Cybil Awards

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Cybils Are Here!

October 2, 2011 in Cybil Awards, Cybils 2011 Nonfiction by Roberta | No comments

Have you noticed an air of excitement around the children’s book community? It’s because it is Cybils time again!

What are Cybils? The acronym stands for children’s and young adult bloggers literary awards. Bloggers who specialize in children’s and young adult books have developed the Cybils awards to highlight some of the best books published in the previous year. Right now you can nominate your favorite books by genre, until October 15, 2011.

Once the lists are complete, the Round I Panelists read all the books nominated and blog like crazy. They will narrow the list down, and then in the end of December, pass their picks to the Second Round Judges. Those judges deliberate in secret and their choices are revealed in February.

I am happy to announce that this year I have been chosen to be a Round 1 Panelist for the Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction category. My fellow panelists are:

Round One Panelists

Sarah Rettger
Archimedes Forgets

Kara Dean
Not Just for Kids

Karen Ball
Ms. B’s Favorites

Jennifer Rothschild
Biblio File

Ed Sullivan
Rogue Librarian

Louise Capizzo
The Non-Fiction Detectives

Be sure to visit their blogs for Cybils reviews.

In the Nonfiction MG/YA category, the Round 2 Judges will be:

Carol Rasco
Rasco from Rif

Margo Tannenbaum
The Fourth Musketeer

Colleen Mondor
Chasing Ray

Ritchie Partington
Ritchie’s Picks

Sarah Sammis
Puss Reboots

Did you nominate a book yet? I’d love to hear what you nominated and why.

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The Elephant Scientist

July 21, 2011 in Cybil Awards, Cybils 2011 Nonfiction, Science, Science Books For Summer Reading by Roberta | 3 comments

The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson with photographs by the first author and her husband, Timothy Rodwell

Series: Scientists in the Field

Reading level: Middle grade, 9-12

Summary:  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to study elephants in Africa? This book follows Dr. Caitlin O’Connell as she studies elephant social life and communication and at the same time works on ways to prevent elephants from ruining crops planted by local people. She discovers that elephants communicate to one another by detecting vibrations in the ground with their feet and trunks.

Illustrations:  Photographs by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwell

Comments:  The Elephant Scientist is a wonderful new addition to the outstanding Scientists in the Field series. Because the scientist in the spotlight is one of the co-authors, this book has unprecedented access to how the science was done and what the scientist was thinking. The book not only reveals the process of science, but also gives state-of-the-art information about elephants, as well. How the elephants talk to one another is absolutely fascinating.

Related activities:

Simply Science a a review of a related book, Elephant Talk by Ann Downer. and a link where you can listen to elephants, as well as activities

Exploring Elephants at Growing With Science

Compatible fiction:  The White Elephant by Sid Fleischman and illustrated by Robert McGuire

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children;  (July 11, 2011)

ISBN-10: 0547053444
ISBN-13: 978-0547053448

Click on button to return to main science book list.

Today we are excited to be joining a new meme called STEM Friday at Chapter Book of the Day.

Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff shares another STEM book perfect for summer reading: How Do Waves Form?

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Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot

January 3, 2011 in Animals, Cybil Awards, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Nonfiction Monday Review by Roberta | 1 comment

Have you seen  Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery and photographs by Nic Bishop yet? It is on the shortlist for the Cybils in the Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction category. Fuse #8 has predicted it might be in line for the Sibert Medal. If you haven’t seen it, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. It just another book in the Scientists in the Field series, right?

The fuss is all about the strangest, most wondrous, and captivating bird on the planet, called a kakapo parrot.

My family first learned about the adorable kakapo parrot from Sir David Attenborough’s The Life of Birds. The kakapo lives in New Zealand, known for its unusual bird life. In this case “unusual” is an understatement. These large, flightless parrots (weighing up to eight pounds) have soft green feathers that smell strongly of honey, of all things. The sweet smell is thought to come from a bacteria that lives on the birds. They are active at night, and hide during the day in burrows under the ground. That is not where you would expect to find a parrot at all.

Photograph from Brent Barrett at Wikipedia

This tale does have a sad part. Over the last few hundred years, the kakapo numbers have plummeted. A few times they were thought to be nearly extinct. Right now conservationists are trying valiantly to save the less than 100 birds that remain.

