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Books for Keeps 124 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 124 - September 2000

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Fangorn is taken from Brian Jacques’ Lord Brocktree (Hutchinson, 0 09 176877 2, £12.99), the thirteenth title in the internationally best-selling Redwall series. Salamandastron, the ancestral home of the Badger Lords, is under threat from Ungatt Trunn, an enemy whose power would seem to be absolute and whose evil knows no bounds. The only hope for survival is the badger Lord Brocktree who is drawn to the fortress by an undeniable sense of destiny. Brian Jacques' masterful storytelling as always spins a web of high adventure that will enthral the reader from the first page to the last. Thanks to Hutchinson Children’s Books for their help in producing this September cover.

BfK No. 124 Articles

Editorial - September 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Imaginative Time Travel: The Greeks and Romans

Tony Spawforth on recent books about the ancient world.
Dads ’n’ Lads Reading Together

Anne Marley on an innovative way to encourage reading.
Authorgraph No.124: Robert Swindells

Robert Swindells interviewed by David Bennett.
“I Thought I’d Start with Something Easy”

Five authors who write for adults and children discuss the differences.
BfK Briefing - September 2000

News * Awards * Publications * Events * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.11: Centre for Language in Primary Education

Enjoys a national and international reputation for its work in language, literacy and assessment.
I Wish I’d Written... Cowboy Baby

Alan Durant chooses Sue Heap's Cowboy Baby.
Good Reads: All Hallows Catholic School

Reviews from pupils of All Hallows Catholic School, Farnham, Surrey.
Classic in Short No.23: Elidor

Brian Alderson on Alan Garner's Elidor.

Editor's Choice

Husherbye
John Burningham
(Jonathan Cape Ltd)
5

Sung all round the world to lull children to sleep, lullabies, as Marina Warner points out in her seminal study of the cultural ways we have to keep the bogies at bay (No Go the Bogeyman, Chatto & Windus), 'imply two...

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New Talent

The Lemonade Genie
Adrian Boote
(Orchard Books)
4

Liberally illustrated with Archbold's humorously wild and scratchy line drawings, this hilarious school story is pure slapstick from beginning to end. Colin Grumbly is a walking disaster zone and the least popular boy in class. When he pulls the...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 124

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

Under 5s

  • Husherbye
    John Burningham
    5

  • Monster Postman
    Jonathan Allen
    5

  • Are you a Snail?
    Judy Allen
    Tudor Humphries
    4

  • Daisy and the Egg
    Jane Simmons
    4

  • I will not ever Never eat a tomato
    Lauren Child
    4

  • The Merchant Enticed by the Pearl of Great Price
    Mary Joslin
    4

  • You're All Animals
    Nicholas Allan
    4

  • Rock-a-Doodle-Do!
    Michael Foreman
    4

  • Rosie and Tortoise
    Margaret Wild
    4

  • Good Girl, Gracie Growler!
    Hilda Offen
    4

  • Flashing Fire Engines; Terrific Trains
    Tony Mitton
    Ant Parker
    3

  • Alone in the Woods
    Ian Beck
    3

  • Little Dragon
    Riske Lemmens
    3

  • A Treasury of Five-Minute Stories
    Fiona Waters
    3

  • Frog is a Hero; Frog and the Wide World; Frog is Frog; Frog and the Stranger
    Max Velthuijs
    3

  • Wacky Wild Animals
    Brian Moses
    3

  • Hey, Tabby Cat!; Here Comes Tabby Cat; Winnie Plays Ball; Winnie All Day Long; Monkey Business; Monkey Trouble
    2

  • Little Boo!; Little Suddenly!
    Colin McNaughton
    2

  • Going Shopping
    Jo Lodge
    2

Ages 5-8

  • When the World Began: Stories collected in Ethiopia
    Elizabeth Laird
    5

  • River Story
    Meredith Hooper
    5

  • Farm Boy
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • The Explorer's Book of Dinosaurs
    Dr Ian Jenkins
    4

  • Tommy Trouble
    Stephen Potts
    4

  • The Lemonade Genie
    Adrian Boote
    4

  • Someone I Like
    4

  • Stories from the Caribbean
    Petronella Breinburg
    4

  • Mama God, Papa God - A Caribbean Tale
    Richardo Keens-Douglas
    4

  • Big Brother, Little Sister
    Papa Oyibo
    4

  • Alison and the Bully Monsters
    Jac Jones
    4

  • Peas in a Pod
    Adèle Geras
    3

  • Celebrating; Carrying; Smiling; Eating
    Gwenyth Swain
    3

  • Horrid Henry's Nits
    Francesca Simon
    3

  • Rainy Day
    Emma Haughton
    2

Ages 8-10

  • The Dare Game
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • Make a Book!
    Vivien Frank
    Deborah Jaffe
    4

  • Swine Lake
    James Marshall
    4

  • The Wonders of Maths; The Secrets of Science; Mysteries of the Human Body; How Things Work
    Barbara Allen
    Terry Deary
    3

