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Books for Keeps 120 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 120 - January 2000

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Edward Ardizzone’s Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain. Brian Alderson discusses this classic picture book, now reissued in a beautiful new edition by Scholastic in ‘Classics in Short’. Thanks to Scholastic Children’s Books for their help in producing this January cover.

BfK No. 120 Articles

Editorial - January 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Young Children Growing Up in a Drug Using World

Noreen Wetton on the role of children's books in early drugs education.
Series Fiction for Young Readers

Annabel Gibb assesses recent books for 'beginner' and 'confident' readers.
Good Reads: Immanuel College, Bushey and Humphry Davy School, Penzance

Reviews from pupils of Immanuel College, Bushey, Hertfordshire, and Humphry Davy School, Penzance, Cornwall.
Authorgraph No.120: Magdalen Nabb

Magdalen Nabb interviewed by Rosemary Stones.
BfK Briefing - January 2000

News * Events * Awards * Best Seller Chart * Publications * Letter to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.9: Listening Books

Postal library for those with physical as well as print disabilities.
I Wish I'd Written... The Stones are Hatching

Linda Newbery chooses Geraldine McCaughrean's The Stones are Hatching.
Classics in Short No.19: Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain

Brian Alderson on Edward Ardizzone's Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain.

Editor's Choice

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
(Walker Books Ltd)
5

First published in 1865 and never out of print, Alice is to Tenniel as Winnie-the-Pooh is to E H Shepard. Bold the illustrators (and in Alice ’s case there have been quite a few, from...

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New Talent

Fire Bringer
David Clement-Davies
(Macmillan Children's Books)
3

When a fawn is born with a patch of white fur on its forehead in the shape of an oak leaf, it seems that an ancient prophecy has come true and Herne, the god of the deer, has sent a saviour. But Rannock, the fawn, is now in danger and must flee...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 120

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

Under 5s

  • Snore!
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • Merrymaid of Zennor, The
    Charles Causley
    5

  • Tale of the Turnip, The
    Brian Alderson
    4

  • Snow-white
    Josephine Poole
    4

  • Queen of the Night
    Ronda Armitage
    4

  • Happy Birthday, Amelia
    Nicola Moon
    4

  • Goo-Goo Gorilla
    Ian Whybrow
    4

  • Your World: A First Encyclopedia
    Angela Wilkes
    3

  • Word in Pig's Ear, A
    Nick Ward
    3

  • If You Should Meet a Crocodile; Poems about Animals
    3

  • One, Two, Three, Oops!
    Michael Coleman
    Gwyneth Williamson
    3

  • The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog; Mission Ziffoid
    Ana Martin Larranaga
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Elf Hill: Tales from Hans Christian Andersen
    Naomi Lewis
    5

  • Celtic Fairy Tales; Favourite Fairy Tales
    4

  • Christy's Dream
    Caroline Binch
    4

  • Lunch Boxes Don't Fly; Poppet; Super Molly and the Lolly Rescue
    Michael Rosen
    3

  • Injury Time; Rivals United; Soccer Secret; Striker's Boots
    Michael Hardcastle
    3

  • Shimmy with my Granny
    3

  • 'Excuse Me' Learning About Politeness; 'I'll Do It!' Taking Responsibility; 'It Wasn't Me!' Learning About Honesty
    Brian Moses
    3

  • Football
    Jason Page
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Ring of Words, The: An Anthology of Poetry for Children
    5

  • Leaf in Time, A
    David Walker
    5

  • Castle Diary: the Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page
    Richard Platt
    5

  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
    Lewis Carroll
    5

  • My Dear Noel: The Story of a Letter from Beatrice Potter; Quentin Blake
    Jane Johnson
    4

