Cybils

The Cybils are Wiki-Fabulous

The word is spreading, and thanks to everyone who's made the Cybils such a well-organized and respected endeavor over the past three years, we're now officially a fixture on Wikipedia! That's right, the Cybils has a Wikipedia entry, complete with lists of award winners, a little history, and everything else the world needs to know about us.

So go check it out, and take pride in the knowledge that if you've been involved in the Cybils, you've played an essential part in helping us get to where we are today. And, since it's Friday, raise a glass and say "cheers" to many more years of finding fantastic children's and YA books!

--Sarah Stevenson, Editor

Major Cybils Media Mention! W00t!

The Cybils is hitting the big time, guys.

Well, really, I suppose it's a Cybils winner who's hitting the big time. Suzanne Collins, author of YA Fantasy & Science Fiction winner The Hunger Games, will be adapting her novel into a screenplay. In the press release announcing the acquisition deal is a synopsis of the novel and the accolades it's received...and guess who's listed first, BEFORE all the other awards?

Yup, little ol' us. Go check it out.

--Sarah Stevenson, deputy editor

Updated Cybils Flyer!

We've updated our double-sided Cybils flyer with the 2008 shortlists, so you can get the latest information out to your nearest libraries, schools, bookstores and eager readers. As always, we thank you all for your help in spreading the word!

As before, the front page of the flyer includes a description of what the Cybils are all about, nomination instructions, important dates, and contact information. Just click on the graphic at right to download the flyer (.PDF format, 508KB). Requires Adobe Reader.

--Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor

Jen Robinson at Shelf Space

Jen Robinson is guest blogging at Foreword magazine's Shelf Space through the month of November.  The most recent post talks about her role as literacy evangelist for the web's most popular (okay, only) kidlit awards.  Here's a sample:

I believe that the Cybils short lists (5 to 7 titles per category) are an amazing resource. Great titles, vetted by people who, in many cases, read hundreds of children’s books each year. Books assessed with an eye to page-turner appeal, in addition to literary quality. I would like to see these short lists in the hands of parents, teachers, and librarians from around the world. My role in this year’s Cybils awards is to help spread the word about these awards beyond the circle of the bloggers and authors involved. That makes me a Literacy Evangelist. I’m a cheerleader for the Cybils, and for getting kids excited about reading. I’m the person jumping up and down (virtually, anyway) asking people to tell their friends and colleagues about the Cybils.

Now go read the rest.  

The Return of Cybils Linkage: Sharing the Love, Round 3

We are so grateful to everyone in the kidlitosphere, the literary and publishing worlds, and beyond for helping us publicize the Cybils and for getting the nominations flowing in. In the past couple of weeks, our Technorati ranking has jumped from 100 to 167--thanks to all of you!

• Loree Griffin Burns, 2006 Cybils panelist and 2007 Cybils finalist for her non-fiction MG/YA book Tracking Trash, gave us a nice plug on her blog
• Bruce Black of Wordswimmer posted about poetry for children and being a poetry panelist for this year's Cybils
• Cynthia Lord discusses kid appeal, one of the key criteria we use to evaluate books (requires LiveJournal login)
• We got a nice mention on the blog of the International Reading Association
• Through the Looking Glass Book Review posted an announcement that nominations are open, and encouraged people to nominate their favorites
• On Scholastic's Kid Lit Kit, Sonja Cole did a Video Wednesday post about one of last year's winners, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, and also posted a nominations announcement
• Author Gail Gauthier cited three excellent reasons why you should nominate your favorite book for the Cybils
• Tricia of The Miss Rumphius Effect lists several worthy non-fiction picture books that still need nominating
• Similarly, over at A Wrung Sponge, Cloudscome posts a list of nomination-worthy Easy Reader books
• The youth team at Kepler's Bookstore encouraged people to nominate for the Cybils on their blog, TheBookBind

Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped us get the word out about nominations. Stay tuned for more links and thank-yous later in the week.

--Jen Robinson, Literacy Evangelist and Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor

A Slate for a Cybils judge

Erica Perle is a judge in fiction picture books and also an occasional contributor to Slate.  Her latest contribution gives tips for picking the perfect kids' book about financial ruin. 

