Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Welcoming 2008 with Cybils Award Finalists!

Happy New Year 2008!

The day has arrived to announce the Cybil's short list for fiction picture books. Five of us on this Cybil's committee read more than 100 fiction picture book titles over the last two months to choose the shortlist of 7 titles we recommended to the judging panel. The judges will choose one of the seven to win the Cybil's award in the Fiction Picture Book category.

While I'm sure my mail man is happy that this contest has drawn to a close, it sure is wonderful to have books arrive at your door almost daily. For a book lover, it's pretty close to nirvana. And picture books are short so they don't involve the same commitment of time as the other categories. You can read the shortlisted finalists for all categories at the Cybil's blog.

But here is the quick list for our category here:








All of the reading and judging panels are book bloggers. While sometimes book bloggers focus on the same titles, what they see and how they talk about the book can be very different indeed. Check some of the following blogs. They belong to my fellow panelists and reflect a wide and diverse perspective on books and reading. But each one of us is fueled by a passion to share our love of reading with others.
Julie Danielson Our Fearless Leader
We were priviliged to read many fine books for this project and the authors and illustrators of these seven titles can be very proud of their accomplishment. To tell a compelling story with art that both complements and stands alone in an age-appropriate way is a difficult task. Because it is so difficult to do it well, it is art.
Congratulations to the finalists.

2 comments:

Cheryl said...

Annie, I enjoyed working with you on the Cybils panel, and I love how you describe the books arriving at the door as close to nirvana. It does feel like that!

Annie said...

Thanks, Cheryl. Ditto right back at you. And it seemed like a great reason to jump back into blogging after weddings and holidays and such. I was amazed at how different all the books were and found myself wondering about people who published each title. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. Thanks for commenting.