2007 Cybils Finalists

All of the Cybils finalists have now been posted. Check out the short lists in each category. (Click here for a printable pdf version of all the 2007 Cybils Finalists.)

Fiction Picture Book Finalists

Nonfiction Picture Books Finalists

MG/YA Nonfiction Finalists

Middle Grade Fiction Finalists

Young Adult Fiction Finalists

Science Fiction & Fantasy Finalists

Graphic Novel Finalists

Poetry Finalists (See below.)

I was happy to serve once again on the poetry-nominating panel along with four other poetry lovers. I think we sent on a list of fine poetry books to the judges. Here are the seven poetry books we selected from the forty-one titles that were nominated.

2007 Poetry Finalists

Animal Poems

written by Valerie Worth, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

The poems about twenty-three different animals (some common and some very unusual) are told using free verse--not a typical choice in collections for children these days (at least not when it's the sole type of verse). And these poems are spectacular in their use of imagery and metaphor. One of the standout solo collections of the year.
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village

written by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Robert Byrd

Candlewick Press
This book is distinctive, with its echoes of Canterbury Tales, a bit of Shakespeare, and Catherine Called Birdy all rolled into one. Besides being rich in history, language, and voice, it is understandable and accessible to middle grade kids. Plus, it lends itself to oral reading and performance.
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Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry

edited by Jane Yolen & Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Candlewick Press
A true delight. There is a real freshness to this volume in that many of the poems include in it won't be found in other anthologies. The selected poems speak to the exuberance of childhood and the simple, everyday things that little children often think about.
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Poems in Black and White

written and illustrated by Kate Miller

Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press

The premise behind Kate Miller's collection of poems and art is simple: all are about objects that are black and white (cows, a comet in the night sky, etc.). The poems range from funny to melancholy, and are all marked by a keen observation of life. Each poem reads as if the poet froze a moment and recorded it with great clarity and insight in the best possible words.
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This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Houghton Mifflin
Joyce Sidman has imagined a teacher, Mrs. Merz, and a classroom full of sixth graders from different backgrounds, all of whom write poems of apology to someone or some thing they've wronged; in the second half, forgiveness or explanation is returned to the students. The individual poems in the book are excellent, but cumulatively this book is a killer, in the best possible sense. It moves on as a finalist because of its emotional impact and poetic virtuosity.
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Twist: Yoga Poems

written by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Margaret K. McElderry Books

Twist gets high marks for innovation and freshness and for the insights it provides into yoga, which is a new topic for a poetry collections. The poems are evocative and really speak to both the physical and Zen nature of the yoga poses included.
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Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath

written by Stephanie Hemphill

Random House Children's Books

Hemphill's collection of poems about Sylvia Plath convey emotion through imagery. The use of period verse attributed to a variety of people who knew Plath in order to convey both the facts and emotional content of her life and work is extraordinary.
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Click here to read Children’s Poetry & The 2007 Cybils, which I posted last July. It has links to my reviews of Animal Poems, Here’s a Little Poem, This Is Just to Say, and Twist: Yoga Poems.


The Poetry Panels
Category Organizer: Kelly Fineman (Writing and Ruminating)
Nominating Panel:
Kelly Fineman (Writing and Ruminating)

Laura Purdie Salas (Writing the World for Kids)

Elaine Magliaro (Wild Rose Reader)

Wendy Betts (Blog from the Windowsill)

Sylvia Vardell (Poetry for Children)

Judging Panel:
Gregory K. (Gotta Book)

Jone Rush MacCulloch (Check It Out)

Sara Lewis Holmes (Read Write Believe)

Cloudscome (A Wrung Sponge)

Franki Sibberson (A Year of Reading)

HAPPY READING!!!