response to the Cybils and the awards process is "who do you think you are? Mr. Bigstuff?" More specifically, people want to know what, exactly, makes kidlit bloggers qualified to judge children’s books. We’re not like those awarding the ALA prizes. Everyone knows who they are–librarians and other members of …
Meet Jone Rush McCulloch
Jone Rush McCulloch blogs as MsMac at Check It Out. She’s a teacher librarian in a K-5 school and is serving as a judge for the Poetry category. In order to get better acquainted, we asked her a few questions. Q: How long have you been blogging, Jone? A: Since February 2006 Q: Why do you blog? A: I started …
Meet Kelly Fineman
Kelly Fineman is a judge for the Poetry category. She’s a children’s writer who blogs at Writing and Ruminating. On her blog, Kelly reviews books and talks about writing and life. To get to know her better we sent her a series of questions. Q: How long have you been blogging? A: Since May 11, 2005. Q: Why do you …