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Books for Keeps 103 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 103 - March 1997

Cover Story
The cover of this issue is a design incorporating illustrations from four books illustrated by the subject of our Authorgraph, Ian Beck. The top left illustration is from Five Little Ducks (Orchard), the top right from Poppy and Pip's Picnic (to be published Autumn '97 by HarperCollins), the bottom left from The Owl and the Pussy-cat (Transworld) and the bottom right from Home Before Dark (to be published September '97 by Scholastic). Ian Beck's Picture Book (Hippo) is reviewed in this issue.
Beck talks to BfK's interviewer, Julia Eccleshare, also in this issue. His distinctive decorative style with its sensitive pen line and cross hatching has a nostalgic but sometimes also a surreal quality - he describes it as 'a look that is floating, strong and wistful all at the same time'.

Thanks to Orchard, HarperCollins, Transworld and Scholastic for their help in producing this composite cover.

BfK No. 103 Articles

Editorial – March 1997

News and comment from the Editor.
At Mother’s (or Father’s) Knee

Deborah Maby on preschoolers who are ready to read.
Good? Good as? Good for...?

Peter Hunt discusses criteria for book selection.
Publishing Profiles No.2: The Production Manager

Liz Attenborough goes behind the scenes in publishing.
Authorgraph No.103: Ian Beck

Ian Beck interviewed by Julia Eccleshare
BfK Briefing – March 1997

News * Events * Awards * Obituary * Poetry Best Seller Charts * Letters to the Editor
Good Reads: Coalway Junior School, Gloucestershire

Reviews from pupils of Coalway Junior School, Gloucestershire.
Classics in Short No.2: Five Children and It

Helen Levene on E Nesbit's Five Children and It.

Editor's Choice

Disguises and Surprises
Claire Llewellyn
(Walker Books Ltd)
5

The soil is crawling with earthworms. There could easily be a million in an area the size of your school games pitch.

Although they feel rubbery, worms are actually covered with hundreds of tiny bristles. The bristles help them to...

read more

New Talent

Creepers
Keith Gray
(Mammoth)
5

I clenched and unclenched my fists, my heart was beating fast fast. I looked at my best friend and saw his freckles and characteristic grin riding high. If I could make the distance with anyone it was Jamie. I was glad he was here, I wouldn...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 103

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14

Under 5s

  • What Newt Could Do for Turtle
    Jonathan London
    4

  • Cinderella
    Prue Theobalds
    4

  • Michael's Monsters
    Gus Clarke
    4

  • Ian Beck's Picture Book
    Ian Beck
    4

  • A Cheese and Tomato Spider
    Nick Sharratt
    3

  • Little Elephant Thunderfoot
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • The Bad Day ABC
    Hilda Offen
    3

  • Lottie's Letter
    Gordon Snell
    3

  • The Treasure Hunt
    Nick Butterworth
    3

  • Mrs Pig Gets Cross ¦ Wicked William
    Mary Rayner
    3

  • Chanting Rhymes ¦ Action Rhymes ¦ Finger Rhymes ¦ Counting Rhymes
    3

  • Papa, please get the moon for me
    Eric Carle
    3

  • Let's Look Inside the Yellow Truck ¦ Let's Look Inside the Red Car
    Amanda Leslie
    3

  • Charlie's Choice
    Nicola Smee
    3

  • Dem Bones
    Bob Barner
    2

  • Sweetapple Farm
    Wendy Smith
    1

Ages 5-8

  • The Orchard Book of Irish Fairy Tales and Legends
    Una Leavy
    5

  • Disguises and Surprises
    Claire Llewellyn
    5

  • Wings, Stings and Wriggly Things
    Martin Jenkins
    5

  • The Orchard Book of Stories from the Seven Seas
    Pomme Clayton
    4

  • The King of Ireland's Son
    Brendan Behan
    4

  • Mr MacMurdo's Guide to Ghostkeeping
    Gerald Hawksley
    4

  • Too Much Talk
    Angela Shelf Medearis
    4

  • The Sea of Tranquility
    Mark Haddon
    4

  • Tales of Trotter Street
    Shirley Hughes
    4

  • Food ¦ Clothes & Uniforms
    Kath Cox
    Pat Hughes
    3

  • The Five Sisters
    Margaret Mahy
    3

  • Sulky Suzy/Jittery Jack
    Joan Lingard
    3

  • Hogsel and Gruntel
    Dick King-Smith
    3

  • Minty; Freedom Child of the Sea
    Alan Schroeder
    3

  • Cloudland
    John Burningham
    3

  • Take Care On Your Own ¦ Take Care Near Water
    Carole Wale
    1

  • The Animals of Paradise
    Noura Durkee
    0

Ages 8-10

  • Clockwork or All Wound Up
    Philip Pullman
    5

  • The Terrible Trins
    Dick King-Smith
    5

  • Chuck and Danielle
    Peter Dickinson
    5

  • Secret Friends
    Elizabeth Laird
    5

  • Wayland Atlas of Threatened Cultures
    4

  • Virtual World
    Chris Westwood
    4

  • Pictures in the Dark
    Gillian Cross
    4

  • Daughter of the Sea
    Berlie Doherty
    4

  • Oxford Children's Encyclopedia
    4

  • The World of the Medieval Knight
    Christopher Gravett
    4

  • We Animals Would Like a Word with You
    John Agard
    4

  • The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog
    Jeremy Strong
    4

