Cybils 2010

It's that time of the year again -- time to start thinking about nominations for the Cybil Awards. I am in awe of how the kidlit blogging community has pulled together to present their own award to deserving books, and will be celebrating the 5th annual Cybils Awards this year -- awards giving to the most deserving of books in the following categories:

• easy readers / short chapter books
• fantasy and science fiction
• fiction picture books
• graphic novels
• middle grade fiction
• non-fiction picture books
• non-fiction: middle grade and young adult
• poetry
• young adult fiction

If you don't know about these awards, I would encourage you to bookmark the Cybils site and follow as the nominations for these categories begin pretty soon. There are some wonderful titles in multiple categories that I find each year! Since the categories for the Cybils don't exactly align with the ALA award categories, it makes it fun to see when books win both an ALA award as well as a Cybil Award. As a 5th grade teacher, I am always checking out the nominations for the middle grade fiction category. I also have a soft spot for the non-fiction picture book category.

That being said, I'm very excited to share that I'll be serving on the Cybils non-fiction picture book panel again this year. I'm thrilled to be working with the other panelists, guided by our fearless leader, Jone. I look forward to reading close to 100 books or more, trying with my fellow panelists, to narrow it down to the seven most worthy of being a finalist in this category. A tough job, but I get an opportunity to see so many wonderful non-fiction picture books. I look forward to the nominations beginning!