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Books for Keeps 119 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 119 - November 1999

Cover Story
This issue's cover is from Patrick Benson's new picture book, The Sea-Thing Child by Russell Hoban. Patrick Benson is interviewed by Joanna Carey. Thanks to Walker Books for their help in producing this November cover.

BfK No. 119 Articles

Editorial - November 1999

News and comment from the Editor.

Books for a Real Christmas

Stephanie Nettell recommends books for giving.

Authorgraph No.119: Patrick Benson

Patrick Benson interviewed by Joanna Carey.

The Children’s Books of the Century

Rosemary Stones on the most important writers, artists, poets and books of the century chosen by BfK's readership.

Fin de Sièclism

Brian Alderson on children's books at the turns of the 18th and 19th centuries.

BfK Briefing - November 1999

News * Awards * Prediction Chart * Events * Obituary * Letters to the Editor

I Wish I’d Written... Josephine and Pobble and Mimi and Apricot Max

Jean Ure chooses Adèle Geras’s Josephine and Pobble and Mimi and Apricot Max.

Classics in Short No.18: Struwwelpeter

Brian Alderson on Heinrich Hoffman's Struwwelpeter.

Editor's Choice

Hair in Funny Places

Babette Cole
(Jonathan Cape Ltd)
5

The workings of the pituitary gland have seldom had such a wittily upfront version of their activities presented to young readers as in this entertaining picture book. Narrator Ted (a large teddy bear) explains to his (female) owner how her...

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New Talent

Songquest

Katherine Roberts
(Thorsons)
4

Rialle is top of the class at school and school, as in the Harry Potter books, is not of the usual kind. Rialle is being trained to be a singer, one who can use the Songs of Power which control emotion and memory, to proper...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 119

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

Under 5s

  • My First ABC Book

    Jane Bunting
    4
  • Little Frog

    Christopher Gunson
    4
  • Big Brother, Little Brother

    Penny Dale
    4
  • God's Quiet Things

    Nancy Sweetland
    4
  • Simply Delicious!

    Margaret Mahy
    4
  • Old Hushwing

    Alan Brown
    4
  • Mr Wolf's Pancakes

    Jan Fearnley
    4
  • The Hollyhock Wall

    Martin Waddell
    4
  • Where is Maisy?; Where is Maisy's Panda?

    Lucy Cousins
    3
  • Well Done, Little Bear

    Martin Waddell
    3
  • Mr Bear's New Baby

    Debi Gliori
    3
  • Geraldine's Baby Brother

    Holly Keller
    3
  • Peek-a-Moo!

    Marie Torres Cimarusti
    3
  • Coming to Tea; Going Swimming; Going to Playschool; Doing the Garden

    Sarah Garland
    3
  • Sally's Fantastic Counting Book

    Paul Dowling
    3
  • Mine!

    Hiawyn Oram
    3
  • "Just One More Story"

    Dugald Steer
    3
  • The School Trip

    Nick Butterworth
    Mick Inkpen
    3
  • Sports Day

    Nick Butterworth
    Mick Inkpen
    3
  • Don't Dawdle Dorothy!

    Margrit Cruickshank
    3
  • Touch and Feel Puppy

    2
  • Runaway Rabbit

    Ron Maris
    2
  • The Clothes Book

    2
  • Reading is Fun with Dr Seuss

    2
  • One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish; The Lorax

    Dr Seuss
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Wish You Were Here (And I Wasn't): A Book of Poems and Pictures for Globetrotters

    Colin McNaughton
    5
  • Clockwise: A first look at time; The Case of the Missing Caterpillar: A first look at the life cycle of a butterfly; The Earth is Like a Roundabout: A first look at night and day

    Sam Godwin
    4
  • The Flight of the Snow Goose

    Deborah King
    4
  • In the Street; In the Home

    Kath Cox
    Pat Hughes
    4
  • My Granny's Great Escape

    Jeremy Strong
    4
  • Roald Dahl

    Emma Fischel
    3
  • Royal Blunder; Royal Blunder and the Haunted House

    Henrietta Branford
    3
  • Harry the Poisonous Centipede

    Lynne Reid Banks
    3
  • Roll Over Roly

    Anne Fine
    3
  • Bessemer

    Michael Ponsford
    3
  • Noah's Ark

    Mary Auld
    3
  • Dogblaster; The Queen's Birthday Hat

    Andrew Martyr
    Paula Martyr
    3
  • Mummy, Mummy, Where Are You?; Pay Up, Or Else!

