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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

EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

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

Jasbinder Bilan

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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

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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.

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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.

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