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Books for Keeps 122 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 122 - May 2000

Cover Story
This issue’s cover shows Jane Simmons’ popular character, Daisy, and her baby brother Pip. Two Daisy books with their ‘dynamic yet affectionate pictures’ full of painterly exuberance are reviewed in this issue. Thanks to Orchard Books for their help in producing this May cover.

BfK No. 122 Articles

Editorial - May 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Books for Children with a Mathematical Focus

Sheila Ebbutt assesses recent titles.
Authorgraph No.122: Debi Gliori

Debi Gliori interviewed by Lindsey Fraser.
On the Use of Photography in Illustration

P J Lynch discusses the techniques and the issues.
Are Traditional Stories Sexist?

Rosalind Kerven looks at the role of women in traditional tales.
BfK Briefing - May 2000

News * Events * Obituaries * Awards * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.10: The Puffin Book Club

Book club aiming to make children into readers.
I Wish I’d Written… Meeting Midnight

Gene Kemp on Carol Ann Duffy’s poem collection, Meeting Midnight.
Good Reads: Aberdare Girls’ School

Reviews from pupils of Aberdare Girls' School.
Classics in Short No.21: Clever Bill

Brian Alderson on William Nicholson's Clever Bill.

Editor's Choice

Girl in Red
Gaye Hiçyilmaz
(Orion Childrens)
5

The sustained tabloid campaign against asylum seekers and the vitriol expressed, in particular, against Gypsies from Romania make Hicyilmaz's new novel eerily topical. Teenager Frankie lives in a run down council block near the sea at Dover....

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New Talent

The Wind Singer
William Nicholson
(Mammoth)
3

In the walled city of Aramath, the population is controlled by a rigid system of public examinations. Each family member is tested and accommodation and colour coded clothing provided according to which band their results fit into. The Hath...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 122

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

Under 5s

  • Little Bear's Grandad
    Nigel Gray
    4

  • Daisy and the Egg; Daisy and the Beastie
    Jane Simmons
    4

  • Floppy/Llip
    Guido Van Genechten
    3

  • Pete and Polo's Nursery School Adventure
    Adrian Reynolds
    3

  • Who's Next?
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • Teddy Bear Nursery Rhymes; Teddy Bear ABC
    Prue Theobalds
    3

  • Baby Tiger
    Susan Hellard
    3

  • The Wheels on the Bus
    Penny Dann
    3

  • Penguin goes to Playschool; Parrot goes to Playschool
    Jeanne Willis
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Who Made Me?
    Shirley Tulloch
    5

  • Jack's Big Race
    Michael Foreman
    5

  • Unicorns! Unicorns!
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • Rumpelstiltskin and other Grimm Tales
    Carol Ann Duffy
    5

  • Tales from the Old World
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5

  • Josie Smith in Spring
    Magdalen Nabb
    4

  • The Seven Ravens
    Brian Wildsmith
    4

  • We're Going on a Bear Hunt; Little Rabbit Foo Foo
    4

  • Freaky Tales from Far and Wide; Moon Tales
    Hugh Lupton
    4

  • Please, Mr Crocodile!
    4

  • School; Pirates; Witches
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    3

  • Just in Time - A tell-the-time story book
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • There's More to a Banana
    Rita Phillips Mitchell
    3

  • The Leprechaun Who Wished He Wasn't
    Siobhan Parkinson
    3

  • I Spy, Pancakes and Pies; Bad Boys and Naughty Girls; Silly Sons and Dozy Daughters; Ugly Dogs and Slimy Frogs; Greedy Guts and Belly Busters; If Wishes Were Fishes
    3

  • Samira's Eid
    Nasreen Aktar
    3

  • Kitten Crowd/Puppy Puzzle/Hamster Hotel/Chick Challenge
    Lucy Daniels
    2

  • Esio Trot
    Roald Dahl
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Captain Ming and the Mermaid; Imogen and the Ark
    William Mayne
    5

  • Dare to be Different
    Elana Bergin
    Malorie Blackman
    Fiona Waters
    Henrietta Branford
    5

  • Donkey-ride to Disaster; Madness in the Mountains
    Kaye Umansky
    5

  • Electricity; Levers; Gears; Wind-ups
    Chris Ollerenshaw
    Pat Triggs
    4

  • Arthur, High King of Britain
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • The Roundhill
    Dick King-Smith
    4

  • The Wind Singer
    William Nicholson
    3

  • Let's Talk About Where Babies Come From
    Robie H Harris
    3

  • Shopping in Grandma's Day; Grandma's War
    Rebecca Hunter
    Angela Davies
    3

  • Blackbird Has Spoken
    3

  • Never Stare at a Grizzly Bear: Animal Poems; A Sea Creature Ate My Teacher: Fishy Poems; Let's Twist Again: More Tongue Twisters and Tonsil Twizzlers
    Nick Toczek
    2

  • Why Are You Calling Me a Barbarian?
    Birgitta Petrén
    Elisabetta Putini
    Mary Becker
    2

  • The Egg Thieves
    Joan Lingard
    2

  • All the Things I See: Selected Poems for Children; The Poet's House
    Jenny Joseph
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Truth or Dare
    Celia Rees
    5

  • Girl in Red
    Gaye Hiçyilmaz
    5

  • Shadow of the Minotaur
    Alan Gibbons
    4

  • Dear Del
    Alison Prince
    4

  • Girls Out Late
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • What Every Girl Should Know: An A-Z of Health - from Allergies to Zits!
    Dr David Bull
    3

  • What They Don't Tell You About Vikings ¦ Ancient Greeks ¦ Ancient Egyptians ¦ Romans in Britain ¦ Anglo-Saxons ¦ World War II
    Bob Fowke
    3

  • Ship of Ghosts ¦ Danny's Great Goal ¦ Nicked! ¦ Eddie and the Zedlines
    Nigel Hinton
    3

  • Maddocks, or how to discover America
    Peter Oram
    3

  • Wanted - One Body! ¦ Forbidden Game ¦ Runaway Train
    Maggie Pearson
    3

  • Winners and Losers ¦ The Cinderella Principle ¦ Guard Dog ¦ The Haunted Surfboard

    Trevor Wadlow
    3

  • Potty Politics
    Terry Deary
    3

  • The Art of Science
    Martin Jenkins
    2

  • Red Hugh
    Deborah Lisson
    2

  • Cirque du Freak
    Darren Shan
    2

Ages 14+

  • Dirty Planet: The Friends of the Earth Guide to Pollution and What You Can Do About it
    Caroline Clayton
    5

  • Dosh
    Robert Swindells
    4

  • The Raging Quiet
    Sherryl Jordan
    4

  • Future Eden
    Colin Thompson
    4

  • Two Moons
    Martha Brooks
    4

  • The Boy-free Zone
    Veronica Bennett
    4

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.

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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

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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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