Tomorrow is the first of our finalist announcements. I think I’ll torture you a little. Some trivia about the lists, but no hints: Two of them have grown to eight seven, and another to seven, eight, instead of last year’s five;* The Fantasy/Science Fiction list has split in two by age group, with five in each; There are a goodly …

The Cybils team would like to congratulate panelist Mindy, who blogs at Propernoun.net, on the birth of her new daughter. We’re all so happy for you, Mindy! Mindy has been a tireless member of the middle grade/young adult nonfiction nominating committee this year, and is already back on board with discussions. We are very fortunate to have her as part …

Our panelists have gotten to know the UPS and post office delivery folks pretty well by now; those boxes keep arriving packed with nominated books. Unfortunately, Santa’s got a lock on those same services this time of year, and anything stamped “Media Mail” is shunted to the back of the sled. We find ourselves in a dilemma: either we’re going …

The books nominated in the fantasy and science fiction category cover a wide range, from early chapter books all the way up to sophisticated young adult novels. Although the nominating committee is doing its best to judge each book on its own merits, in reality it’s difficult to compare books where simplicity is an art and a goal against those …

Look at this magnificent fountain pen: Is this not hot? Would this not look stunning with our Cybils logo stamped onto the clip? We can do it. We can offer our winning authors and illustrators a real award this year. All we need is money. Oh yeah, that. I got Cybils’ first bank statement yesterday, and we have $660 and …

Isn’t this widget just lovely? It’s helping us highlight–and sell–the glorious children’s and young adult books nominated over the past seven weeks here at the 2007 Cybils. Refresh the page and see what happens. Ta-dah! A whole new book pops up. Within the next few days, we expect to have our widget loaded with every nominated book–however many that turns …

Nominations close at midnight Chicago time on Wednesday, Nov. 21. I know some of you have been waiting until the 11th hour … well, that’s like any second now, okay? I won’t actually be up at midnight tomorrow, but I’ll delete any nominations that come in after deadline. I hate, hate, hate being a grouch, it really doesn’t suit my …

Hey, who you calling a flake? For those who’ve been following the phenomenon of Robert’s Snow, the auction begins today. Jules and Eisha have the round-up of all the different artists who donated their talents to decorating a snowflake, with links to the bloggers who profiled them. There’s also a list on this blog (right column, scroll down a bit), …

In my other life, I’m the freelance editor for the Poetry Foundation’s children’s Web page. It’s my great pleasure to announce that two of Cybils’ organizers, Jules and Eisha, have an article suggesting which poems to sneak into your kid’s lunch box. Besides the usual holidays, you’ll find poems for losing a tooth, pop quizzes, fights with best friends … …

First, we’d like to thank all the publishers who have sent review copies so far. Books are streaming in to our panelists, who aren’t wasting a precious second of their all-too-brief reading period. Some of the smaller publishers have said they cannot make review copies available, so panelists are hunting down copies in local libraries. That’s cool. Thanks for letting …