  • Living with Cerebral Palsy; Living with Leukaemia
    Dr Paul Pimm
    4

  • Trevor McDonald's World of Poetry
    Trevor McDonald
    3

  • Day in the Life of a World War II Evacuee, A
    Alan Childs
    3

  • Bathrooms Through the Ages; Bedrooms Through the Ages
    Richard Wood
    3

  • What Do We Know About Hinduism?; What Do We Know About Judaism?
    Anita Ganeri
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Story of the Holocaust, The
    Clive A Lawton
    5

  • Mister Spaceman
    Lesley Howarth
    5

  • Escape from Shangri-La; Kensuke's Kingdom
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • An Interview with Anne Fine ¦ An Interview with Gillian Cross ¦ An Interview with Jenny Nimmo ¦ An Interview with Michael Morpurgo ¦ An Interview with Michelle Magorian ¦ An Interview with Theresa Breslin

    4

  • Eating Disorders; Family Violence
    Jenny Bryan
    4

  • Day My Parents Ran Away, The
    Josephine Feeney
    4

  • Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, The
    3

  • Kingfisher Book of Religions, The
    Trevor Barnes
    3

  • Fire Bringer
    David Clement-Davies
    3

  • Survivor's Guide to School, A
    Jeanette Baker
    2

  • Kingfisher Book of Planet Earth, The
    Martin Redfern
    2

  • Hutchinson Book of Kings and Queens of England, The
    Tony Robinson
    2

Ages 14+

  • Streetlife
    5

  • The Sterkarm Handshake
    Susan Price
    5

  • Little Soldier
    Bernard Ashley
    5

  • Holes
    Louis Sachar
    5

  • What's Your Problem?
    Sherry Ashworth
    4

  • Crime and Punishment: Changing Attitudes 1900-2000; Medical Ethics: Changing Attitudes 1900-2000
    Alison Brownlie
    4

  • Breathing Fear
    Malcolm Rose
    4

  • Reality Bites Back!
    Caroline Plaisted
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Reading Otherways
    Lissa Paul
    4

  • Children's Books in England: Third Edition
    4

BfK News

THE LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

Little Rebels prize logoThe shortlist for the 2019 Little Rebels Award has been announced. Seven books have made the list with war and conflict recurring themes.

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SHORTLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Selected by volunteer Youth Librarians from longlists of 20 books per medal, there are eight on each shortlist.

Alongside previously shortlisted authors and illustrators, there are newcomers on each shortlist, and as the poetry boom for young readers continues, three verse novels make the Carnegie shortlist by US authors Elizabeth Acevedo, Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.

The 2019 shortlists are as follows:

read more...
BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf and The Colours of History by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Marc-Etienne Peintre, have been revealed as the 2019 Blue Peter Book Award winners.

read more...
LONGLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Members of YLG have selected 20 books for each list from no less than 254 nominations.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS 2019

Funny Women win the Lollies!

Lollies winners 2019

Elys Dolan, Emer Stamp and Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon have been named the winners of the 2019 Laugh Out Loud Awards, or Lollies.

read more...
HILARY MCKAY WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH ‘PERFECT’ NOVEL

Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for the second time for The Skylarks’ War, a story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the backdrop of World War One. The judges described The Skylarks’ War as ‘as perfect a novel as you could ever want to read’. She receives £5,000 and her book is now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2018 Costa Book of the Year.

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FAR FROM HOME WINS THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s sole award for creative educational writing, is Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty by Cath Senker, a topical and richly illustrated book which sensitively examines the root causes of mass migrations of people in the 21st century.

Cath Senker wins EWA 2018

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SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

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COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2018: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

Costa have announced the shortlist for the 2018 Costa Children’s Book Award. In a record year for submissions, four novels have made it onto a strong shortlist.

read more...
SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS

The shortlists have been announced for the 2019 Blue Peter Book Awards. They are:

Best book with facts

The Element in the Room by Mike Barfield and illustrated by Lauren Humphry, Laurence King Publishing

The Colours of History by Clive Gifford and Marc-Etienne Peintre, QED Publishing

Professor Astro Cat's Human Body Odyssey by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman, Flying Eye Books

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