NEW YORK, NY–The Children’s Book Council (CBC) in association with the CBC Foundation, launches the Children’s Choice Book Awards program with the announcement of 25 finalists in five categories. The Children’s Choice Book Awards program was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them and to help develop a reading list that will motivate children to read.

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Welcome back to Cynsations! Buckle up! 2008 will be our best year yet!

Very early on, I’ll begin with new features while catching up on a bit of slightly seasoned but still fabulous news–much of which I’m sure will still be fresh to everyone–and you can look for more weekend posts than usual. Highlights will include with interviews with several children’s and/or YA authors/illustrators,

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Ying Chang Compestine: A Test of Character from CBC Magazine. Here’s a sneak peek: Ying Chang Compestine came to the United States for graduate school in 1986. After her parents passed away, she began her first novel, Revolution is Not a Dinner Party (Holt, 2007), as a way of coping with her grief and to reconnect to China.

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Kerry Madden is the author the Smoky Mountain trilogy from Viking Children’s Books including: Gentle’s Holler (Viking, 2005), Louisiana’s Song (Viking, 2007), and the upcoming, Jessie’s Mountain. She is also the author of Writing Smarts from American Girl Library (2002). Her first novel, Offsides (Morrow, 1996), about growing up on the gridiron of college football was a New York Public Library Selection for the Teen Age in 1997.

Continue Reading Author Interview: Kerry Madden on Lousiana’s Song »

In celebration of the release of my new picture book, Santa Knows, co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith, illustrated by Steve Björkman (Dutton, 2006), it is my pleasure to announce launch of www.santa-knows.com and to share an interview with the design guru behind it, Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys.

Continue Reading Web Designer Interview: Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys on the Launch of www.santa-knows.com »

Linda Sue Park is the winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal for A Single Shard (Clarion, 2001). Linda Sue’s titles include Seesaw Girl (Clarion, 1999), The Kite Fighters (Clarion, 2000), When My Name Was Keoko (Clarion, 2002). She also has published several picture books–The Firekeeper’s Son (Clarion,

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I leave tomorrow to spend a week in Kansas City, and my email access will be thin to nill. Please contact my husband, author Greg Leitich Smith, if you need to get in touch with me. Thanks! Also, over at spookycyn, I offer a myriad of thoughts on the Time magazine special report on “Being 13.”

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I have no idea how anyone who isn’t well read expects to write well.

Reading counts as writing time. It is also the best, most painless way to improve your craft.

From now on, I’m going to start opening conversations with beginners with “what children’s/YA books have you read lately?” I’m going to work the question more into speeches,

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