As someone who blogs primarily about fantasy and science fiction, it’s not often that I review books outside my genre. So I wanted to take this opportunity to share my review of a book that is nominated in the Young Adult category. Song of the Sparrow is based on the Arthurian legends, which would seem to make it fantasy, but …
REVIEW: Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Today’s review of another picture book comes from Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. It’s called Leaves, by David Ezra Stein: This is a lovely little poem of a picture book (or, as the Publishers Weekly review put it in their starred review, more like a "haiku-like shape," praising Stein for his willingness to let the story assume that …
REVIEW: 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter
As Cybils editor, I see a lot of great book blogs, so I feel a bit self-conscious introducing my own. Book Buds is where I react to children’s books in the form of short- to medium-length reviews. With just enough art history learnin’ in me to cause trouble, I critique both words and pictures. It’s not enough to say "this …
We’re a “classie” group
Hey all, don’t forget we’re selling classified ads for $10. The money will go toward buying an award (likely a fountain pen) for our winning authors and illustrators. Follow this link to buy a classified on our BlogAds page. Check "Classie" and fill out all the other stuff. Your ad’ll appear about halfway down the center column. Send a shout …
REVIEW: Here’s a Little Poem
Just in time for Poetry Friday, today’s review comes from Kelly Fineman, our Poetry organizer: Earlier this year, I purchased one of my favorite anthologies of children’s poetry — a Very Big Book called Here’s A Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrated by Polly Dunbar. If you have a …
REVIEW: Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Hi, Liz B. here. My blog is "A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy," where I blog about, well, just about everything related to story. This year, I’m involved with both Middle Grade and YA for the Cybils, but I read and discuss other books, as well as TV and movies. I started the blog so I could have …
REVIEW: Hugo and Miles in I’ve Painted Everything by Scott Magoon
I’m Jen Robinson, and I blog at Jen Robinson’s Book Page. My blog focuses on promoting a love of books to children and a continued appreciation of children’s books by adults. I’ve had a life-long interest in reading and recommending children’s books, and I wanted to do something constructive with that passion. This year, I’m the middle grade and young …
REVIEW: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Over at ReadingYA: Readers’ Rants, my co-blogger TadMack and I write about young adult books that have caught our eye–whether we feel like a formal critique or an informal discussion. It’s the sister site of Finding Wonderland, our writing and literary news blog, and we started both blogs to share our observations and discoveries with our writing group and anyone …
REVIEW: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller
I love giving books to customers that transcend their age categories. There are books in the young adult section that I give to adults just as often as I give to teens, and vice-versa. There are stories hidden in a certain genre that are actually a combination of genres and could easily be placed in two or three other sections. …
Introducing your favorite books
Back, by popular demand — book reviews by our volunteers. Cybils is the place to discover great books and great bloggers, and we’re rounding up a sample of both starting today. As the contest progresses, you can check out which books our panelists are reading and what they think. For now, our organizers have chimed in with their takes on …