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Books for Keeps 131 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 131 - November 2001

Cover Story
This issue's cover is from Andrew Matthews' and Angela Barrett's The Orchard Book of Shakespeare Stories. Angela Barrett is interviewed by Quentin Blake. Thanks to Orchard Books for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 131 Articles

Editorial - November 2001

News and comment from the Editor.
Treats at Christmas

Joanna Carey on books for giving.
Finding the Real Shakespeare

Michael Rosen on his new book Shakespeare: His Work and His World.
Fairy Tales in the New Millennium

Brian Alderson on authenticity and the storyteller's art.
BfK Profile: Lynne Markham

Julia Eccleshare on the novels of Lynne Markham.
Inspiring 'Reluctant' Readers

Arthur Shenton on how reading for a purpose hits the spot.
Jack's First Books - November 2001

Gary McKeone concludes his baby son's reading diary.
Authorgraph No.131: Angela Barrett

Angela Barrett interviewed by Quentin Blake.
BfK Briefing - November 2001

News * Events * Publications * Awards * Obituary * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.18: The Book Art Project

Encouraging the teaching of writing through the book arts.
Good Reads: Fernwood Comprehensive School

Reviews of the Carnegie shortlisted titles from Fernwood Comprehensive School, Nottingham.

Classics in Short No.30: Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales

Brian Alderson on the tales of Hans Christian Andersen.

Editor's Choice

The Boy Who Was Brought Up by Teddy Bears
Jeanne Willis
(Andersen Press Ltd)
4

Believing him to be ‘all alone in the world’, three teddy bears adopt a baby they find in the woods and bring him up. In the tradition of feral children of legend, the baby grows up believing himself to be a teddy bear (he walks like one and...

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New Talent

Crazy
Benjamin Lebert
(Puffin Books)
5

An autobiographical novel by the then 16-year-old Lebert, Crazy opens with his arrival at Castle Neuseelen boarding school, his fifth school and one on which his parents are pinning hopes for improved grades. Benjamin introduces himself as...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 131

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Books About Children's Books

Under 5s

  • Blue Horse and Tilly
    Helen Stephens
    5

  • Good Dog, Daisy
    Lisa Kopper
    4

  • The Boy Who Was Brought Up by Teddy Bears
    Jeanne Willis
    4

  • One Too Many Tigers ¦ Squeak! Squeak!
    Cressida Cowell
    3

  • Let's Go, Anna!
    Vivian French
    3

  • What Does Teddy Like to Wear?
    Prue Theobalds
    3

  • The Three Billy Goats Gruff
    Henriette Barkow
    3

  • Humphrey's Playtime; Humphrey's Garden
    Sally Hunter
    3

  • Farmer George and the New Piglet; Farmer George and the Snowstorm
    Nick Ward
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Ug
    Raymond Briggs
    5

  • Katje the Windmill Cat
    Gretchen Woelfle
    5

  • Nii Kwei's Day; Cassio's Day; Yikang's Day; Polina's Day
    Francis Provencal
    Catherine McNamara
    4

  • Kevin and the Pirate Test; Smudger and the Smelly Fish; Doris's Brilliant Birthday; Captain Motley and the Pirate's Gold
    Margaret Ryan
    4

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
    C S Lewis
    4

  • One Hot Penguin
    Jamie Rix
    3

  • The Sorcerer's Apprentice
    Sally Grindley
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Acid Rain
    Sally Morgan
    5

  • Friendly Matches
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • The Lost Thing
    Shaun Tan
    5

  • The Birth of the Earth; Life Finds its Feet; The Day of the Dinosaurs; The Stick and Stone Age
    Jacqui Bailey
    4

  • The Yellow House
    Susan Goldman Rubin
    4

  • Swings and Shadows: A Childhood in Poetry
    4

  • All About Bullying
    Lesley Ely
    3

  • Favourite Writers
    Kate Jones
    3

  • Brooksie; Sudden Death
    Neil Arksey
    3

  • What Howls at the Moon in Frilly Knickers?
    E F Smith
    3

  • Pony in the Dark
    K M Peyton
    3

  • Polly's Running Away Book
    Frances Thomas
    3

  • The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space
    Paul Dowswell
    3

  • Tom's Midnight Garden
    Philippa Pearce
    2

  • The Wonderful Thursday Club: Animal Poems
    Gordon Snell
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
    Terry Pratchett
    5

  • Crazy
    Benjamin Lebert
    5

  • Elske
    Cynthia Voigt
    5

  • Baldur's Bones
    Mary Arrigan
    4

  • Oranges and Murder
    Alison Prince
    4

  • Cleopatra: The Queen of Kings; Crusades: The Struggle for the Holy Lands
    Fiona Macdonald
    4

  • Out of the Shadows
    Sue Hines
    4

  • United Nations; UNICEF; NATO
    Linda Melvern
    4

  • In Search of a Homeland: The Story of the Aeneid
    Penelope Lively
    4

  • Wolf Summer
    Andrew Matthews
    3

  • Bad Company
    Catherine MacPhail
    3

  • The Skin I'm In
    Sharon G Flake
    3

  • The If Game
    Catherine Storr
    3

  • The Time-Travelling Cat and the Roman Eagle
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • Drugs
    Emma Haughton
    Jon Rees
    3

  • G.S.O.H.
    Andrew Matthews
    3

  • Genetics; Racism
    Robert Snedden
    3

  • The Bottle-top King
    Jonathan Kebbe
    3

  • The Adventures of Jimmy Scar
    Jeanne Willis
    3

  • Christina's Face
    Penny Kendal
    3

  • Sebastian's Quest
    C A Jefferies
    3

  • One Mum Too Many! (Step-Chain 1); You Can't Fancy Your Stepsister (Step-Chain 2)
    Ann Bryant
    2

  • Fiesta
    Kate Cann
    2

  • Dinosaurs; Inside the Internet
    Eric Buffetaut
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Creating Writers: a creative writing manual for schools
    James Carter
    4

  • Reading Series Fiction: From Arthur Ransome to Gene Kemp
    Victor Watson
    3

BfK News

JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

read more...
LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

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HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

read more...
CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

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CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

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STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

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SLA School Librarian of the Year 2019 Announced

Ros Harding School Librarian of the Year

Ros Harding of The King’s School Chester has been awarded the honour of the School Librarian of the Year 2019. 2019 YA Book Prize winner Sara Barnard presented Ros Harding with her award at a special ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London Kensington on 27 June.

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MUHAMMAD KHAN WINS 20TH BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award for outstanding debut novel for children is Muhammad Khan for his YA novel I Am Thunder. Set up in memory of author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase who both died in 1999, the award also recognizes his editor Lucy Pearse of Macmillan Children’s Books.

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The Children's Book Award 2019

Earlier this month, Arree Chung was named overall winner of The Children’s Book Award 2019. His book Mixed, which he wrote and illustrated, also won the Books for Younger Children category before going on to win the overall prize.

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WINNERS OF THE 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced at a ceremony at The British Library, hosted by broadcaster and writer Konnie Huq.

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