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Books for Keeps 125 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 125 - November 2000

Cover Story
The anarchic hero of many daring adventures, William, as depicted on our cover by Thomas Henry in one of his effective, humorous pen and ink illustrations, is now a period piece. A William de nos jours illustrated by Tony Ross and aimed at a younger audience stands alongside him. This new William will be featured in adaptations of the stories by Martin Jarvis. Richmal Crompton, author of the William books, is the subject of this issue's Authorgraph. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 125 Articles

Editorial - November 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Books for Giving

Joanna Carey on beautiful gifts for Christmas.
Authorgraph No.125: Richmal Crompton

Richmal Crompton assessed by Mary Cadogan.
Adults Reading Children’s Books

Margaret Meek on reader responses, adult and child.
BfK Briefing - November 2000

News * Publication * Letter to the Editor * Awards
Useful Organisations No.12: The Historical Association

Offers journals, e-mail newsletter, lectures, events and discounts on books and visits.

I Wish I’d Written… The Emperor’s Egg

Richard Platt chooses Martin Jenkins and Jane Chapman's The Emperor's Egg.
Good Reads: Orchard County Junior School

Reviews from pupils of Orchard County Junior School, Dibden Purlieu, Southampton.
Classics in Short No.24: The Wizard of Oz

Brian Alderson on L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.

Editor's Choice

Sea-Cat and Dragon King
Angela Carter
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
4

'It is a little known fact that cats live at the bottom of the sea,' Carter tells us in this agreeable little book that must surely have started life as a bedtime story with its slightly disjointed quality to the telling. Sea-Cat knows he is...

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New Talent

Rain
Manya Stojic
(Chrysalis Children's Books)
5

'It was hot. Everything was hot and dry' begins this exciting, heat filled picture book which has the animals of the savanna excitedly passing on the news to each other that the rain is coming. Porcupine can smell it, the zebras can see it, the...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 125

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

Under 5s

  • Cat in the Dark
    5

  • Rain
    Manya Stojic
    5

  • Are You a Ladybird?
    Judy Allen
    Tudor Humphries
    4

  • I'm Sorry
    Sam McBratney
    4

  • The Scarecrow's Hat
    Ken Brown
    4

  • Nothing Scares Us
    Frieda Wishinsky
    4

  • A Coat of Cats
    Jeri Kroll
    4

  • Clever Tortoise
    Francesca Martin
    4

  • Rosie's Room - A first flap book about sight; Hattie's House - A first flap book about sound; George's Garden - A first flap book about touch; Peter's Party - A first flap book about taste
    Mandy
    Ness
    4

  • The Bear Went Over the Mountain; Number One, Tickle Your Tum
    John Prater
    4

  • Hey Diddle Diddle
    Ailie Busby
    4

  • My Stepfamily; Rosie's First Day at School
    Rosemary Stones
    3

  • Spirit of Hope
    Bob Graham
    3

  • A New Room for William
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo?
    Emma Chichester Clark
    3

  • Clown, Bear and Rabbit
    Tony Maddox
    3

  • 1,2,3; abc; Things that go; Animals
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Swallow Journey
    Vivian French
    5

  • What Did I Look Like When I Was a Baby?
    Jeanne Willis
    5

  • The Boy Who Became an Eagle
    Kathryn Cave
    5

  • Rude Rabbit ¦ Crazy Cow
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    5

  • Aldo
    John Burningham
    5

  • Stone Age Bone Age!
    Mick Manning
    4

  • Sea-Cat and Dragon King
    Angela Carter
    4

  • Pa's Poopy Chair
    Niki Daly
    4

  • Wow! It's great being a duck
    Joan Rankin
    4

  • Living with Epilepsy; Living with Down's Syndrome
    Patsy Westcott
    3

  • Robert Crowther's Amazing Pop-Up House of Inventions
    Robert Crowther
    3

  • Rita in Rocky Park; The Monster Muggs
    Hilda Offen
    3

  • Here Come the Heebie Jeebies and other Scary Poems
    3

  • Princess Elizabeth, Are You a Traitor?; God Bless Queen Victoria!
    Stewart Ross
    2

  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Three Billy-Goats Gruff; Jack and the Beanstalk; The Donkey that Sneezed; The Magic Doctor; The Pied Piper of Hamelin
    Val Biro
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Leonardo and the Flying Boy: A Story about Leonardo da Vinci
    Laurence Anholt
    5

  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    J K Rowling
    5

  • The Seeing Stone
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5

  • Art Fraud Detective
    Anna Nilsen
    4

  • Alexander Graham Bell; Marie Curie; Thomas Edison; Michael Faraday
    Anita Ganeri
    3

  • Wilma's Wicked Revenge
    Kaye Umansky
    3

  • Pictures in my mind; Walking on Air
    Joan Poulson
    3

  • The Mum Trap; Your Dad, My Mum
    Ruth Symes
    3

  • The Dummy's Dilemma and Other Poems
    John Mole
    3

  • Crab-boy Cranc; The Dragon Ring
    Julie Rainsbury
    3

  • A Pond in a Meadow; A Clearing in a Forest
    Sally Morgan
    2

  • Playing on the Edge
    Neil Arksey
    2

  • Pompom; Juggler
    Michaela Morgan
    2

  • The House With No Name
    Pippa Goodhart
    2

  • The Hat Trick
    Terry Deary
    2

  • A Witch in the Classroom!
    Ghillian Potts
    2

  • The Worst Class in the School
    Colin Fletcher
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Warlands
    Rachel Anderson
    5

  • Who's Who in Science and Technology
    Bob Fowke
    5

  • Chambers School Dictionary; Chambers School Thesaurus
    5

  • Heaven Eyes
    David Almond
    5

  • Pow
    Martin Booth
    5

  • Finding Joe
    Anthony Masters
    5

  • Never Again
    Martin Gilbert
    4

  • Balloon House
    Brian Keaney
    4

  • Undercover Angel
    Dyan Sheldon
    4

  • A Far Away Place
    Harriet Graham
    4

  • Warriors of Alavna
    N M Browne
    3

  • Shylock's Daughter
    Mirjam Pressler
    3

  • Sea Hawk, Sea Moon
    Beverley Birch
    3

  • Terminal Chic
    Chloë Rayban
    3

  • Tell me I'm Ok, really
    Rosie Rushton
    3

  • Septimus Similon, Practising Wizard
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • Bound for America
    Elizabeth Lutzeier
    3

  • A Look at Life in the Sixties; A Look at Life in the Seventies
    R G Grant
    2

  • Burger Wuss
    Matthew T Anderson
    2

  • Trip of a Lifetime
    Eric Johns
    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.

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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

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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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