Maggi Idzikowski is a Round I judge in our Graphic Novels category this year. On her blog Mama Librarian, she tracks her progress in numerous reading challenges and posts concise capsule reviews of books she reads with her four-year old. Her reviews take into account criteria both practical and entertaining, such as Awesomeness and Mesmerizitude. This past fall, Maggi looked …

One of our Round II judges in Fiction Picture Books this year is Katie Davis, who blogs at Brain Burps About Books. Katie Davis is the author and illustrator of several picture books herself, and on her blog, she posts podcasts about children's literature, including fascinating behind-the-scenes interviews with authors and illustrators. Last month, Katie looked at Cybils FPB finalist …

Today's featured review comes from longtime kidlit (and adult lit) reviewer Colleen Mondor, Round II judge in the Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction category. Colleen blogs at Chasing Ray as well as being a columnist for Bookslut. Among her many kidlitosphere activities are the Blog Blast Tours–a biannual weeklong festival of author/illustrator interviews–and the What a Girl Wants series featuring YA authors. …

Round II Fantasy and Science Fiction judge Steph Su is mistress of the blog Steph Su Reads, which boasts over 1500 followers and is a great place to find in-depth MG and YA book reviews, author interviews, YA literature news, and other related information. A few months ago, Steph took a look at Teen SFF finalist Plain Kate by Erin …

Kelly Fineman, our poetry category organizer and a Round II judge, is a woman of many talents. Besides being an incredibly thoughtful and detailed reviewer and blogger, she's also a writer and poet who was recently featured in the poetry anthology Breaking Waves along with the likes of Ursula K. LeGuin. One of the Cybils finalists Kelly read and reviewed …

Sharon Hrycewicz, one of our Round II judges on the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panel, credits Anne of Green Gables for giving her a lifelong love of books and an eventual career as a children's librarian. On her blog, Reading Chick, she reviews a range of books for kids, with a special focus on audiobooks. One of the …

The blog EVEREAD (simply called "a book blog") has been a part of the Cybils for a few years now, and this year two of EVEREAD's bloggers–Ashley Bair and Alysa Stewart–are co-occupying a spot on the Middle Grade Fiction Round I panel, very fitting since they're voracious readers (and bloggers) of all sorts of middle grade books. One of the …

Melissa Wiley of Here in the Bonny Glen is amazing for so many reasons. She's been blogging since 2005, she's a homeschooling mother of a surprisingly large number of adorable children, she's a children's author in her own right, and she's the one who holds the honor of having coined the term "kidlitosphere." And she's a lovely person. No wonder …

Carol Wilcox is a literacy coach and reading intervention teacher in Colorado who has been an enthusiastic Cybils participant for the past few years. On her blog Carol's Corner, she reviews a wide range of titles for children and adults, and regularly participates in Poetry Friday. This year she's a Round I judge for Nonfiction Picture Books. What better time …

Longtime Cybils regular David Elzey blogs about children's literature at the excelsior file and about books for teen guys at Guys Lit Wire, but he's also a writer in his own right (er, no pun intended). This year he's a Round II judge on the Graphic Novels panel. This fall, David reviewed Graphic Novels nominee Yummy: The Last Days of …