  • Daft Jack and the Bean Stack ¦ Cinderboy
    Laurence Anholt
    4

  • The 20th Century
    Terry Deary
    3

  • Metropolis
    Albert Lorenz
    Joy Schleh
    3

  • Bypass
    Anthony Masters
    3

  • Similon
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?
    Paula Danziger
    3

  • Superstructures
    Mike Corbishley
    3

  • Belly Flop
    Morris Gleitzman
    3

  • Creep and Chase
    Ruth Dowley
    3

  • Crocodile Tears
    Marjorie Ann Watts
    3

  • Connie and the Water Babies
    Jacqueline Wilson
    3

  • Charlie the Champion Traveller
    Hazel Townson
    3

  • Claude Monet ¦ Emmeline Pankhurst ¦ Frederic Chopin ¦ Isambard Kingdom Brunel ¦ Vincent van Gogh
    John Malam
    2

  • Robert Burns: Maker of Rhymes
    Elisabeth Jane McNair
    2

  • What Do We Know about Plains Indians? ¦ What Do We Know about Prehistoric People?
    Colin Taylor
    1

  • The Complete Poetical Works of Phoebe Flood
    John Whitworth
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Escape
    June Oldham
    5

  • Creepers
    Keith Gray
    5

  • Death or Glory Boys ¦ Broken Bridge
    Theresa Breslin
    4

  • The Car
    Gary Paulsen
    4

  • Listen to the Dark
    Maeve Henry
    4

  • The Spark Gap
    Julie Bertagna
    4

  • Sex Matters
    Julian Cohen
    3

  • The Vision
    Pete Johnson
    3

BfK News

A Passion for Picture books

‘Although interest in the art of the picture book seems to have grown greatly in recent years, study of the field has remained polarised in its nature and perceptions,’ claim the authors of an important new book, Children’s Picturebooks: The art of visual storytelling.

Books for Keeps invited co-writers Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles to explain their aim to bring together ideas from the world of literature and education with ideas from the field of art and design.

read more...
BLOOD RED ROAD WINS 2011 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

For the second year in succession, a debut novel has won the Costa Children’s Book Award. The 2011 prize went to Jason Wallace for his novel Out of Shadows; this year’s prize has gone to Moira Young for her book Blood Red Road.

Set in a dystopian future world, Blood Red Road tells the story of 18-year-old Saba, a tough young woman who embarks on an epic quest to rescue her twin brother when he is kidnapped by four mysterious horsemen.

read more...
Behind the Bookshelf

A new way of bringing authors into the classroom – and a special competition for Books for Keeps readers.

read more...
2011 Educational Writers’ Award Winner Announced

The winner of the 2011 Educational Writers’ Award is Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond…The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour by Stewart Ross.

The Educational Writers’ Award was established in 2008 by ALCS and The Society of Authors to celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.

read more...
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize winner announced

The winner of the 2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize is How the World Works, an interactive opus that uses illustrations, pop ups, flaps and more to make children think about the impact of human actions on our environment, while encouraging respect for the natural world.

read more...
Muslim Writers Awards 2011

Na'ima B Robert's Far from Home (Frances Lincoln) has won the Published Children's Book category of the Muslim Writers Awards.

The Awards were held at the Globe Theatre on Tuesday 22nd November and acknowledged dramatists and young journalists as well as authors.

read more...
2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize

After a two year gap when, due to funding issues it was not awarded, The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2011 will be awarded on Thursday 1st December, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

The prize celebrates the books that best communicate science to young people aged up to 14 and there are six books on the shortlist. They are:

The Icky Sticky Blood and Snot Book by Steve Alton and Nick Sharratt (Bodley Head)

read more...
Liz Pichon and Peter Bently: Roald Dahl Funny Prize Winners

Winners Roald Dahl Prize 2011 2Tuesday 8th November saw the fourth annual Roald Dahl Funny Prize ceremony, which again took place at the Unicorn Theatre. This year Chair, and instigator of the prize, Michael Rosen was joined on the judging panel by author and broadcaster Grace Dent, illustrator Tony Ross, Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon and journalist/scriptwriter Danny Wallace.

read more...
PIRATE CATS AND DOODLING SCHOOLBOY WIN THE 2011 ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE

Roald Dahl Winners 2011Peter Bently and Liz Pichon have been announced as winners of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize. 

read more...
FIRST SLA INFORMATION BOOK AWARD: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Adrian Dingle’s book How to make a Universe with 92 Ingredients (Scholastic) and The Life and Times of William Shakespeare by Kirsten McDermott and Ari Berk (Templar) were announced winners of the first SLA Information Book Award at a celebration event in London last night, Wednesday 2nd November.

read more...
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