Thanks to FPB Round I Judge Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, today we found out that some of our very own panelist bloggers are part of the group of stellar nominees for the 2009 Edublog Awards, which honor the best education blogs on the web. The "Eddies" have been around for six years, which makes them more venerable than …
Give a Little Cybils Love
Somewhere in between organizing the Kidlitcon, heading up the Fiction Picture Books category, blogging at her own site, and posting to the Booklights blog at PBS Parents, the indefatigable Mother Reader–aka Pam Coughlan–somehow found time this year to add a new installment to her fantastic series of Ways to Give a Book posts. If you're looking for holiday gift ideas, …
Some insights from a panelist …
Hat tip to Sheila for passing along a link to some fascinating musings from a panelist with the middle grade Science Fiction/Fantasy list. Critique de Mr. Chompchomp notes the reliance of Fantasy authors on magic doodads (trivia note: dubbed "Macguffins" by none other than Alfred Hitchcock). He spots a trend toward one item in particular: But there is a general …
Annual Beg-For-Money Post
I look forward to this post every year about as much as I await the next 40-something birthday. I grit my teeth and suffer through it. I remind myself it could be worse — I could be getting another C-section. So *holds breath* here goes … Truthfully, Cybils has very few financial needs. For the last two years, we've bought …
The widgets are here! Look in sidebar —->
Look in the sidebar right next to this column. Scroll down just below the ads and genre list. What do you see? Our new widget! Yes, you too can have this glamorous widget for your website or blog. It shows off a different nominated title whenever you refresh the page — though you can customize it to show just your …
This Just In! Cybils Nominee Wins National Book Award
The National Book Award winners were announced tonight, and we were proud as could be to see that one of our Cybils nominees for MG/YA Non-Fiction, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, was the winner for Young People's Literature. Colvin herself–who was jailed as a teenager in 1955 for not giving up her seat to a white woman …
Paneling in NYC
Okay, so paneling is not exactly a verb in a way that means "a group of kidlit obsessives who natter on to an audience of strangers." But paneling we did. Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 fame moderated a discussion on kidlit blogging and the Cybils awards at the NY Public Library on Saturday. The one with the lions, though the whole building's under …
Children’s Literary Cafe
Organizers Susan, Pam, myself and ex-Cybils organizer Liz are headed into New York City for a big to-do at the NY Public Library. Another ex-Cybilian, Betsy, is our organizer and moderator. Here's the scoop: Pam and other bloggers will discuss the state of children's literature online today including ethics, publisher/blogger relations, transparency, influence (or lack thereof) over published titles, and …
A Note to Publishers
I will be contacting publishers over the next couple of weeks to congratulate you on your nomination and to discuss the possibility of obtaining review copies for the panelists. In these tough economic times, we understand that publishers are cutting back, and we are committed to doing what we can to help save you money on review copies while still …
Congratulations, National Book Awards Finalists!
The finalists for the National Book Awards were announced this morning, and we'd like to extend a special congratulations to former Cybils panelist Laini Taylor, who received a nomination for her book, Lips Touch: Three Times. Laini was a panelist in the Fantasy/Science Fiction category last year. The NBA finalists in the Young People's Literature category are: Deborah Heiligman, Charles …