Writer J.L. Bell is a true fan of fantasy, and not just L. Frank Baum. Though he’s the editor of Oziana, creative magazine of the International Wizard of Oz Club, he’s also an Assistant Regional Advisor in the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators–and he’s a blogger to boot, taking part in this year’s judging panel for Graphic Novels. …

At Farm School, Becky writes about "family, books, food, classical home education, books, journeys, music, books, thoughts, movies, and books." She shares details of her family’s life on a farm in Canada, and her experiences in reading with and homeschooling her three elementary school-age children. Becky also writes well-researched posts about topics like adding poetry to your life, the importance …

Cheryl Rainfield, a member of the Fiction Picture Book nominating panel, is always looking for the good in children’s books. Cheryl keeps two sets of booklists on her site–one devoted to picture books and the other to Young Adult books–and one book blog.  She’s a reviewing machine! Recently she considered Cybils-nominated picture book Penguin, by Polly Dunbar, and here’s her …

Traci, who blogs at Fields of Gold, is one of the youngest bloggers working for the Cybils. At just fifteen years old, Traci likes acting, singing, dancing, and reading. Good thing she likes to read. She’s serving on the nominating panel for one of our biggest categories–Fantasy/Science Fiction.  Recently Traci read Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, by R.L. LaFevers, …

K.T. Horning is a librarian and a children’s & young adult literature specialist. She blogs about LGBTQ books for kids and teens at Worth the Trip. She publishes detailed, thoughtful book reviews, and maintains links to external resources of particular interest to her target audience. K.T. is a member of the middle grade and young adult non-fiction nominating committe. In …

Cloudscome blogs over at A Wrung Sponge and is a poetry fanatic. A librarian and a regular Poetry Friday contributor, Cloudscome is also a dab hand at the haiku. Luckily for the Cybils, Cloudscome is serving as a judge on the Poetry Committee this year. Today, she shares her review of the 2007 Cybils nominated title, When Gorilla Goes Walking, …

Mary Lee has featured some great Cybils-nominated titles on her blog A Year of Reading–for many of them, such as Graphic Novel nominee Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, she provides a teacher’s perspective on a book that could well spark newfound interest in a tried-and-true classic. "It is what the title says it is: Romeo and Juliet in manga. The …

Today’s selection is a non-fiction book that splits between the present day and the Holocaust, between well-equipped spelunkers and three desperate Jewish families. What they share between them, across time and circumstance, is a secret cave in the Ukraine. Mindy from Propernoun takes us there in her gripping review of The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story: The …

Many of us old timers in the blogging world remember when it was just Tasha Saecker and … well, it was just Tasha Saecker. Back in the early days of ’03, her Kids Lit blog was pretty much the only one of its kind. She’s said if she knew what crazy names we’d all be giving our online journals, she’d …

Hey, wanna have a cuppa joe with Andrea and Mark over at Just One More Book? That’s what it feels like when you listen in on their podcasts; you can even make out the cappuccino maker sputtering in the background as they sit in their favorite cafe and gab about kids’ books. They both loved Mama’s Saris, about a young …