First off, congrats! We loved The Walls Around Us. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the book?Thank you so much! I just want to say how incredibly honored I am that The Walls Around Us was chosen for a Cybil this year. Knowing these awards are selected by bloggers who read and support …
Interview with Joel Ross
First off, congrats! We adored The Fog Diver. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the book?It’s the same old story you’ve heard a hundred times: I was trying to write about pirate raccoons. I wasn’t making much progress though, until I went for a walk one morning in a misty field. The fog …
Interview with Julie Paschkis
First off, congrats! We adored Flutter and Hum. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the book?I started to learn Spanish when I was illustrating Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People which was written by Monica Brown. I illustrated that book with words and pictures and I fell in love with Spanish. …
Interview with MiniLab, Creators of Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System
First off, congrats! We adored Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System. Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for the app? Did one person take the lead, or was this a team effort? Thank you, we were so delighted to win a Cybils! The whole Professor Astro Cat story began with the book, Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers …
Call for Featured Blogger Nominations
The Cybils season is starting again, and with the call for judges comes a call for bloggers to feature. We want to highlight the diversity in the kidlitosphere, and feature blogs that are both well-known as well as ones that are not as popular. They don’t have to be Cybils judges or panelists. Here are some of the bloggers we’ve …
Interview with Brandy Colbert
First off, congrats! Pointe is a terrific first novel! Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration for it? BC: Thank you so much—I’m honored! Pointe was initially a kidnapping story. I was inspired by the abduction of Steven Stayner in the 1970s, whose experience was later told in a TV movie called I Know My First Name Is Steven. I …
Interview with Jen Wang
First off, congrats! In Real Life is a fantastic graphic novel. Could you tell us a bit about how the book came to be? JW: Sure! I’d previously done a book for First Second called KOKO BE GOOD, and sometime after that had come out and I was in between projects that weren’t working out, First Second approached me about …
Interview with Carrie Alexander (from Rocketwagon)
First off: congratulations!! Can you tell us what inspired you to tackle the app as a medium, rather than, say, a traditional book form? CA: My husband, Jon, is a freelance creative who has a background in graphic design, video game development, writing, and video editing. He had no app development experience, but because of these other pursuits was aware of …
Interview with Paul Durham
First off, congrats!! We all really enjoyed The Luck Uglies. Could you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for it? PD: Thank you so much for your kind words. It was a complete surprise and a total delight to learn that I had received the Cybils Award for MG Speculative Fiction. The Luck Uglies …
Interview with Dean Pitchford
First off, congrats! Can you tell us a bit about your inspiration for Nickel Bay Nick? DP: Thanks for your kind words of congratulations! My inspiration for NICKEL BAY NICK was actually two-fold: First — the protagonist in my story, Sam Brattle, is 11-years old, but at the age of four, he’d had a heart transplant. For years I had been …