Multi-tasking Mary Ann is how she introduced herself lately – but perhaps that's apt as we delve into the world of Book Apps that seem to do so many things at once. Mary Ann is a school librarian, mom to three, grad student and blogger. Each day she spreads a love of reading with 300 elementary students in Berkeley, CA …

In 1989, First Lady Barbara Bush helped me see that literacy is, in part, passing on a love of reading. Nothing excited me more than building a library in our nursery, and now, watching my almost-10-year-old grow as a reader. Like the excitement of Christmas morning, there'is something magical in the moment a child realizes they know how to read. …

After a two-year hiatus, Fiona is thrilled to be back on the Cybils organizing team again. As a children's science writer, she spends her days chasing questions through the "ologies", talking to scientists around the world, and then writing about the quirky, cool, amazing science she finds. Her work has appeared in magazines such as Highlights for Children, KNOW, YES …

Continuing with the Cybils as category organizer for Fiction Picture Books, Pam Coughlan writes the blog MotherReader and administers the website KidLitosphere Central. Two daughters and ten years in the children's department of public libraries kindled her passion for picture books. Now managing the schedules of two teenage girls, she appreciates the genre even more for delivering the essence of …

Remember those amazing panelist roundtables we posted to the blog a couple of years ago? Today, we’re kicking off a new set of Q&As with our panelists, complete with a fresh new title. Okay, well, it’s not new so much as “borrowed” from Stephen Colbert’s “Better Know a District” feature, but hey–immature artists copy, mature ones steal, right? Or something. …

Since I last saw you all back in February, a few amazing things have happened. I interviewed a witch who casts spells and stuff and even writes YA. I interviewed an Iraq war veteran whose blog was censored by the U.S. Army. I meet some cool people in my day job as a radio news writer. Until a month or …

Susan Thomsen traces her love of nonfiction back to the days when she was mesmerized by such World Book entries as The Exoskeleton of Insects. She is positively thrilled with today's nonfiction bounty. Thrilled! Just ask her about Civil War submarines, P.T. Barnum, frog scientists, or growing up on Israel's West Bank–all of which were subjects in recent nonfiction for …

This is the second time in a week that Sarah Stevenson has had to write about herself, a fact which makes her feel terrifically self-centered. The first time was a letter introducing her debut novel to teen readers for YALSA's galley program, a task which was both incredibly cool and very intimidating. Her YA novel The Latte Rebellion will be …

Jackie Parker got the reading gene from her mother, a librarian, who had gotten it from her father, who was, by most accounts, a bit of a renaissance man. Jackie didn't become voracious until fourth grade when Stacy Youngs and she had an unspoken and puzzling rivalry regarding who could read the new Babysitter's Club book the fastest each month. …

As the daughter of teachers turned artisans, Pam grew up saturated with the values of education and art. The literature she added herself, surviving long weekends on the craft show circuit with her precious books. Exposed to many styles and forms of art, her own talent tapered off at doodling – and the occasional clay dragon. Many years later, she …