CYBILS: Children’s and YA Bloggers Literary Awards Announced
Oh. My. Gosh. In all the excitement about the Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards (aka Cybils), I actually forgot to schedule this! Better late than never ,,,
I know I say the same thing every February 14, but I can’t help myself … and I know without even going to Twitter I am not alone.
The official announcement came at 12:01 PST [February 14]. I know there are some (*cough* Sheila Ruth *cough*) who stayed up to wait and celebrate. I confess, I’m old. I was asleep!
The panelists for the Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books did NOT make it easy for the judges:
- Julie Azzam, teacher, parent ~ Instantly Interruptible
- Stacey Loscalzo, teacher, parent, writer/author ~ Stacey Loscalzo.com and @staceylo
- Catherine Nichols, author/writer ~ The Cath in the Hat and @thecathinthehat
- Nancy Talan, parent ~ 5 Minutes for Books and Life With My Boys and Books and @5M4B
- Zoe Toft, parent ~ Playing by the Book and @playbythebook
What makes this category fun – and challenging – is the breadth of the audience. We have emerging readers who are still sounding out words and decoding, and we have transitional readers who are just about ready to make the leap into the middle grade genre.
CYBILS Easy Reader Winner
A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse
written and illustrated by Frank Viva
Toon Books, 2012
A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse is a modern day rendition of the “Are we there yet?” story. A mouse and a boy travel by boat to Antarctica, all the while seeing fun and interesting things. Alas, Mouse just wants to get there and then once there, wants to go back home.
The story is told in graphic novel format through speech bubbles and gorgeous illustration. While a fun read for children of all ages, the writing works perfectly for children just beginning their adventure as readers. There are plenty of decodable words, many sight words and lots of opportunity for the pictures to help out when the words are unfamiliar. There is a limited amount of text on each page and the font chosen is big and clear. A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse is the perfect trip to take with a new reader. Enjoy!
Blurb by Stacey Loscalzo, http://staceyloscalzo.com/
CYBILS Early Chapter Book Winner
Sadie and Ratz
by Sonya Hartnett; illustrated by Ann James
Candlewick, 2012
CYBILS Non-Fiction Middle Grade / YA

by Steve Sheinkin
Flash Point 2012