If you haven’t visited the Cybils website lately, check out the latest news, including introductions to the organizers, who’s on what panels, and more–and you can even download a nifty logo to post on your blog. Nominations are open October 1 – 15 for books published between last year’s contest and this year’s contest, so don’t forget to go nominate.
The Kidlitosphere Conference ’09 in Washington, D.C. is coming up really quickly–are you registered yet? This unmissable annual gathering of children’s and YA bloggers, independent reviewers, and online literacy advocates is scheduled for Saturday, October 17. Panel conversations, breakout sessions on social networking, a look at building a better blog, sessions on giving back to the community, and much more are on the docket. Though I can’t go this year, I had a wonderful time last year and can’t recommend it highly enough.
I was truly bummed to hear that Just One More Book is going on hiatus at least temporarily and perhaps for the long term. I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said by others in the comments, but I DO hope it’s temporary. JOMB are the go-to guys for children’s lit podcasts, and this is really a loss.
On a lighter note, I learned from the folks at GraphicNovelReporter.com tipped me off to a VERY cool initiative called The Comic Book Project, which is “an arts-based literacy and learning initiative hosted by the nonprofit Center for Educational Pathways with materials published by Dark Horse Comics. The goal of the project is to help children forge an alternative pathway to literacy by writing, designing, and publishing original comic books.” Learning how to make comic books in school, as a learning tool–I love this idea so much, and kudos to those involved.
Lastly, hot off the press is Chasing Ray’s latest post What a Girl Wants #7: Because We Are Not All Rich Girls. I’m going off to read it right now–don’t miss it or the other installments in the series for some amazing insights from YA writers.