    Ann De Bode
    Rien Broere
    3
  • Dancing Maddy

    Clare Jarrett
    3
  • The Wonky Donkey

    Jonathan Long
    Korky Paul
    3
  • Maya, Tiger Cub

    Theresa Radcliffe
    3
  • Artists; Writers

    Jillian Powell
    2
  • The Magnificent I Can Read Music Book

    Kate Petty
    Jennie Maizels
    2
  • The Firework Maker's Daughter

    Philip Pullman
    2
  • Fairy Tales From Far and Wide

    Fiona Waters
    2
  • Supermum

    Mick Manning
    1
  • The Witch of Blackberry Bottom

    Dick King-Smith
    1
  • Delilah Alone

    Jenny Nimmo
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Rainforest; The Wayland Atlas of Rainforests

    Kathryn Senior
    5
  • The Little Ships

    Louise Bordern
    5
  • Hair in Funny Places

    Babette Cole
    5
  • The Aztecs

    Peter Chrisp
    4
  • Two Weeks with the Queen

    Morris Gleitzman
    4
  • Elidor

    Alan Garner
    4
  • My Second-Best Friend

    Geraldine Kaye
    4
  • Home and School; Sport and Leisure; Travel and Transport; Work and Industry

    Neil Morris
    3
  • William and the Wolves

    Kathryn Cave
    3
  • Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out

    Nick Park
    3
  • 3D Rocks and Minerals

    Cally Oldershaw
    3
  • Invisible!

    Robert Swindells
    3
  • Fitzwizo and the Good Ghost Guide

    Linda Pitt
    3
  • The Girl Who Went to the Underworld and The Girl Who Loved Food

    3
  • MacPelican's American Adventure; The Stone in the Sword

    Scoular Anderson
    3
  • What I Believe

    Alan Brown
    Andrew Langley
    2
  • We Come from South Africa

    Alison Brownlie
    2
  • Exploring Ancient Greece

    John Malam
    2
  • P.S. Longer Letter Later

    Paula Danziger
    Anne M Martin
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Tell Me No Lies

    Malorie Blackman
    4
  • Fields of Home

    Marita Conlon-McKenna
    4
  • Bumface

    Morris Gleitzman
    4
  • Gift of the Gab

    Morris Gleitzman
    4
  • The Moon King

    Siobhan Parkinson
    4
  • The School From Hell

    Yvonne Coppard
    4
  • Songquest

    Katherine Roberts
    4
  • The Eclipse of the Century

    Jan Mark
    4
  • Time; Weather

    Dr Mike Goldsmith
    3
  • Turning to Stone

    John Brindley
    3
  • Just in Time: Stories to Mark the Millennium

    3
  • The Brontes; Charles Dickens

    David Orme
    3
  • Buried Fire

    Jonathan Stroud
    3
  • Safe Harbour

    Marita Conlon-McKenna
    3
  • Ragga to Riches; The Big Diss

    Yinka Adebayo
    3
  • Fugitive

    Catherine MacPhail
    3
  • Missing

    Theresa Breslin
    3
  • The Thing that Came from Jason's Nose!; Animal Avengers

    Tony Bradman
    2
  • How to … Build a Rocket; How to … Build a Time Machine; How to … Split the Atom

    Hazel Richardson
    1

Ages 14+

  • The Guns of Easter; A Winter of Spies

    Gerard Whelan
    4
  • Stones in Water

    Donna Jo Napoli
    4
  • Censorship: Changing Attitudes 1900-2000; Poverty: Changing Attitudes 1900-2000

    Scarlett McGwire
    4
  • Leonardo

    Andrew Langley
    4
  • Virtual Sexual Reality

    Chloë Rayban
    3
  • Does Anyone Round Here Ever Listen?

    Rosie Rushton
    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.

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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:

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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

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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:

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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:

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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

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