Nominations for the 2008 Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, also know as The Cybils, are now open!

Founded by two wonderful kidlit bloggers, Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold, the goal of the Cybils team (some 100 bloggers including yours truly) is to highlight children’s books that are high in literary quality and kid appeal.

How can you participate?

You have until Wednesday, October 15, 2008 to nominate your favorite children’s or YA (young adult) book by visiting the Cybils blog. A separate post is available for each category – simply nominate by commenting on those individual posts. If you are not sure which category to choose for a particular book, a questions thread has also been posted.

This year, awards will be given in nine categories (Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels). Anyone can nominate books in these categories (one nomination per person per category). Nominated titles must be published between January 1, 2008 and October 15, 2008. The books must be in English or bilingual, where one of the languages is English.

How the Cybils work

The Cybils team works hard to balance democracy with quality control. Anyone can nominate titles and there are two rounds of panel judging by people who focus on children’s books every day. Everyone participating does this so we can get great books into the hands of children and young adults.

Between October 16, 2008 and January 1, 2009, Cybils panelists (bloggers who write about children’s and young adult books) will winnow the nominations down to a five to seven book short list for each category. A second set of panelists will then select the winning titles for the different categories. I will be a judge in the Fiction Picture Book category. Can’t wait!

Winners will be announced on February 14th, 2009.

Get the word out!

Everyone involved knows that the Cybils nominations will be of interest to parents, teachers, librarians, writers, and teens. If you have a blog or an email list or belong to a newsgroup that serves one of these populations, and you feel that your readers would be interested, please spread the word and sent them to the Cybils site – www.cybils.com.

The Cybils – a great resource for parents and teachers

I was a Cybils judge back in 2006 and came across several wonderful books I wouldn’t have be exposed to if I hadn’t been a judge. One example is Tasting the Sky.

The Cybils lists and blog, from long lists to short lists to the lists of winners, offer a wonderful resource to anyone looking for high-quality, kid-friendly books. If you’re a parent, let your child’s teacher know about it as well as your local librarians.

If you have any questions about the Cybils, contact Jen Robinson, the Literacy Evangelist for the 2008 Cybils or leave a comment on the Cybils site.

Like what you see? Subscribe to My Readable Feast for updates!