She emails to say she'll also be on NPR's Day To Day if you want to check the schedule.

Congrats, Erica!

--Anne Levy, editor

Help Us Spread the Word!

Want to make it really easy to let people know how great the Cybils are? We've got a nifty double-sided Cybils flyer with all the information you need to get the word out in libraries, schools, bookstores or anywhere.

The front page of the flyer includes a description of what the Cybils are all about, nomination instructions, important dates, and contact information.

The back of the flyer is the ultimate booklist: It lists all the 2007 Cybils shortlisted titles from all eight categories, with the winning titles in boldface type. Just click on the graphic at right to download the flyer (.PDF format, 508KB). Requires Adobe Reader.

--Sarah Stevenson, deputy editor

Sharing the Cybils Love - Round 2

Cybils references are still popping up all over the web, with many mentions from the Kidlitosphere blogs (thank you all so much!!) and several that reach out into other communities. Here are a few posts (in addition to the ones that we listed the other day) that stood out for us:

• Amy from My Friend Amy (home of Book Blogger Appreciation Week) encouraged the larger lit blogging community to participate in the Cybils.
• Anne-Marie Nichols from My Readable Feast reached out to parents and teachers about the Cybils.
• Jon Bard from Children's Book Insider posted to his audience of children's book writers
• The Mother Daughter Book Club encouraged Cybils nominations from members.
• Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Alice's CWIM Blog) announced the nominations.
• The First Book blog mentioned the Cybils in Rose's Reading Round-Up.
• Anokaberry had a lovely tribute to the Cybils, and listed favorites for the year so far, by category.
• Heidi from Omnivoracious (the Amazon book blog) stopped in from vacation to mention the Cybils.
• Jennifer from 5 Minutes for Books (A 5 Minutes for Mom blog) suggested that her readers nominate titles and opened up a discussion about whether readers care about awards.
• Charlotte from Charlotte's Library posted her list of what's been nominated so far in Fantasy and Science Fiction. She notes that this is not the final list - some of the books are ineligible, or will be moved to other categories. But it does give readers an easier way to check to see if their favorites have been nominated.
• Sylvia Vardell at Poetry for Children posted a list of children's poetry books published in 2008 so far. Check it out, if you're looking for potential poetry titles to nominate. She notes "My list is very inclusive and embraces verse novels and poetry-linked books that aren’t eligible in the poetry category, but are eligible in other categories."
• Justine Larbalestier wrote a post in which she asked readers "Are there any book awards you follow? Any awards that you automatically read the winners or shortlisted books?" She didn't mention the Cybils in the post, but several wonderful people said in the comments that they use the Cybils shortlists for recommended reading suggestions.

Thanks to everyone who has helped to spread the word about the Cybils nominations!! And if you haven't nominated your favorites yet ... what are you waiting for?

Jen Robinson - Literacy Evangelist for the 2008 Cybils

Sharing the Cybils Love

News flash: Bloggers love the Cybils!

Well, actually, it's several news flashes--far too many to post here, but we've provided a sampling of the Cybils love from around the web. The Cybils team appreciates the help that everyone has given us in spreading the word about the Cybils and about nominations (and if you haven't done it yet, be sure to go nominate!).

• Terry from The Reading Tub linked to our nomination pages--way to go!
• Amanda from A Patchwork of Books is doing a giveaway that people enter by nominating titles at the Cybils
• Alli at YPulse Books gives us props in her latest post
• Mediabistro's GalleyCat posted a Cybils announcement
• Justina Chen Headley of the lovely Readergirlz blogged about us (from Inner Mongolia, no less!)
• Guys Lit Wire posted a mention, too, for guy readers out there
• We got some truly kind words from The Brown Bookshelf, too
• Gina Ruiz at A Graphic Landscape posted our full announcement
• Librarian Mom at Scholastic Publishing included quick nominating tips

And this really just scratches the surface! Listservs, newsletters, conferences--we're everywhere. Sincere thanks to everyone who has given us a mention, and please don't forget to stop by and nominate before October 15.

Kelly conquers Iowa

A wonderful, informative interview in the Iowa Independent with our own Kelly Herold, even if they did leave off the Fantasy and Science Fiction category.