Okay, prognosticators. Who would you pick for the winners? It’s your turn. For the next few days, we’ll be asking for your choice. Not that our judges will be swayed, sorry to say: we’ve cloistered them in an undisclosed location for the duration. First up: YA finalists. For a refresher, read the blurbs here. …
INTERVIEW WEEK: Trash-talking with Loree Griffin Burns
We considered ourselves wildly fortunate to land some impressive volunteers our first year out. Inevitably, a few decided not to return this year. But in the case of Loree Griffin Burns, we can’t be too sad; after all, she’s back as a finalist in nonfiction MG/YA books. Fiona Bayrock at Books and ‘Rocks had a major advantage going into her …
INTERVIEW WEEK: Barry Lyga talks about his, erm, “Toy”
We’re nominating Barry Lyga as our personal Boy Toy. Can we do that? He’s super-smart, his most recent book has gotten rave reviews and a berth on the Cybils’ YA short list, plus, y’know, he’s really hot. Today’s feature interview is culled from Becky’s Book Reviews, where he reveals that he pays no attention whatsoever to Cybils or any other …
INTERVIEW WEEK: Tune in to Cybils finalists
Tired of waiting for the big announcements? Want to put an end to that K-nuffle Bunny pronunciation debate? Or get the scoop on those spotless New York City backdrops? Pop over to the Just One More Book! children’s book Podcast and listen in as the hilarious and modest Mo Willems shares his thoughts on "playing" books, hiking bears and the …
INTERVIEW WEEK: Mo Willems & Mother Reader — together again
It’s interview week here at Cybils, and we’re bringing you the best Q&A tidbits from around our cozy corner of the blogosphere. What more fabulous way to start off than revisiting the great romance of MotherReader and Mo Willems? Though we could probably shorten that to just Mo’ R and Mo W by now. She’s been practically cyberstalking the kidlit …
REVIEW: The Off Season, by Catherine Murdock
Kelly here, checking in with a review from Jen Robinson. What can we say about Jen in a brief introduction? Well, she runs an amazing blog (Jen Robinson’s Book Page), writes level-headed, intelligent reviews, and has a passion for childhood literacy. She’s been with the Cybils from the beginning and we couldn’t think of surviving without her. Jen is an …
A Q&A with Steve Jenkins
Eisha here. Around here we’ve started referring to Steve Jenkins as "Mr. Cybils." His name crops up on three of our shortlisted titles: as illustrator of Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre (Non-fiction Picture Book) and of Animal Poems by Valerie Worth (Poetry), and as author/illustrator of Living Color (Non-fiction Picture Book). But Mr. Jenkins is no stranger to accolades. Since …
REVIEW
Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
Sarah at Reading YA: Readers’ Rants has whipped our Graphics Novel list into shape as organizer, turning in a superb batch of finalists despite endless hassles locating wayward copies of books. As you might suspect from her blog’s title, she loves books pitched to teens, and recently read Into the Wild (from our fantasy short list) about Rapunzel’s daughter, Julie: …
Steve Jenkins is in the house
Okay, he’s in my house (Anne here). I mean, not physically here, amid the pile of books and debris, but inside my laptop. It’s probably really cramped in there, especially him being an illustrator of THREE finalists this year. Jules of 7-Imp‘s gone and interviewed him for us and now he’s happily waiting inside my hard drive until I can …
REVIEW
Lightship by Brian Floca
Get your brand-new blogging trend right here: non-fiction Mondays. It’s the brainchild of Anastasia Suen and we thought we’d join the fun. Chris Barton’s the go-to guy for this genre, with a blog that revels in the variety and depth of the picture books out there on every conceivable topic. Plus, he’s got two of his own due out soon …