  • William Shakespeare and the Globe
    Aliki
    3

  • Dig and Sow!; Splish! Splosh!
    Janice Lobb
    3

  • Amber's Secret
    Ann Pilling
    3

  • The Famous Adventures of Jack
    Berlie Doherty
    3

  • The Flood Tales
    Richard Monte
    3

  • Dad Alert!
    Malaika Rose Stanley
    3

  • Animal Crackers
    Narinder Dhami
    3

  • My Best Book of Fossils, Rocks and Minerals
    Chris Pellant
    2

  • Irish Legends
    Margaret Simpson
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Fire, Bed and Bone
    Henrietta Branford
    5

  • The Secret Life of Sally Tomato
    Jean Ure
    5

  • I am David
    Anne Holm
    5

  • Secrets in the Fire
    Henning Mankell
    5

  • Troy
    Adèle Geras
    5

  • Out of Nowhere
    Gerard Whelan
    4

  • A Twist in Time
    Jean Ure
    4

  • Dreaming in Black & White
    Reinhardt Jung
    4

  • The Children's Dinosaur Encyclopedia
    Jinny Johnson
    4

  • Greg
    Dirk Walbrecker
    4

  • The Girl Who Knew
    Sandra Glover
    4

  • Zillah and Me
    Helen Dunmore
    4

  • Hard Cash
    Kate Cann
    4

  • It's OK, I'm wearing really big knickers! (Further confessions of Georgia Nicolson)
    Louise Rennison
    4

  • Raspberries on the Yangtze
    Karen Wallace
    4

  • Hex: Ghosts
    Rhiannon Lassiter
    3

  • Toad Rage
    Morris Gleitzman
    3

  • The Holy Terrors
    Josephine Feeney
    3

  • Strays Like Us
    Richard Peck
    3

  • In Black and White
    Catherine R Johnson
    3

  • Getting Rid of Karenna
    Helena Pielichaty
    3

  • Ireland
    Terry Deary
    3

  • Suffering Scientists; Shocking Electricity
    Nick Arnold
    3

  • Wising Up
    E A Blare
    2

  • Youch! It Bites!
    Trevor Day
    2

BfK News

DICKENS AND CHILDHOOD CONFERENCE

Dickens and Childhood Conference and Symposium Monday 18 June

It is not too late to book places on this special one-day conference on Dickens and Childhood, which will include walks, lectures, readings, and parallel sessions on topics that will appeal to students, teachers, Dickens experts, and the ‘interested reader’.

Marcia Williams Dickens

read more...
Siobhan Dowd Trust launches competition to help encourage a love of reading

The Siobhan Dowd Trust launches competition to help encourage a love of reading

The Siobhan Dowd Trust is proud to announce that Michael Rosen, Poet and ex-Childrens’ Laureate will be on the judging panel of a schools campaign, which is asking teachers and librarians for their ideas about how they encourage a love of books in their schools. The Trust will use the entries to build up a database of ideas which can be shared and swapped… and the ten best or most innovative ideas will receive £1000 worth of books.

read more...
Maurice Sendak June 1928 – May 2012

Maurice Sendak, who has died at the age of 83 was one of the most important illustrators of the twentieth century. Joanna Carey assesses his career for Books for Keeps

read more...
2012 Branford Boase Shortlist

Branford Boase Award logoSeven authors are on the shortlist for the 2012 Branford Boase Award, announced today, Monday 30 April.

The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

read more...
Riddell and Stewart Guest Speakers at IBBY UK AGM 2 May

Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart will be guest speakers at the IBBY UK AGM on Wednesday 2 May at Random House 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA, London. The meeting is free and non-members are welcome. Refreshments will be available from 6.30pm with Chris and Paul speaking at 7pm. Book sales and a signing will take place after the meeting. To book a place email bicarrington@nasuwt.net

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2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

The shortlists have been announced for the 2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the oldest and most prestigious of all the UK’s children’s book awards.

There are eight books on each shortlist, two more than has been usual: a sign perhaps of the difficulty the judges had in making their final choice.

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GUUS KUIJER TO RECEIVE THE ASTRID LINDGREN MEMORIAL AWARD 2012

The 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is to be awarded to the Dutch author Guus Kuijer.

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FIRST BRITISH EXHIBITION OF CHINESE PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATION

In April, London hosts the first exhibitions in Britain of Chinese children’s and picture book illustration. The exhibitions feature eighty individual illustrations by China’s most celebrated children’s illustrators, and is organised by the Zhejiang Publishing Group, the Publishers’ Association of China, Propeller TV, and the Chinese Board on Books for Young People (CBBY); with the cooperation of the UK section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY UK).

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NEW AWARD SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED

As we wait for the announcement of the shortlists for this year’s CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, two other interesting and unusual award shortlists have just been revealed.

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Transfer for Once Upon A Wartime exhibition

The Once Upon A Wartime exhibition is now at IWM North Manchester, until 2 September 2012

Based on five war-based children’s novels, the exhibition explores the history of real life conflicts from 1914 to the present day through the eyes of fictional children.

Read Kate Agnew’s Books for Keeps review of the exhibition here.

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