Cybils Nominations are open!

 Nominations opened October 1st!  Go to http://www.cybils.com/2018/10/the-2018-nominations-are-now-open.html and nominate your favorite books that were published between October 16, 2017 and October 15, 2018. And remember ONE book per person per category.

Cybils Round 1 Judge for 2018!

Yay! I have been chosen to be a Round 1 Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction Judge for the 2018!

Once again I really feel honored since I have been so inactive on my blog. I did manage to get that PXRF article I mentioned a year ago done, so that is good. The better news is that I am no longer department chair and should theoretically have more time to do things like outreach rather than paperwork. This is a big Yay!

The Elementary/Middle Grade Non-Fiction Category Description is as follows ...

Category Description
Kids are curious about the world around them and nonfiction is the perfect way to introduce them to that amazing world. History? Biography? Art? Science? Math? Animals? Sports? It’s all here and more besides! We love text and illustrations or photographs that will wow kids and adults alike and topics so fascinating that kids will want to go digging for more, more, more nonfiction!

Nonfiction Elementary/Middle Grade includes titles with factual content and informational titles. At least 50% or more of the book should be narrative nonfiction (as opposed to experiments, activities, instructional, or collections of facts without a strong narrative thread like encyclopedias). Mythology, folklore, poetry, graphic novels (including nonfiction), and historical fiction should be nominated in the appropriate category (which isn’t this one). We are currently accepting nominations only in print (no ebooks or books containing additional materials like kits) for this category.

How do I decide which category to nominate in?

Elementary Nonfiction
Intended for preschool through beginning readers (picture books, easy readers, and early chapters).

Middle Grade Nonfiction
Intended for elementary age readers up through 5th grade. May include picture books with more complex text and themes as well as chapter books.

Nominations for all Cybils categories open October 1st and close on the 15th. The guidelines/categories info is here.

Submissions from publishers and authors will be accepted October 16-26 and information for that is at the publisher section.


The mission of these awards is as follows ...

"The Cybils Awards aims to recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal. If some la-di-dah awards can be compared to brussels sprouts, and other, more populist ones to gummy bears, we’re thinking more like organic chicken nuggets. We’re yummy and nutritious."

So if you have read a great picture book, early reader, chapter book, middle grade or young adult novel, graphic novel, poetry or nonfiction book this past year please nominate them!

Congrats to my fellow Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction Round 1 Judges!

Reshama Deshmukh 
Stacking Books @stackingbks

Ellen Zschunke 
On the Shelf 4 Kids @ontheshelf4kids

Lynne Marie Pisano
My Word Playground @Literally_Lynne

Jennifer Dieleman 
Picture Books 4 Learning @jensbooktalk

Irene Latham 
Love Your Poem@irene_latham

Elisa Bergslien
Leopards and Dragons @DNAPL (me!) 

Roberta Gibson 
Wrapped in Foil @RobertaGibson

Arggghhhhh! For God's Sake VOTE!

Okay - I always knew this was a problem. I regularly poll my upper division environmental classes and find that less than half of them vote.  In the majors only capstone course I have had several years where NO ONE in the class bothered to vote. They all get righteously outraged when we talk about how environmental laws work and how they get made, and they get even more outraged when I make them look up the voting records of regional congress members, but they don't vote!

AAArrrgggggHHHHHH!

Now this ...
15 million super environmentalists don't vote

I can't even scream loudly enough to make my feelings heard on that one. People find it easier to be vegan than to vote?  #$*%&#$*&%

In November - VOTE!!!!!

If you want anything to change - VOTE !!!!

If you don't want to see the return of asbestos - VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

Free!!!! I am no longer Chair !!!!!

Which means that I might, just might, once again start to have a life and time to read and blog and do things that have nothing to do with filling out reports and doing administrative work!

I spent the week before classes frantically moving out of the chairs office and into my normal faculty office. Give the size difference and the fact that I still won't have a lab until the last phase of the building is complete, I also spent that entire week wishing for a Tardis.


I had to fit everything from this space  ...

... which I can't find a picture of with my stuff still in it.  Believe me - lots of stuff - an additional book shelf, a second two drawer file cabinet.  Llllllotttttsssss of stuff.


Into this space ...

 ... which is about a quarter the size.  There are still boxes and I can't find things and this picture is from before the two computers and the laser printer were moved in.  Plus there is a closet full of stuff too. I will probably just finally start to get organized in time to have to move again when they finish the last phase of the building.

Eeeeeek!