The Magnificent Seven Cybil Poetry Book Award Finalists--read all about 'em!

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Howdy, Campers!

Quick quiz: why are the Cybils called the Cybils?  
The word kinda sorta comes from
Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards

I had the great honor to be a first-round judge on the 2013 Cybils Poetry Book Award committee this year.

Our able leader was Jone MacCulloch, who many of you know and love, and whose job it was to herd, help and cajole the judges to read the nominated books and then turn in reviews of the best by the day after Christmas. 

While Santa was delivering presents, Jone was pulling out her eyebrows.

photo from morguefile.com

I was in extraordinary company. Round One Judges were:

Ed deCaria, Think, Kid, Think! http://www.thinkkidthink.com  @edecaria
Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating http://kellyrfineman.livejournal.com @kellyfineman
Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out http://maclibrary.wordpress.com  @JoneMac53
Anastasia Suen, Poet! Poet! http://asuen.com/poetry @asuen1
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com @SylviaVardell
Bridget Wilson, What is Bridget Reading? http://whatisbridgetreading.blogspot.com @bridgetrwilson
and moi: April Halprin Wayland, Teaching Authors http://teachingauthors.com  @aprilhwayland

We've whittled our pile of nominated poetry books down to seven and sent our list off to the second-round judges.  Winners will be announced on Valentine's Day (awww...)

 

 photo from morguefile.com

And here, Campers, are our seven finalists and our reviews (in no particular order) :

Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer (Dial) Nominated by: Perogyo

 

Marilyn Singer returns to the reverso, a poetic form she created, in Mirror, Mirror.  The reverso is quite clever. First you read the poem from top to bottom. Then you flip it and read it from the bottom up. The reverso proves the old adage "there are two sides to every story." Singer describes the collection best: "Imagine / fairy tales / upended." And now reversed: Upended / fairy tales? / Imagine!"

 

In Follow Follow, Singer takes twelve tales and breathes new life into them. Too often people perceive fairy tales as unchanging. This couldn't be further from the truth. In this collection readers will hear from Thumbelina and the mole, the tortoise and the hare, the twelve princesses and the soldier. At the end of the book Singer offers more information about the tales and the reverso form. Josee Masse's beautifully bright illustrations offer readers a visual of both sides of each tale.

 

Reviewed by Bridget Wilson, What is Bridget Reading?  @bridgetrwilson

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Forest Has a Song: Poems by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (Clarion Books) Nominated by: Laura Purdie Salas

 

This is a beautifully designed poetry picture book in which the gentle watercolor paintings by Robbin Gourley, the layout of poem and painting on each page, and even the spidery font of the text work together to create a poetry collection that is both inviting and comforting. The natural world has long been the topic of poetry for young people and VanDerwater taps into the child's connection with the simplest details: pinecones and sticks, footprints and flying birds, with poetry that offers many tactile details that invite children to touch, smell, and see the world outside their iPads in tangible ways. She also offers a variety of poetic forms so children (and teachers) can see how poets use the words and space on the page. Her use of rhyme is particularly noteworthy -- making it look so natural -- as if we all spoke in lyrical language when captured by the beauty of the forest.

 

Reviewed by Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children
 @SylviaVardell

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Poems to Learn by Heart selected by Caroline Kennedy (Disney Hyperion) Nominated by: bevpdx

 

The ambition of this beautiful collection of more than 100 poems is truly to encourage students to learn poems by heart. Editor Kennedy's preface includes practical tips on memorization, ending with, "I hope that…once they learn them by heart, they won't even need this book."  Classic, contemporary, nonsense poems and poems that challenge readers to think are organized organically within each of ten sections . These sections are about self, family, school, sports and war, with an extra credit section for those who want to memorize even longer poems.  Every section begins with an engaging one-page introduction, often disclosing Kennedy's personal connection with the poems that follow.  Its premise, poetic choices and the editor's enthusiasm throughout as well as the exquisite watercolor paintings by Jon J. Muth which, as Kennedy writes, "add meaning, depth and freshness to the poems" combine to make this an award-winning book.

 

Reviewed by April Halprin Wayland, Teaching Authors
 @aprilhwayland

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Pug: And Other Animal Poems byValerie Worth (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Nominated by: The Cath in the Hat

 

In this follow-up to 2007's Animal Poems (itself a Cybils finalist that year), Worth again brings her seemingly simple subjects to life in a sophisticated yet accessible way. Readers will meet her "plug-ugly" pug, the bull who "would not melt", a mouse "left as a gift on the step", and sparrows and pigeons who "seem at home where there appears to be no home", plus fourteen other inviting, inspiring, or sometimes intimidating creatures. Jenkins adds color and texture to each poem, from the silver sparkle of a wood thrush's eye to the distressed look on a too-long dachshund's face, making each two-page spread pop. Pug is a masterful book of free-verse poems and illustrations that will challenge readers to view animals from an entirely new perspective, and to admire the subtle behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics that make each one unique.