With the team of experienced nature writer Sy Montgomery and and fabulous photographer Nic Bishop, you know Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot is going to be high quality. Two of their previous books have been Sibert Honor books. What really tips this book into another category is their obvious passion for the topic. You can tell these two are thrilled to be freezing and wet on a remote island near Antartica chasing the kakapo story to share with us.

Photograph by Mnolf at Wikipedia

As Montgomery so eloquently reminds us, we don’t know the ending to this particular story yet. “We could be witness to one of the most thrilling conservation success stories in human history – or one of the noblest but most tragic failures.”

What do you think?

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (May 24, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0618494170
ISBN-13: 978-0618494170

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week. This week’s post is at Charlotte’s Library.

If you are a fan of children’s nonfiction books, be sure to visit the new Nonfiction Monday Facebook page.

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Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book Shortlist

January 1, 2011 in Cybil Awards, Picture book- nonfiction by Roberta | 2 comments

Happy 2011!

And with the New Year comes a big cheer as the 2010 Cybils shortlists are announced!

What are Cybils? The acronym stands for children’s and young adult bloggers literary awards. Bloggers who specialize in children’s and young adult books have developed the Cybils awards to highlight some of the best books published in the previous year. Back in September people nominated their favorite books by genre. Since then the Round I panel of judges read and blogged like crazy to whittle the nominations down to this shortlist of seven. And they are:

2010 Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book Finalists
(The titles are linked to take you to Amazon for more information)

 Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy (Simon and Shuster)
Bones by Steve Jenkins (Scholastic Press)
Henry Aaron's Dream by Matt Travares (Candlewick Press)
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Little Brown Kids)
Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald by Roxane Orgill (Candlewick Press)
The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According To Susy)
 by Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Press)
Dinosaur Mountain: Digging into the Jurassic Age by Deborah Kogan Ray

(Farrar Straus Giroux)

What an awesome list!

A big thanks to the Round I judges for all their hard work:
Doret Canton, Happy Nappy Bookseller
Shirley Duke, Simply Science
Amanda Goldfuss, ACPL Mock Sibert
Abby Johnson, Abby (the) Librarian
Jone MacCulloch (category organizer)
Karen Terlecky, Literate Lives
Carol Wilcox, Carol’s Corner

And now it is time for the Round II judges (including me) to narrow the list to one winner. Looks like it is going to be quite a task.

Be sure to stop by the Cybils website and check out the shortlists for all the other categories.

cybils2010

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Ubiquitous Applause

November 29, 2010 in Cybil Awards, Nonfiction, Nonfiction Monday Review, Poetry by Roberta | 2 comments

Everywhere you go on the Internet you see kudos for Ubiquitous:  Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beckie Prange (insert joke about the book being “ubiquitous” here). It won an Eureka! Gold Award from California Reads. It has been nominated for a Cybils award (in the poetry category). A Fuse#8 Production has a review, with a list of other reviews and extensive related links. What more is there to say?

Starting with bacteria, Sidman has chosen to highlight organisms that have survived when others have gone extinct. She gives both the good (bacteria have important jobs) and the bad (a few can cause disease). Accompanying each are Prange’s delightful illustrations, also power-packed with information if you only know to look. And, if you have heard any of the buzz about this book you know, Prange’s use of yarn to make a timeline of the earth just has to be seen to be appreciated. Amazing!

Being a biologist by training, I was interested in the serious nonfiction side of this book. Yes, each creature Joyce Sidman has chosen is represented by a lovely, creative poem. Opposite, however, is a page of exquisitely condensed scientific information, including (gasp!) scientific names. Let’s be upfront, this book takes a decidedly modern, scientific view of how the world came to be.

Given the extensive amount of research the author did, the experts she consulted and how up-to-the-minute her information, this book in many ways surpasses those filed in the 500′s rather than the 800′s. Add my kudos to the long list of others for this book.

As for reading level, I think that (once again) although Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors looks like a picture book and the poetry is deceptively short and sweet, it is more appropriate for older children.

If you love poetry and want to see the 14 organisms Sidman and Prange chose to celebrate as survivors, then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book.

If anyone from Houghton Mifflin stops by:  A poster set with the poems and illustrations and the nonfiction information on the back, including the yarn timeline, would probably be found in every classroom and household in the country. :-)

Reading level: Ages 4-8 (Amazon)
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 5, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0618717196
ISBN-13: 978-0618717194

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Playing By The Book.

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