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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...

read more

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

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)

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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.

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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.

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