 

Reviewed by Ed DeCaria, Think, Kid, Think!
   @edecaria

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The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses by Lisa Wheeler (Atheneum) Nominated by: Bridget Wilson

 

Any young reader longing for a pet will want to read this riotously funny research romp by a bespectacled young girl on a quest to find the perfect pet. Readers are forewarned that "Animals aren't always charming." Notebook in hand to track observations, she visits a farm, zoo, and the woods as well as performing a "home study." What she concludes from her research may surprise readers.

 

Wheeler's tongue in cheek verses will provide laughs for all while introducing readers to a variety of pet possibilities. Combined with Zachary OHora's use of strong lines yet whimsical acrylic illustrations this book will be read and reread. What stood out in The Pet Project was the author's ability to weave words, poems, and a little bit of science into a fabulous collection.

 

Reviewed by Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out
   @JoneMac53

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What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Nominated by: Sylvia Vardell

Truly a miraculous little book, and hard to categorize in some ways. It's divided into  four sections: 1. chants & charms - to bolster courage and guard against evil; 2. spells & invocations - to cause something to happen; 3. laments & remembrances - to remember, regret, or grieve; and 4. praise songs & blessings - to celebrate, thank, or express love. I love the idea of giving children both poems and permission to express and validate their emotional experiences.

Reviewed by Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
  @kellyfineman
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When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis (Chronicle Books) Nominated by: Becky L.

 

Written by 2011-2013 Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis, this valuable book of poetry profiles seventeen civil rights leaders, the famous and the not-so-famous. Each poem has a two-page spread with gorgeous artwork by five different artists.The title of the poem explains the person’s role. Mitsuye Endo is "The Captive": “I was a typist, nothing more. / I loved my life, I hated war.” A short biography in the back of the book explains how she fought for her civil rights after being held in a World War II Japanese internment camp. This collection can be used year round to celebrate the heroes of civil rights. For children and teens who want to change the way things are, this smart and intriguing look at key civil rights figures can guide the way.

 

Reviewed by Anastasia Suen, Poet!Poet! @asuen1

 

Good luck to the Round Two judges:

Linda Baie, Teacher Dance http://teacherdance.org @LBaie
Matt Esenwine, Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme http://mattforrest.wordpress.com   @mattforrestvw
Renee La Tulippe, No Water River http://www.nowaterriver.com  @ReneeMLaTulippe
Julie Larios, The Drift Record http://julielarios.blogspot.com
Irene Latham, Live Your Poem http://irenelatham.blogspot.com  @irene_latham
 

posted by April Halprin Wayland

 

So Many Books, So Little Time

  This will be a shorter post than usual, guys. I had emergency eye surgery the day after I wrote my last post, and I am still essentially working with one and a half functioning eyes.

   We've been talking about what the blogosphere holds for the writer. You already know the answer to that....a lot. You can spend all time trolling the Internet just reading writer's blogs, advice columns or sites that will help you do this, that or the other better. Unless I have a specific problem, I don't spend a lot of time cruising the virtual highway. I just don't have time.

     If I am online, it is to find out what is being published and what is worth reading. There was a time when I read everything that came out, good, bad or indifferent...but again...I don't have the time any more. (I should also add that as a librarian, reading everything that came in was part of my job.) Another part of the job was reading the review sources....Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book, etc.  All of these are available online for free, in condensed forms.

    However, I have been relying on these sources since my library school days, and I have learned that not every book makes it to the "the Bigs" of the review world. That's when I discovered bloggers-who-review.  Some bloggers drop a review or two into their posts from time to time.  I like lots of reviews, all in one place. (Again...that time-saving thing.)

    Once a month I check my two favorite sources, Richie's Picks and  Goodreads. Goodreads has recently become affiliated with Amazon in some fashion which seems to annoy my fellow readers. I am not going to get into a political debate over book reviewing. I scan through Goodreads not so much for the quality of the reviews, but mainly to see what people are reading. If there are a thousand plus reviews or likes of a book I've never even heard of, I check Amazon for the review.  That is, I check Amazon if it is an adult book.  If it is a children's book, I click on over to Richie's Picks. 

    Richie Partington doesn't so much review books as to write short essays about them.  He includes lengthy passages from the book (so you can get a taste of the writer's style) , compares them to other books (not necessarily books of the same genre or author...just books that ring a bell in Richie's head.) He keeps a year's worth of "recent" reviews online, but has an archive of his "Richie's Best of the Year" going all the way back to 2005. Richie's selections are eclectic. He reviews whatever floats his boat (I am still waiting to have one of my books in Richie's Picks). What I like about this blog is that Richie gives you more than enough information for you to decide whether this book is worth your time or not. Like I say, so many books, so little time. That's why Richie is my reading guru.

    Don't forget to enter our latest book giveaway for our own Jill Esbaum's book. See Jill's post for information.   This is one of your last chances, since the deadline is June 19th.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman