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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...

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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

EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

read more...
JASBINDER BILAN WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH HER DEBUT NOVEL

Jasbinder Bilan

read more...
COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2019: SHORTLIST FEATURES

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award alongside newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing.

Costa Book Awards logo

Click the links below to read new Books for Keeps feature articles on each of the shortlisted authors.

read more...
THE IBBY LIST OF OUSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Dr Rebecca Butler writes.

Readers of Books for Keeps will remember that IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) arranges every two years a competition to identify the very best books for young readers featuring disability or designed to be read by young people with disabilities. Last time this list was compiled in 2017/18 I was the coordinator for the UK section.

read more...
ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS’ GREAT ADVENTURERS WINS THE 2019 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Educational Writers’ Award is Alastair Humphreys’ Great Adventurers: The Incredible Expeditions of 20 Explorers (Big Picture Press).

Alastair Humphreys Great Adventures

read more...
BLACKMAN AND DOWNHAM ON SHORTLIST FOR 2019 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award, which was announced today, 26th November 2020. Alongside them on the list are newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing, both of whom are published by Chicken House.

The 2019 Costa Children’s Award shortlist

read more...
2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

read more...
‘INSPIRING’: CONTENDERS FOR THE 2020 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

read more...
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4th November.

read more...
2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

read more...
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