2009 Cybils Winners Announced!

I served as a Round II Cybils Poetry Judge. Here’s the book that won the 2009 Cybils Poetry Award. It's an exceptional book of poetry and art! It is also a recipient of a 2010 Caldecott Honor Award.

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
Written by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Observation, discovery, connection . . . Red Sings From the Treetops embodies everything poetry is meant to be. The vivid words of poet Joyce Sidman -- which are fresh even when writing about the oldest of concepts, color -- and the gloriously hue-soaked pictures of illustrator Pamela Zagarenski combine to create a poetry book that is both thoughtful and exuberant. Readers can hunt for small details in the sweep of larger images and thrill to a-ha! moments of discovery. They can read the book as one full, circular story or as a series of individual, eye-opening poems. Either way, the beauty of this book will leave them feeling connected to something larger than themselves.

Click here to find out which books won awards in all categories.

Read all about the Cybils Awards here.

2009 Cybils Poetry Finalists

So sorry I haven’t posted for over a week. I was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a few days saying goodbye to 2009 and toasting in the New Year with close friends. I didn’t have Internet access. I did have lots of great food, delicious bubbly, and plenty of good laughs while I was away.

This year I’m serving as a Round II Judge on the Cybils Poetry Panel. You can read more about the finalists here: Cybils Poetry Finalists 2009.

2009 Cybils Poetry Finalists

African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways
written by Avis Harley
with photographs by Deborah Noyes

The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry
edited by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme
written by Bobbi Katz
illustrated by Adam McCauley

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
written by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Click here to read my review of Red Sings from Treetops.

The Tree That Time Built:
A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston,
illustrated by Barbara Fortin

Click here to read my review of The Tree That Time Built.

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2009 Cybils Poetry Panelists

Panelists (Round I Judges):
Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Kristy Dempsey, Reverie--Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life
Kelly Fineman (see panel organizer)
Tricia Stohr-Hunt, The Miss Rumphius Effect
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

Judges (Round II):
Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Greg Pincus, GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Stacey Shubitz, Two Writing Teachers

The 2009 Cybils Poetry Book Nominations

The deadline for nominating children’s and young adult books for the 2009 Cybils is tomorrow. Nominations will close at 11:59 p.m. on October 15th.

I will be serving as a second round judge in the Poetry Category this year. Following is the list of poetry books that were nominated and are eligible. If you don’t see your favorite poetry book of the past year on the list, by all means get thee over to the Cybils site and nominate it.

Here’s a link to the nomination form: Cybils Nomination Form

Read this Wild Rose Reader post, 2009 Cybils Poetry Panel Announced!, to find out who’ll be serving on the poetry panels with me this year.

Poetry Books Nominated in 2009

1. A Curious Collection of Cats By Betsy Franco
2. A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing and Shout By Paul Janeczko
3. A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems By Deborah Ruddell
4. Absolutely Wild By Dennis Webster
5. African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways By Avis Harley
6. Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes By Alice Schertle
7. Change-up: Baseball Poems By Gene Fehler
8. City I Love By Lee Bennett Hopkins
9. Come to the Castle!: A Visit to a Castle in Thirteenth-Century England By Linda Ashman
10. Concrete Poetry (Poetry Basics) By Valerie Bodden
11. Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings By Douglas Florian
12. Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems By ed. Georgia Heard
13. Lady of Shalott, The (Visions in Poetry) By Alfred Lord Tennyson
14. Mother Poems By Hope Anita Smith
15. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors By Joyce Sidman
16. Sky Magic By Lee Bennett Hopkins
17. Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles By J. Patrick Lewis
18. Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School By Laura Purdie Salas
19. Steady Hands: Poems About Work By Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
20. The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry By Bill Martin Jr.
21. The Cuckoo's Haiku: and Other Birding Poems By Michael J. Rosen
22. The Fastest Game on Two Feet: And Other Poems About How Sports Began By Alice Low
23. The House By J. Patrick Lewis
24. The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme By Bobbi Katz
25. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination By Mary Ann Hoberman & Linda Winston
26. The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse By J. Patrick Lewis
27. The Young Inferno By John Agard
28. Tofu Quilt By Ching Yeung Russell
29. What's the Weather Inside? By Karma Wilson
    

Cybils 2009 & Children's Poetry Books

The Cybils 2009 Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards will be up and running tomorrow. Nominations will be open to the public from October 1-15. You may nominate books in nine different categories:

• Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
• Fantasy/Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction (MG/YA)
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

NOTE: Any book published between last year’s contest and this year’s is eligible.

For More Information:

• About The Cybils Awards
• Some info about '09 nominations
  

I’ll be serving as a second round judge on the Poetry Panel this year.

FYI: Some excellent children’s poetry books have been published in 2009. I have written reviews of nine of them. Here are links to the poetry book reviews I’ve posted to date this year at Wild Rose Reader:

• Red Sings from Treetops: A Book Review & An Invitation (4/17/09)
• Presenting Anna Alter & What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe? (4/21/09)
• Poetry Friday: Animal Haiku (4/24/09) This post includes a brief review of Michael J. Rosen’s The Cuckoo’s Haiku.
• The Frogs and Toads All Sang: A Book of Poems by Arnold Lobel (6/05/09)
• Book Review: Sky Magic Compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins (6/12/09)
• Poetry Book Review: Incredible Inventions Compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins (6/19/09)
• Poetry about City Life (7/24/09) This post includes a review of Lee Bennett Hopkins’s City I Love.
• Countdown to Summer: A Poetry Book Review (8/28/09)
• Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School (9/04/09)
  
  

Stay Tuned: On Friday, I’ll be posting a review of a wonderful book of mask poems—Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertle.

2009 Cybils Poetry Panel Announced!

I’m going to be involved with the Cybils Poetry Panel once again. This year, I’ll be serving as a judge in Round II rather than as a member of the nominating panel in Round I. I’m excited! I’ll be in the company of some wonderful kidlit bloggers.

Some excellent children’s poetry books have been published in the past year. I think the nominating panel is going to have a wonderful time reading and evaluating them.

The 2009 Cybils Poetry Panel
Panel Organizer: Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bruce Black, Wordswimmer

Kristy Dempsey, Reverie--Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life

Kelly Fineman (Panel Organizer)

Tricia Stohr-Hunt, The Miss Rumphius Effect

Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

Judges (Round II):

Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe

Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader

Greg Pincus, GottaBook

Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup

Stacey Shubitz, Two Writing Teachers