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Books for Keeps 121 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 121 - March 2000

Cover Story
This issue's cover is from Colin McNaughton's Hmm... Colin McNaughton discusses the thinking behind his book in Windows into Illustration. Thanks to Collins Children's Books for their help in producing this cover.

BfK No. 121 Articles

Editorial - March 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Giving a Free Rein to Invention

Joanna Carey on new picture books.
Children's Book Illustration: A Separate Story?

Quentin Blake on the history of children's books in illustration.
Windows into Illustration: Colin McNaughton

Colin McNaughton on his picture book, Hmm...
Authorgraph No.121: Alison Uttley

Alison Uttley by Denis Judd.
Speech and the Silencing of Speech

Salman Rushdie interviewed by Farrukh Dhondy about writing for children.
BfK Briefing - March 2000

News * Letters to the Editor * Events * Obituary
I Wish I’d Written… The Last Giants

Michael Morpurgo chooses Francois Place's The Last Giants.
Good Reads: Trafalgar Junior School, Twickenham

Reviews from pupils of Trafalgar Junior School, Twickenham.
Classics in Short No.20: The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit

Brian Alderson on Alison Uttley's The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit.

Editor's Choice

Jenny Angel
Margaret Wild
(Viking Children's Books)
4

Jenny believes herself to be a guardian angel who can keep her dying younger brother safe if she is vigilant enough. She wills Davy to live, working hard to bring the world to him as he gradually slips farther away. But magical thinking cannot...

read more

New Talent

Running Out of Time
Margaret Peterson Haddix
(Bodley Head Children's Books)
3

A diptheria outbreak threatens the small rural community of Clifton and now Jessie's little sister, Katie, has fallen ill. There is no cure for diptheria in 1840 but is it really 1840? Desperate to save Katie, Jessie's mum finally tells Jessie...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 121

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

Under 5s

  • The Little Red Engine and the Rocket; The Little Red Engine Goes to Town; The Story of the Little Red Engine
    Diana Ross
    3

  • Growing up in South Africa; Toads and Their Young
    Siphe Neate
    Bobbie Neate
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Jenny Angel
    Margaret Wild
    4

  • Peg; Clumsy Clumps and the Baby Moon; Happy Sad; Promise You Won’t be Cross
    Maddie Stewart
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Oxford First Book of Art
    Gillian Wolfe
    5

  • Britannia, 100 Great Stories from British History
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • Marguerite Makes a Book
    Bruce Robertson
    5

  • Read Me 2: A Poem for Every Day of the Year
    5

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
    J K Rowling
    5

  • Cliffhanger
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • Atlas in the Round
    Keith Lye
    Alastair Campbell
    4

  • In a Children's Hospital
    Deborah Fox
    4

  • Reference Book of Water and Weather; Tudor Homes
    Bobbie Neate
    3

  • Why the Whales Came
    Michael Morpurgo
    3

  • Well Done, The Naughtiest Girl!; The Naughtiest Girl Keeps a Secret; The Naughtiest Girl Helps a Friend; The Naughtiest Girl Saves the Day; Here’s The Naughtiest Girl!; The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor; The Naughtiest Girl Again; The Naughtiest Girl in

    Anne Digby
    3

  • The Big Book of Little Poems
    Roger McGough
    Gyles Brandreth
    1

  • Oxford First Book of Science
    Nina Morgan
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Chinese Cinderella
    Adeline Yen Mah
    5

  • Telling Tales
    Susan Price
    5

  • Exploring World Art
    Andrea Belloli
    5

  • Absolutely Best Cross-Sections Book Ever
    Stephen Biesty
    Richard Platt
    5

  • King of Shadows
    Susan Cooper
    5

  • Kit's Wilderness; Heaven Eyes
    David Almond
    4

  • Family Tree Stories about the family
    4

  • Frenchtown Summer
    Robert Cormier
    4

  • The Stones are Hatching
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    4

  • Sheep Don't Go to School: Mad and Magical Children's Poetry
    4

  • The DK Space Encyclopedia
    Heather Couper
    Nigel Henbest
    4

  • Vinegar Street
    Philip Ridley
    4

  • The Perfect Love Story?
    3

  • Blind Beauty
    K M Peyton
    3

  • The Kidnapping of Suzie Q
    Martin Waddell
    3

  • The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science
    Corinne Stockley
    Chris Oxlade
    Jane Wertheim
    3

  • The Candle House
    Pauline Fisk
    3

  • Paulina
    Lesley Howarth
    3

  • Running Out of Time
    Margaret Peterson Haddix
    3

  • The Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth
    Anna Claybourne
    Gillian Doherty
    Rebecca Treays
    2

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.

read more...
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)

read more...
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.

read more...
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. 

read more...
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.

read more...
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