I had the honor of being invited to participate in a brand new award launched in the children’s and young adult literature field, the Cybils awards. The Cybils, a loose acronym for Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards, began with nominations open to absolutely anyone. Then five nominating committee members read the nominated books (with different committees in eight categories, from poetry to fiction to nonfiction to graphic novels). I was on the committee for POETRY along with Eisha Prather (Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog), Elaine Magliaro (Blue Rose Girls blog), Bruce Black (Wordswimmer blog), and Johanna (Becky at Farm School blog). Susan Thomsen (Chicken Spaghetti blog) was our awesome liaison to the Cybils head honchos. And what a great committee it was, each one of us already a poetry lover and not shy with our opinions! I also have to give a shout out to the publishers who were so quick and generous in sending us copies of many of the poetry books under consideration. What a treat to focus on poetry only and to have it singled out for award distinction. Woo hoo! And which books did we select? Here is our list of the top five finalists (out of 26 nominations).
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
written by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
written and illustrated by Adam Rex
Harcourt Children's Books
Handsprings
written and illustrated by Douglas Florian
Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins
Jazz
written by Walter Dean Myers; illustrated by Christopher Myers
Holiday House
Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art
written by Diane Siebert; illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson
Chronicle Books
Next up, five judges will make final decisions and those will be announced in early February. For all the award finalists, go to http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/
4 comments:
Sylvia
It was a treat to serve on the committee with you. So many of the titles--not just those that made the short-list--were simply wonderful, weren't they? I think EVERY poet should receive an award, but that's another story...
Sylvia,
You're in the Poetry Friday roundup at Blue Rose Girls.
Sylvia, you were a wonderful and dedicated committee member! I loved "listening" to y'all talk. It was a real inspiration.
"Not shy" is right! We had some wonderful, feisty conversations, didn't we? A nifty way to spend a few months, and make some new, and poetry-loving, friends to boot...
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