Cybils Short Lists: Picture Books

Yes, I know. The Picture Book winners have been announced. All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon won the Cybils in the Fiction Picture Book category, and The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton won in the Nonfiction Picture Book category.  But does that mean we can’t talk about the Cybils or picture books?

One of the things I love about picture books is the way they open windows for kids. By definition, they have images. Sometimes the pictures drive the story, sometimes the image teases you into reading the text to learn more. These are the books that introduce kids to language, sometimes they offer lessons, sometimes they make us laugh. They are the books we read when it’s time for bed or listen to during Story Time at the librar. They are the books that build connections, in part, because we read them aloud. [That link goes to a Just One More Book podcast about reading aloud and the rush to chapter books.]

Picture books are wildly popular, even with kids who can read independently, because the pictures help “take up space,” which means fewer words. Parents like them for the same reason. I admit that after a long day, I’ve pulled a picture book from the shelf (in lieu of a chapter book) just so we can get lights out faster.

Amazingly enough, with all of the picture books we read last year (about 200), we only read two on the Short List: Silly Tilly (Fiction) and 14 Cows for America (nonfiction).  I had not heard about All the World until the Cybils, but The Day-Glo Brothers has been on my TBR Wish List since Abby (the) Librarian’s review last July. She hooked me with “It’s books like The Day-Glo Brothers that remind me why I love nonfiction picture books and particularly picture book biographies. The book is the perfect amount of information on a subject that I never would have thought to wonder about. Add brilliant illustrations that pair perfectly with the text and you’ve got a delightful reading experience.”

So now that we know the winners, and you know what we’ve already read, what is YOUR must read from the short list?

Fiction Picture Books

The Curious Garden, The

by Peter Brown
Little, Brown

x

xsss

The Lion & the Mouse
by Jerry Pinkney
Little, Brown

x

x

Jeremy Draws a Monster
by Peter McCarty
Henry Holt

xx

x

x

The Listeners (Tales of Young Americans)
by Gloria Whelan
Sleeping Bear Press

x

xx

All the World
by Liz Garton Scanlon
Beach Lane Books

x

x

The Book That Eats People
by John Perry
Tricycle Press

xxx

x

Silly Tilly
by Eileen Spinelli
Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books

x

x

Nonfiction Picture Books

Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!
by Shana Corey
Scholastic

x

x

The Day-Glo Brothers
by Chris Barton
Charlesbridge

x

x

Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual Size Animal Encyclopedia
Created by Teruyuki Komiya with photographs by Toyofumi Fukuda
Seven Footer Press

x

x

14 Cows for America
by Carmen Agra Deedy
Peachtree

x

x

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
by Brian Floca
Atheneum

x

x

Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
by Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mifflin

x

x
Faith (Global Fund for Children Books)
by Maya Ajmera, Magde Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon for the Global Fund for Children
Charlesbridge
__________

Note: Book titles link to amazon.com and the Cybils affiliate account. Purchasing through these links may provide income to the Cybils, which in turn is used to fund the awards.