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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...

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

Nuts and Losers win the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013

Roald Dahl logo

read more...
Jim Kay to illustrate Harry Potter

Jim Kay Harry P

Bloomsbury is to publish all seven of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books with full-colour illustrations by illustrator Jim Kay.

The first in the series, an illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, will be released in September 2015.

read more...
MOLECULE MAYHEM! WINS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

MOLECULE MAYHEM! WINS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Educ Writers Award

Molecule Mayhem! Pop-Up Chemistry Chaos, written by Tom Adams and illustrated
by Thomas Flintham is the winner of the 2013 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award.

read more...
2013 Educational Writers’ Award Shortlist Announced

Four books have been shortlisted for the 2013 ALCS Award for Educational Writing, ‘outstanding examples of non-fiction books for readers aged 5-11 years’. They are:

Molecule Mayhem! Pop-Up Chemistry Chaos by Tom Adams, illus Thomas Flintham, Templar

World Atlas by Nick Crane, illus David Dean, Barefoot Books

How the Weather Works: A Hands-On Guide to our Changing Skies and Climate by Christine Dorian, illus Beverly Young, Templar

read more...
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2013: winner announced

Look inside space, Rob Lloyd-Jones (Usborne Publishing) has won the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2013.

Look Inside Space

Look inside space was chosen from a shortlist of six by over 1000 young people from more than 100 schools and youth groups around the UK.

read more...
Frank Cottrell Boyce, Sarah Garland, Howard Geda nominated for 2014 IBBY International Honour List

The International Board on Books for Young People, UK section (IBBY UK) has announced the three British children’s books that it is nominating for the prestigious 2014 IBBY international Honour List. The nominations highlight the lives of today’s young asylum seekers and are:

For writing: Frank Cottrell Boyce, The Unforgotten Coat, Walker Books, 2011.

read more...
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2014 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY AWARDS

The countdown to the announcement of the winners of the children’s book prizes ‘authors really want to win’ begins today. CILIP have revealed the list of books that have been nominated for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards.

All categories of books for young children are eligible for the awards, and nominations are made not by publishers but by members of CILIP – this accounts for the length and welcome variety of books on the nominations list.

read more...
The Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize 2013: shortlist announced

Books about yetis, weasels, geeks and losers are all on the shortlist for this year’s Roald Dahl Funny Prize, which celebrates the funniest books for children.

Six books have been selected for each of two categories, Children aged Six and Under and Children aged Seven to Fourteen. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Cambridge Theatre in London, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s award-winning production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, on Tuesday 10 December.

read more...
Rebecca Stead wins the 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

Rebecca Stead has been awarded the 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for her novel Liar and Spy.

Rebecca Stead

Former winner Andy Mulligan presented Stead with her award at a ceremony at the Guardian’s London offices this evening, Wednesday 23 October.

read more...
The 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize: shortlist

The countdown to the announcement of the 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction prize is underway.  The winner will be announced this evening, Wednesday 23 October, in a ceremony in the Guardian’s London office.

Four authors are in the running for the prize: two Americans; one of the UK’s most respected authors; and a rising star in children’s books.

read more...
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