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Books for Keeps 118 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 118 - September 1999

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from a stunning new picture book, Mary’s Secret by David McKee (Andersen Press, 0 86264 909 9, £9.99). An ecological fable about doing without cars, McKee’s story with its bright pictures full of well observed detail is set within Mary’s cheerful family and at her school. His bold, painterly illustrations use the page so confidently and dextrously that their quirky, decorative perspectives seem entirely natural. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help in producing this September cover.

BfK No. 118 Articles

Editorial - September 1999

News and comment from the Editor.
Drugs and Teen Publishing

Colin Chapman assesses books with drugs as a theme.
Windows into Illustration: Anthony Browne

Anthony Browne explains the techniques and thinking behind his recent picture book,Voices in the Park.
From Read Me to Read On

Liz Attenborough reflects on the National Year of Reading.
Authorgraph No.118: Melvin Burgess

Melvin Burgess interviewed by George Hunt.
BfK Briefing – September 1999

News * Events * Obituary * Awards * Best Seller Chart * Publications * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.8: Readathon

National sponsored read raising money for very ill children.
I Wish I'd Written... The Sterkarm Handshake

Gillian Cross chooses Susan Price's The Sterkarm Handshake.
Good Reads: Wells Cathedral School

Reviews from pupils of Wells Cathedral School, Somerset.
Classics in Short No.17: Just So Stories

Brian Alderson on Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.

Editor's Choice

Rover
Michael Rosen
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

Told in the first person, this witty picture book is a canine account of life with a pet human. ‘Rover’ as her owner calls her ‘has very weak claws. Her coat only covers her head.’ When they go to the park ‘she keeps losing the ball but I always...

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New Talent

Clarice Bean That’s Me
Lauren Child
(Orchard Books)
5

Getting enough attention and at the same time enough space for yourself are common preoccupations for children in big families. The third child out of four, 7-ish Clarice Bean shares a bedroom with her younger brother (‘I have drawn a line down...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 118

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

Under 5s

  • Chicken, Chips and Peas; The Hen House; Slow Dog Falling
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Jungle Kids
    John Wallace
    5

  • Daddy, Will You Miss Me?
    Wendy McCormick
    5

  • Rover
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • The Little Cat and the Greedy Old Woman; You're Somebody Special, Walliwags!
    Joan Rankin
    4

  • The Enormous Turnip; The Elves and the Shoemaker; The Gingerbread Man; The Little Red Hen; The Sly Fox and the Little Red Hen; TheThree Billy Goats Gruff
    4

  • Splash!
    Flora McDonnell
    4

  • Jody's Beans
    Malachy Doyle
    4

  • Zelda and Ivy and the Boy Next Door
    Laura McGee Kvanosky
    3

  • Very Hungry Caterpillar , The
    3

  • Please, Princess Primrose!
    Vivien French
    3

  • Perfect Pet, The
    Peta Coplans
    3

  • Maisy's Mix-and Match Mousewear
    Lucy Cousins
    3

  • Frankie and Albertine
    Christine Davenier
    3

  • Cinderella
    Charles Perrault
    3

  • Elmer’s Day; Elmer’s Friends; Elmer’s Weather; Elmer’s Colours
    David McKee
    3

  • Daisy Says Coo!
    Jane Simmons
    2

  • Where Are You Hiding, Little Lamb?
    Hiawyn Oram
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Jaguar Talk; Tiger Talk; Zebra Talk
    Vanesha Vargo
    5

  • Changeling, The
    Malachy Doyle
    5

  • Clarice Bean That’s Me
    Lauren Child
    5

  • Weslandia
    Paul Fleischman
    4

  • Great Art Attack Stuff
    Neil Buchanan
    4

  • What Do We Think About Adoption?
    Jillian Powell
    3

  • Thief in the Garden, A
    Elizabeth Arnold
    3

  • Out for the Count
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • Magical Mazes
    Juliet Snape
    Charles Snape
    3

  • I Know How My Cells Make Me Grow; I Know Why I Brush My Teeth
    Kate Rowan
    3

  • Tell Me How Much It Weighs; Tell Me How Far It Is
    Shirley Willis
    3

  • Poems about School; Poems about Space
    2

Ages 8-10

  • I Was a Rat! ... or The Scarlet Slippers
    Philip Pullman
    5

  • The Hairy Hands
    Gene Kemp
    5

  • The Lady of Shalott; Beowulf; The Highwayman
    Alfred Lord Tennyson
    5

  • Tales of the Catwings
    Ursula Le Guin
    5

  • The Crusades; The Industrial Revolution
    Christine Hatt
    4

  • Bartlett and the Ice Voyage
    Odo Hirsch
    4

  • Picture a Poem
    Gina Douthwaite
    4

  • Oliver Twist
    Charles Dickens
    4

  • Excuses, Excuses: Poems about School
    3

  • Sink the Armada!; The Finest Pharaoh of All!
    Stewart Ross
    2

  • The Weatherbirds
    Ted Dewan
    2

Ages 10-14

  • New Astronomer
    Carole Stott
    5

  • Bulging Brains
    Nick Arnold
    5

  • The Illustrated Mum
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • Dancing in the Street: A Poetry Party
    5

  • Always Inventing - a photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell
    Tom L Matthews
    5

  • A Right to Life - and Death?
    Kenneth Boyd
    5

  • I Have Lived a Thousand Years
    Livia Britton-Jackson
    4

  • Bloomability
    Sharon Creech
    4

  • The Crowlings
    Louise Lawrence
    4

  • Ticket to Prague
    James Watson
    4

  • Wild Blood
    Kate Thompson
    4

  • Flightsend
    Linda Newbery
    4

  • Bloom of Youth
    Rachel Anderson
    4

  • Bitter Fruit
    Brian Keaney
    4

  • The Lion Tamer's Daughter
    Peter Dickinson
    4

  • Gangs & Bullies
    Rosemary Stones
    4

  • Stiks & Stoans
    Andrew Matthews
    4

  • The Crow Haunting
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • Smiling for Strangers
    Annie Campling
    3

  • Warpath 1: Tank Attack; Warpath 2: Deadly Skies
    J Eldridge
    3

  • Secret Place
    Joan Lingard
    3

  • Huntress of the Sea
    Alan Temperley
    2

  • Star Quest
    Andy Dixon
    2

  • Kerosene
    Chris Wooding
    2

  • In Space; Moon Landing the race for the Moon
    Michael Johnstone
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Pictus Orbis Sambo, The: A Publishing History, Checklist and Price Guide for the Story of Little Black Sambo
    Phyllis Settecase Barton
    4

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.

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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)

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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