LISTEN by Shannon Stocker #CYBILS 📚🎶

nonfiction book playlist

LISTEN: How Evelyn Glennie, A Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker illustrated by Devon Holzwarth Dial Books Finalist – Elementary Nonfiction 2022 CYBILS Awards The Book Nonfiction Picture Book Disability, Picture Book, Music The illustrations of music, sound, and rhythm in this biography of a famous percussionist almost seem to boom in your ears as you read this; seeing …

WATERCRESS by Andrea Wang #CYBILS 📚🎶

2021 picture book winner

WATERCRESS by Andrea Wang illustrated by Jason Chin Neal Porter Books Winner – Fiction Picture Book 2021 CYBILS Awards The Book Fiction Picture Book Culture & Tradition, Family, Realistic Fiction, Social Issues Watercress is a beautiful lyrical story that transports your mind and heart through words and images. It incorporates a universal childhood desire to fit in while at the …

SONNY’S BRIDGE by Barry Wittenstein #CYBILS 📚🎶

sonnys bridge-nonfiction finalist

SONNY’S BRIDGE:JAZZ LEGEND SONNY ROLLINS FINDS HIS GROOVE by Barry Wittensteinillustrated by Keith Mallett   Charlesbridge Publishing Finalist – Elementary/Middle-Grade Nonfiction2019 CYBILS Awards The Book Elementary/Middle-GradeBiography, Black History, Music, Nonfiction   Sonny’s Bridge is a tribute to the prolific jazz musician Sonny Rollins. Sonny was born in the vibrant times of jazz music. As a kid, Sonny played the saxophone and …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: So You Want To Learn Magic

SFF witches Coming of Age

Charlotte Taylor, Chair for our Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category, has conjured this week’s Backlist Book List. And dare we say it? It’s magical. There. We said it. If you know a young reader who dreams of spells and wishes for magic skills, this is the book list for you. Meet Eva Evergreen!  We’ll let Kristin Harvey, who blogs at …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Dino-might

cybils awards dinosaur books

Does anyone else remember that one-word exclamation from a 1970s show called Good Times? Here’s a little trivia for you: Jimmie Walker, the character who used that phrase, also used it in a series of Panasonic commercials for, wait for it … cassettes and 8-track tapes. [Source: Wikipedia] So, as you’ve probably already guessed, our “din-o-might” is a bit different …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: Pivoting Pandemic Reads

science books fo kids

It’s either emblematic of the COVID-19 pandemic or the most over-used word of 2020. Either way, we couldn’t resist using it for this week’s Backlist Book List! We promise it is more riveting than pivoting. Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning book Fever 1793 was published in 2000, six years before the Cybils Awards launched. It is a historical fiction novel about …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List: #BatterUp

baseball books kids teens

In a little less than a week, baseball fans will be celebrating the 91st Midsummer Classic, also known as Major League Baseball’s 2021  All-Star Game. Last year, because of the pandemic, this annual event didn’t happen. But this year, well … we’re ready! To help get ready for the big game, let’s have some fun with a little trivia. âš¾ …

#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List for #SharkWeek 🦈

kid books for shark week

First let’s mark our calendar: July 11, 2021. Shark Week. Less than two weeks away. You probably already know that #SharkWeek was created by the Discovery channel, but did you know … Caged in Fear, the first Shark Week episode, premiered on 17 July 1988? Sometimes Shark Week is in August, not July? From 2005-2011 shark lovers could purchase DVD …

Backlist Book List: #STEM + #DiverseBooks For Young Creators

In 2019, Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet by Megan Frazer Blakemore won the Cybils Award in the Early Chapter Book. In selecting Frankie Sparks as a finalist, the panelists said:     … This promising first book in a series will have children learning about animals, design thinking, and emotional intelligence while turning the pages to meet the new pet. …

#Cybils Awards Backlist Book List: Voices for Social Change

activist books kids teens

Civil Rights. Voting Rights. Individual Rights. Human Rights. These are some of the many issues in our society where people are moved beyond voicing opinions to “doing something” to influence change. Sadly, while they may seem “new” to our children’s consciousness, these ills are not new to us.  For better or worse, since 2016, nearly 100 Cybils-nominated books have centered …