Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Books for Keeps 116 - the children's book magazine online

Digital version – browse, print or download

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 116 - May 1999

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Colin and Jacqui Hawkins’ Daft Dog. They are interviewed by Stephanie Nettell. Thanks to HarperCollins for their help in producing this May cover.

BfK No. 116 Articles

Editorial - May 1999

News and comment from the Editor.

New Picture Books: Individual and Idiosyncratic

Quentin Blake on the outstanding titles from the new crop.

Windows into Illustration: Ian Beck

Ian Beck uses examples to analyse his approach.

Evaluating Picture Books

Joanna Carey on the skills of the illustrator.

Starting Out with Books

Clive Barnes on the need to support parents.

Authorgraph No.116: Colin and Jacqui Hawkins

Colin and Jacqui Hawkins interviewed by Stephanie Nettell.

BfK Briefing – May 1999

News * Events * Publications * Obituaries * Awards * Best Seller Chart * Letters to the Editor

Useful Organisations No.6: IBBY (International board on Books for Young People) British Section

Founded in 1958 as an international network of people interested in children’s books, with the aim of promoting tolerance and international understanding.

I Wish I’d Written… Aquila

Jenny Nimmo chooses Andrew Norriss’s Aquila.

Good Reads: Lauriston Primary School

Reviews from pupils of Lauriston Primary School, London.

Classics in Short No.15: The Story of Babar

Brian Alderson on Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar.

Editor's Choice

Whadayamean

John Burningham
(Jonathan Cape)
5

One day God wakes up and decides to visit earth, the planet he made as ‘a paradise where animals and people could live with air to breathe and water to drink’. Accompanied by two children on his journey, God is horrified by the pollution,...

read more

New Talent

Little Bo Peep’s Library Book

Cressida Cowell
(Hodder Children's Books)
5

Little Bo Peep has, of course, lost her sheep. Perhaps the library has a book about how to find them. The helpful librarian, Mother Goose, directs her to lamb in the cooking section where she meets Big Bad Wolf (browsing through Basic...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 116

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Ages 14+
  • Books About Children's Books

Under 5s

  • All Fall Down; Cat on the Mat; Toot, Toot; The Fish Who Could Wish

    Brian Wildsmith
    5
  • I Want A Sister

    Tony Ross
    5
  • A Kiss Like This

    Catherine Anholt
    Laurence Anholt
    5
  • Little Bo Peep’s Library Book

    Cressida Cowell
    5
  • Truck Jam

    Paul Stickland
    4
  • Dazzling Diggers

    Tony Mitton
    4
  • Ring-a-Ring O'Roses: A Collection of Nursery Rhymes and Stories

    Justin Todd
    4
  • Blooming Cats

    David R Morgan
    4
  • Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

    Kevin Henkes
    4
  • The Wrong Overcoat

    Hiawyn Oram
    4
  • Frog in Love

    Max Velthuijs
    4
  • Just Like Floss

    Kim Lewis
    4
  • The Gruffalo

    Julia Donaldson
    4
  • Brand New Baby

    Bob Graham
    4
  • Where is Little Croc?

    Alison Boyle
    3
  • Fergus Goes Quackers!

    Tony Maddox
    3
  • Jigsaw Farm

    Claire Duffett
    3
  • Love is a Handful of Honey

    Giles Andreae
    2
  • The Runaway Tractor; Pig Gets Stuck

    Heather Amery
    1

Ages 5-8

  • The Usborne First Book of Numbers

    Angela Wilkes
    Claudia Zeff
    5
  • The Oxford Treasury of World Stories

    Michael Harrison
    Christopher Stuart-Clark
    5
  • The House Cat

    Helen Cooper
    5
  • Gentle Giant Octopus

    Karen Wallace
    5
  • Brave Sister, The: A Story of the Arabian Nights

    5
  • Whadayamean

    John Burningham
    5
  • The Stone

    Dianne Hofmeyr
    4
  • Rome and Romans

    Heather Amery
    Patricia Vanags
    4
  • I'm Happy; I'm Shy

    Karen Bryant-Mole
    4
  • The Great Castle of Marshmangle

    Malachy Doyle
    4
  • Emmelina and the Monster

    June Crebbin
    4
  • Too Big!

    Geraldine McCaughrean
    3
  • Space Baby

    Annie Dalton
    3
  • Ruby's Recipes

    Akulah Agbami
    3
  • One Big Family: Sharing a Life in an African Village

    Ifeoma Onyefulu
    3
  • At Home; Going on a Trip; Having Fun; In the High Street

    Karen Bryant-Mole
    3
  • The Golden Cage

    Ivan Jones
    3
  • Geeta's Day: From dawn to dusk in an Indian village

    Prodeepta Das
    3
  • Dr White

    Jane Goodall
    3
  • There's a Monster Who Eats Books in our House

    Sally Grindley
    2
  • Iggy Pig at the Seaside; Iggy Pig's Dark Night

    Vivien French
    2
  • Return of the Killer Coat

    Susan Gates
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Land of the Long White Cloud

    Kiri Te Kanawa
    5
  • Fantastic Mr Fox

    Roald Dahl
    5
  • What Do We Think About Disability?; What Do We Think About Family Break-Up?

    Jillian Powell
    4
  • The Lion Graphic Bible

    Mike Maddox
    4
  • Extra Time; Ghost for Sale; Hostage; Lift Off; Tod in Biker City; What's Going on, Gus?

    Jenny Oldfield
    3
  • Little Dad

    Pat Moon
    3
  • Jeremy Brown and the Mummy's Curse; Jeremy Brown on Mars

    Simon Cheshire
    3
  • Fabulous Feasts

    Peter Kent
    3
  • Henry VIII; Victoria

    Gill Munton
    Katrian Siliprandi
    3
  • Who was Alexander the Great?; Who was Tutankhamun?

