Today is YA day here at the Cybils, and who better to feature than our YA coordinator, Jen Robinson. While all our organizers are an enthusiastic, knowledgeable bunch, Jen’s business acumen and laser-beam focus has helped make the Cybils a professional, quality venture from the get-go. Plus, she’s an impassioned writer, and you quickly get sucked in by her direct, …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Toys Go Out
Hi, everyone! This is Kelly Herold, organizer for the Picture Book (Fiction) category. I also am on the nominating committee for the Middle Grade Fiction award and have been reading, reading, reading. Here’s a review of a new title I’ve read recently: Toys Go Out. Toys Go Out, by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, is one of …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
This Jazz Man
Today’s Review of the Day is brought to you by our Picture Book Non-Fiction Committee Organizer, Chris Barton. Chris is a writer of Non-Fiction for Children and runs a wonderful blog about writing and books for kids at Bartography. Today Chris reviews a title nominated for a Non-Fiction Picture Book Cybil, This Jazz Man. **************************** The last time I wrote …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
Like many of our panelists and judges, Elaine Magliaro is a relative newcomer to blogging, having joined The Blue Rose Girls a few weeks ago. Just in time to help us out at Cybils! Elaine’s been known to write a verse or two of her own, so she’s a natural for reviewing poetry: In Butterfly Eyes, Joyce Sidman displays her …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
The Lurkers
Our review of the day is by resident Sorceress of Fantasy, Michele Fry of Scholar’s Blog. Michele reads and reviews Fantasy titles for children and adults almost every day of the week. She’s also on the Cybils nominating committee for the, believe it or not, Fantasy category! Charles Butler’s brand new book, The Lurkers, is a disturbing tale of a …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Tales of the Cryptids
Not only will we be featuring fantastic books every day, but fun bloggers too. Meet Loree Griffin Burns, a panelist for the Middle Grade/YA non-fiction list who proves that while this may be one of the smaller categories, it doesn’t lack for offbeat gems like Tales of the Cryptids: This meaty middle-grade non-fiction title takes readers on an adventure in …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
Who can forget our first loves, first heartbreaks, first zits or first snub by the popular kids or … wait, what was it we loved about high school? Sara’s Holds Shelf is where Sara Norman reviews YA novels, one of the Cybils’ most popular categories with more than 90 nominations as of this writing. Phew. She recently reviewed Ally Carter’s …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Voices
I hope no one minds if I toot my own horn here. If you’re in the mood for fantasy (and given today’s realities, who isn’t?) check out my review at latimes.com of Ursula Le Guin’s Voices, her veiled critique of the illiterate know-nothings who imperil our libraries. Except my normally fabulous editors wouldn’t let me call such morons "know-nothings" let …
REVIEW OF THE DAY
Blackbeard, The Pirate King
Our entree today is Chicken Spaghetti, with a special order of poetry dished out by Susan: J. Patrick Lewis’s Blackbeard, the Pirate King wins the award for longest subtitle: "Several Yarns Detailing the Legends, Myths, and Real-Life Adventures of History’s Most Notorious Seaman." A pirate fan’s delight, needless to say. My second-grader and I loved the swashbuckling art. Read the …
Review of the Day: Carrot Soup
While we wait for the nominations to close, the Cybils team brings you Reviews of the Day. We pluck a title from the nominations and give it a read. Today, Kelly Herold (Big A little a) reviews Carrot Soup, by John Segal. Carrot Soup is nominated in the Picture Book Fiction category. The hero of John Segal‘s Carrot Soup is …