I happen to love awards. All the awards. I like following the hype and buzz and then seeing if my favorite (or one I’ve at least seen or read) wins. So, I suppose, it’s no surprise that one of my favorite things to do every year is compare the Cybils outcome and see how they fared against the “big” awards, …
List Fun: Listening to the Cybils
School is almost out – time to make your summer reading lists. Whether you have a preference for audio books or you want to see what all the fuss is about I’ve got you covered! When I was a round one judge for the 2013 Cybils I was thankful that audio books were an acceptable way to “read” the nominees, …
List Fun: Easy Readers for Toddlers
Contrary to popular belief, easy readers are not just for emerging readers. Easy readers are a great source of fun characters, simple storylines and engaging illustrations for toddlers as well. Many early level easy reader books feature the same enlarged font and simple sentence structures as picture books. The difference with easy readers is that most follow a slightly …
List Fun: YA Graphic Novels with Diverse Characters
My very first time as a Cybils judge was in 2006, as a part of the Graphic Novels round 1 panel. I’ve participated every year since then (not always in Graphic Novels, but often), and one of my favorite aspects of Cybils judging is having the opportunity to read such an immense variety of books with intriguing, diverse characters and …
List Fun: Cybils Books with Latino Flair
I’m very passionate about diversity in YA and children’s literature. As a former bilingual teacher, I found a huge discrepancy on what was out there during the 1990s/2000s especially stories with Latin@ protagonists. This was the driving force behind me writing Earrings of Ixtumea which has a Latina protagonist being thrust into a parallel world where she has to confront the …
List Fun: I Like a Few Facts With My Poetry
Don Graves, father of the modern writing process, used to always say, “Poets are a lot like scientists. They both observe the world very, very closely.” Each of the books celebrates the merge of poetry with nonfiction. Perfect for science or social studies, as mentor texts for quick reports, or just plain old enjoyable reads for those of us who …
List Fun: Readable Nonfiction
As a teen/tween public librarian, I specialize in students from third grade through high school. My colleagues often will pull me in to help a teen or tween reader find books that will help them survive their school assignments. Usually without fail the one assignment I am called in to help with more times than not is when we have …
List Fun: Young Adult High Fantasy
Game of Thrones returns to television this week, and in celebration, here’s a list for those who can’t get enough high fantasy. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) defines high fantasy as “Fantasies set in Otherworlds, specifically Secondary Worlds, and which deal with matters affecting the destiny of those worlds.” In essence, high fantasy stories are set in fully imaginary worlds …
List Fun: Ten Cybils Poetry Books That I Love
It’s always a challenge to select just one CYBILS Poetry book as the winner. Here are ten CYBILS finalists I love. Check them out for National Poetry Month. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, written and illustrated by Adam Rex (finalist 2006): This was one hilarious poetry book for the first year of the CYBILS. The kids at my school check this book out …
List Fun: Fun and Funny Fantasy Read Alouds for the Whole Family
Family story time is a special time and if, like me, you have a wide span of years between your kids, finding a book that will satisfy all those young minds and hearts can be a challenge. Here are some books that combine fun adventure and humor sure to appeal and entertain everyone from the youngest kids able to listen …