    David Nasmyth
    3
  • Dinosaur Pox

    Jeremy Strong
    3
  • Stars and Planets

    Alastair Smith
    2

Ages 10-14

  • A Hostage to War

    Tatiana Vassilieva
    5
  • Ethel & Ernest: A True Story

    Raymond Briggs
    5
  • Shadow Spinner

    Susan Fletcher
    4
  • The Interrex; The Relic Master

    Catherine Fisher
    4
  • The Oxford Treasury of Time Poems

    4
  • The Flesh Eater; The Midwinter Watch

    John Gordon
    4
  • Alcohol ¦ Animal Rights ¦ Genocide ¦ Mental Illness

    Emma Haughton
    4
  • Beauty and the Beast and other stories

    4
  • What's the Big Idea? - Food

    Emily Moore
    3
  • Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body

    Richard Platt
    3
  • The Sacrifice

    Diane Matcheck
    3
  • The Millennium

    Bob Fowke
    3
  • Dangerous Reality

    Malorie Blackman
    3
  • Brother Brother, Sister Sister

    Helen Dunmore
    3
  • Panther

    Martin Booth
    3
  • Macbeth

    3
  • Spin of the Sunwheel

    Elizabeth Arnold
    2
  • Bat and Bell; Chop and Change; Shock Tactics; Space Race

    Terry Deary
    Barbara Allen
    2

Ages 14+

  • Uncle Vampire

    Cynthia D Grant
    5
  • Against the Storm; Coming Home; The Frozen Waterfall; Watching the Watcher

    Gaye Hiçyilmaz
    4
  • Don't Look Back

    Sandra Chick
    4
  • SS World

    Terrance Dicks
    3
  • Soundtrack

    Julie Bertagna
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Jonathan Swift

    Victoria Glendinning
    5
  • No Go the Bogeyman

    Marina Warner
    5
  • Teaching Poetry in the Primary School: Perspectives for a New Generation; The Poetry Book for Primary Schools

    Dennis Carter
    3

BfK News

DANIEL MORDEN WINS 2013 TIR NA N-OG ENGLISH AWARD

The Welsh Books Council has announced Daniel Morden as winner of the 2013 Tir na n-Og English Award for his collection of stories Tree of Leaf and Flame (Pont Books).

Morden’s first book, Weird Tales from the  Storyteller, was shortlisted for the Tir
na n-Og English-language award in 2004 and he won the award in 2007 for Dark Tales from the Woods.

read more...
ROYAL SOCIETY YOUNG PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE 2013 SHORTLIST

The Royal Society has announced the shortlist for their 2013 Young People’s Book Prize, naming the six books the judges consider best communicate science to young people.

Professor John Goodby FRS, Chair of the judges described the shortlist as eclectic, but enthralling.

The six books shortlisted by the judges are:

Build the Human Body by Richard Walker (Templar Publishing)

In the judges’ words: ‘A hands on, fun kit to help learn about the human body, accompanied by a well-illustrated, concise, clear book.’

read more...
SARAH GARLAND WINS INAUGURAL LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Sarah Garland has won the first Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Azzi in Between, which tells the story of a family forced to fell their homeland and settle in a strange and unfamiliar country. The book is based on the author’s own experience of working among refugee families and is endorsed by Amnesty International.

read more...
2013 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD: THE SHORTLIST

‘Seven outstanding debuts, eight really interesting authors, doing really interesting things’

The shortlist for the 2013 Branford Boase Award has been announced. The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

read more...
2013 CLPE Poetry Award: Winner

CLPE AwardThe 2013 CLPE Poetry Award has been won by George Szirtes for  In the Land of the Giants, illustrated by Helen Szirtes (Salt Publishing). Szirtes was presented with the award by last year’s winner Rachel Rooney at a ceremony at CLPE on the evening of Tuesday 30 April.

read more...
THE 2013 CLPE POETRY AWARD SHORTLIST

Weight of WaterFour outstanding poetry books are shortlisted for the 2013 CLPE Poetry Award. Established in 2003, the annual Poetry Award encourages and celebrates outstanding new children’s poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

The four books on the shortlist are:

read more...
2013 ENGLISH 4 – 11 PICTURE BOOK AWARDS: THE WINNERS

The winners of the 2013 English 4 – 11 Picture Book Awards have been announced. Established in 1995, the awards are presented annually to the best picture books of the previous year, in four categories, Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years, and Non-Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years.

From a 15 strong shortlist, the winners are:

Fiction 4 – 7 years

Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis illustrated by Tony Ross (Andersen Press)

Fiction 7 – 11 years

read more...
IBBY Announces the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award have been announced.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children's books. Awarded every other year by IBBY, the award recognizes lifelong achievement and is given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature.

For the 2014 Awards 29 authors and 31 illustrators have been nominated from 34 countries. They are:

read more...
New Little Rebels Children’s Book Award: Shortlist Announced

The shortlist has been announced for The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award, a new award for radical children’s fiction.

The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award recognises fiction for ages 0-12 which promotes or celebrates social justice and equality. It is awarded by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) and administered by Letterbox Library. Wendy Cooling, Bookstart co-founder & editor and author Elizabeth Laird are both judges.

The four books on the inaugural shortlist are:

read more...
School Library Association Information Book Award 2013 Short List Announcement

The School Library Association has announce the shortlist for the 2013 prize. The Information Book Award is an annual event, in its third year its aim is to reinforce the importance of non-fiction whilst highlighting the high standard of resources available.

The judges - a panel of experienced librarians, SLA board members and a member of Peters Bookselling Services - have produced what they describe as ‘a strong and very varied selection of titles for the shortlist’. These are

Under 7s

read more...
more
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account
website developed by purkiss