Some series are so beloved they are recognized by Cybils in some form every single year! Every eligible book published to date in the series listed below has been nominated for Cybils in the Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books category. –Katie Fitzgerald, Story Time SecretsEasy Readers/Early Chapter Books category organizer Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee This series …
The 2015 Cybils WINNERS!
Happy Cybils Day! As always, we want to thank all our judges for their reading, discussing, and ultimately deciding on our fantastic winners. And to our organizers who rose to the challenge of wrangling said judges, making sure everything ran smoothly, on top of everything else that was going on in life. (Life, it does get in the way of …
REVIEW: Dory and the Real True Friend
Today’s featured review of Early Chapter Books finalist Dory and the Real True Friend by Abby Hanlon–the sequel to 2014 Cybils finalist Dory Fantasmagory–comes from Round 2 judge Freya Hooper. Freya, a mom of 3 kids, blogs at One Great Book, where she reviews books for children and teens (and helpfully sorts them by grade level). About Dory and the …
REVIEW: Detective Gordon: The First Case
Juliana Lee brings us our featured review today; she’s a Round 1 judge for Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books this year, and she blogs at Crafting Stories, where she talks about writing and reading children’s books, especially picture books. She’s a retired teacher as well as a writer and avid reader, so it’s no surprise that her blog includes …
Review: Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken
Today’s review of Easy Reader finalist Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken, by Sarah Dillard comes from panelist Kimberley at Books First in Maine. She writes: The illustrations in this book are picture book-like and the book also has chapters which are appropriately short enough for a young reader. There was so much to look at and think about as I …
Review: The Chicken Squad
You’ve missed the reviews, haven’t you? Well, for the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting books from the finalists. Today’s review of Easy Reader/Beginning Chapter Book finalist The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure, by Doreen Cronin and Kevin Cornell comes from panelist Maggi, who has blogged at Mama Librarian. She writes: This early chapter book has perfect tone for a mystery, …
Review: Dory Fantasmagory
Today’s review of the day comes from Easy Reader/Early Chapter book round one panelist Melissa, who blogs at Imagination Soup. She did a round up of some pretty great books, one of which was nominee Dory Fantastmagory, by Abby Hanlon. Melissa writes: Dory’s brother and sister invent a baby-stealing robber named Mrs. Gobble Gracker to try to scare Dory only …
Review: Fly Away
Today’s review comes from first-round panelist Kimberley, who blogs at Books First in Maine. A teacher, parent, and avid reader, Kimberly recently read Easy Reader/Beginning chapter book nominee, Fly Away, by Patricia MacLachlan. She wrote: Patricia MacLachlan has the ability to really move me. She does it so subtly, you almost feel duped. “Hey!” you think, “Why am I crying?” Then …
Review: Eerie Elementary #1: The School Is Alive!
Today’s featured review of Eerie Elementary #1: The School is Alive! by Jack Chabert comes from round one panelist, Katie Fitzgerald. A former children’s librarian in Washington D. C., Katie now blogs at Story Time Secrets. Of the Easy Reader/Chapter Book nominee, Katie writes: Kids who like scary adventures will feel that they have hit the jackpot with this new series. These plot-driven tales are …
Easy Reader/Short Chapter Books – Category Description
This category is all about books for beginning readers, covering an age range from preschool to grade 3. There are two subcategories: Easy readers use short sentences, large print and a controlled vocabulary to give brand-new readers opportunities to practice decoding and comprehending text. These books are usually illustrated in full color, with pictures on every page, and they are …