MotherReader

Today the Cybils are announced and I couldn’t be happier. My role was completed a while ago, when I worked with my fellow judges to narrow down more than a hundred nominated picture books into seven worthy contenders. Then we — maybe a bit reluctantly — turned over our suggestions to the next panel of judges for their consideration. And a similar scenario played out over the other nine categories of books. The Cybils were originated by bloggers and are judged by bloggers, but hopefully represent the best for an ever-larger audience, with the goal of balancing the literary and artistic merit of the book with its kid appeal. But let me give you the words of Anne Levy, one of the Cybils founders, from today’s post:

Cybils is a comfort zone... where no one has to apologize for preferring the manga version of Shakespeare, and it’s always okay to just look at the pictures. Even those who don’t have kids — or who don’t work with them — can curl up with a trashy teen romance or a goofy science fiction spoof. It’s all good.

We had our fun reading and judging, and now it’s your turn. The winners below are a gift from our hearts to you and the kids you love, even if you’re just indulging an inner child.

Take a look at the wonderful list of books. No, don’t just look — buy something through the Cybils site. Your purchase supports these awards with referral fees from Amazon and validates the award for the publishing community when they see a change in sales based on the award. Well, you’ve waited long enough for the link — go.

Oh, one more thing. Happy Valentine’s Day, with a video suggested by my New York buddy Tim.