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

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

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

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...

read more

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...

read more

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

WINNERS OF THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2015

RHCBA logo 2015The winners of Red House Children’s Book Award 2015 were announced today (Saturday 21 February) in a celebratory awards ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank as part of the Imagine Festival.

read more...
MOVE OVER NANCY DREW: ADVENTURE STORIES DOMINATE WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE SHORTLIST

Waterstones Children's Book Prize logoThe shortlist for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize has been announced and features a preponderance of traditional adventure stories for children.

read more...
LONGLISTS FOR 2015 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

CILIP CKG logoThe longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been revealed. 20 books are on each longlist, contenders for the awards, often described as the most prestigious of the UK children’s books awards.

read more...
A PLACE AT THE TABLE

Wednesday 28 January 2015 saw children’s book publishers coming together with booksellers, teachers, librarians and other key partners for a unique event aimed at turning discussions around inclusion and diversity
into action.

Author Pippa Goodhart has particular interest and experience in the subject and took part in the event. Here she reports on it for Books for Keeps.

read more...
THE BRANFORD BOASE AWARD 2015: THE LONGLIST

Branford Boase AwardThe longlist for the 2015 Branford Boase Award is announced today (Tuesday 27th January 2015). 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...
GENE KEMP 1926 – 2015

Books for Keeps is saddened to hear of the death of Gene Kemp. Best known for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler, which won both the Other Award and the Carnegie Medal, she wrote over 30 books for children. A full obituary appears in issue 210.

read more...
THE MARSH AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION 2015 SHORTLIST

Six books are on the 2015 shortlist for The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. Awarded biennially since 1996, the Award was initiated by the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature at Roehampton University and founded by the Marsh Christian Trust to celebrate the best translation of a children’s book from a foreign language into English.

read more...
NEW WORLD BOOK DAY AWARD: WIN CASH TO SPEND ON YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY

WOBOD AwardA new World Book Day Award launches today, Friday 9 January 2015, offering schools the chance to win money to spend on books for their libraries. Bestselling author and philanthropist James Patterson has donated £50,000 to fund the prize over two years.

 

read more...
KATE SAUNDERS WINS THE 2014 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Kate SaundersKate Saunders has won the 2014 Costa Children’s Book Award for her novel Five Children on the Western Front, a moving sequel to E Nesbit’s Five Children and It, which transplants the main characters into the trenches of World War I.

read more...
2014 TEN OF THE BEST BfK ARTICLES

Each issue of Books for Keeps carries a variety of articles, regular features, interviews and one offs. Here are ten of the year’s most popular articles, a small selection of the wealth of subjects and topics covered.

Tove Jansson: an appreciation by Philip Pullman

read more...
more
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account