Cybils Nominees, Part I: A Smattering of Picture Books
If you're looking for a list of great new poetry books, science fiction and fantasy, graphic novels, or just about any kind of book for kids, check out the Cybils website. Nominations for the 2008 Cybils are now posted for all ten categories (from Easy Readers to Young Adult Novels, with lots of good stuff in between).
Some categories have a mere few dozen nominated titles, while others (hellooo, Middle Grade Fiction!) clock in at a hundred or more. And every single one of them is a book that, in at least one person's opinion, deserves a "Best of 2008" award in its category. Now the hard-reading panelists get to narrow each category down to a list of finalists by the end of the year. I'm not sure whether to envy them or feel sorry for them—a little bit of both, I guess!
Some of the nominees for younger kids that caught my eye:
Chester's Back!
by Melanie Watts.
The first book in this series, Chester, was pressed it
into my hands a few months ago by a fellow-librarian who insisted that I read it. It's just that good, and that
funny. Can't wait to see the sequel.
Ladybug
Girl, by Jacky Davis; illustrated by David Soman.
The story of a girl with
imagination!
Ten
Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen
Oxenbury.
I paged through this collaboration between two picture-book greats at
a baby shower last week, and you've never seen such cooing and ooh-ing as when
this book was passed around a room full of library workers. Awww! So cute!
A
Visitor for Bear, by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Katy Denton.
A
perfect story-time read-aloud about a mouse who won't take "no" for an answer.
Trout Are Made
of Trees, by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Kate Endle.
I really want
to see this one—it makes environmentalism look so interesting!
March
On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World, by Dr. Christine King
Harris, illustrated by London Ladd.
What I wouldn't have given to be there on
the Washington Mall that day. As it is, I'm itching to get my hands on the
book.
Underwear:
What We Wear Under There, by Ruth Freeman Swain, illustrated by John
O'Brien.
And from the sublime to…well, to underwear. Who doesn't like a good
book about underwear?
I was going to go through all the categories, but there's just too much! So, selected nominees for older readers will follow in the next post. Until then, enjoy the lists!
P. S. Lest I forget about Halloween…(and how could I, with candy and costumes everywhere): here's a list of scary-but-not-too-scary chapter books that are perfect for the season.
October 24, 2008
