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Books for Keeps 135 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 135 - July 2002

Cover Story
This issue's cover illustration by Nick Sharratt is from Jeremy's Strong's Krazy Kow Saves the World - Well, Almost. Jeremy Strong is interviewed by Jeff Hynds. Thanks to Puffin for their help with this July cover.

BfK No. 135 Articles

Editorial - July 2002

News and comment from the Editor.
Popping Up All Over

Geoff Fox on movable books.
The Art of Looking at Things

Joanna Carey on new picture books.
Hal’s Reading Diary - July 2002

Roger Mills on his son Hal at 16 months.
The Wicor Ten

Sue Leach on an innovative reading project.
BfK Profile: Helen Flint

Lois Keith on the novels of Helen Flint.
Adult Books Teenagers Read

Julia Eccleshare on the books that attract teens.
Authorgraph No.135: Jeremy Strong

Jeremy Strong interviewed by Jeff Hynds.
BfK Briefing - July 2002

News * Awards * Events * Obituaries * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.22: Healthy Books

Books offering information and reassurance with health and emotional problems.
I Wish I’d Written... Rufugee Boy

Michael Rosen chooses Benjamin Zephaniah's Refugee Boy.
Good Reads: Saint Stithian's Girls’ Preparatory School

Reviews from pupils of Saint Stithian's Girls' Preparatory School, Randburg, South Africa.
Classics in Short No.34: Molesworth

Brian Alderson on Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle's Molesworth.

Editor's Choice

The Boy Who Lost His Face
Louis Sachar
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

David reluctantly takes part in stealing an old lady's cane in an ugly incident in which she falls off her chair showing her knickers and has lemonade tipped over her head. As David struggles with peer group pressure and bullying, this painful...

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New Talent

Cold Tom
Sally Prue
(Oxford University Press)
5

One of the tribe who live on the common, Tom fends cautiously for himself, ever watchful in case his growing clumsiness leads to his expulsion or worse. Meanwhile the houses of the much-feared demons have edged closer. These alien worlds come...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 135

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

Under 5s

  • Do Like a Duck Does!
    Judy Hindley
    5

  • Frog
    Susan Cooper
    4

  • Room for One More
    Ingrid Schubert
    Dieter Schubert
    4

  • Wet Pebbles Under Our Feet
    Manya Stojic
    4

  • Sleepy Pendoodle
    Malachy Doyle
    3

  • Flop-Ear is Brave!
    Guido Van Genechten
    3

  • Wiggle My Toes and other action rhymes
    Kaye Umansky
    3

Ages 5-8

  • This Amazing World
    5

  • The Birdwatchers
    Simon James
    5

  • Start with Art: Animals
    Sue Lacey
    3

  • Seasons Turning ¦ High Tide, Low Tide ¦ Story of a Storm ¦ When the Sun Goes Down ¦ Watch Out! Builders About!
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    3

  • Nice One, Smithy
    Paul May
    3

  • Frankenstella and the Video Shop Monster
    Herbie Brennan
    3

  • Tumbler
    Liz Filleul
    3

  • Finn Family Moomintroll
    Tove Jansson
    2

  • Patrick: Saint of Ireland
    Joyce Denham
    2

  • A Book of Letters
    Ken Wilson-Max
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Archer's Goon
    Diana Wynne Jones
    4

  • The Wool Pack
    Cynthia Harnett
    4

  • When Marnie Was There
    Joan G Robinson
    3

  • Midnight for Charlie Bone
    Jenny Nimmo
    3

  • Shrinking Violet
    Jean Ure
    3

  • Big George
    Eric Pringle
    3

  • Sir Rupert and Rosie Gusset in Deadly Danger
    Jeremy Strong
    3

  • Danger by Moonlight
    Jamila Gavin
    3

  • Great Expectations
    3

  • The Colour of My Dreams
    Peter Dixon
    3

  • The Sleeping Sword
    Michael Morpurgo
    3

  • Quirky Tales
    Paul Jennings
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Food Supply: Our Impact on the Planet; An Overcrowded World? Our Impact on the Planet
    Rob Bowden
    5

  • The Blitz; Evacuation; Rationing; Women's War
    Stewart Ross
    5

  • The Boy Who Lost His Face
    Louis Sachar
    5

  • Cold Tom
    Sally Prue
    5

  • The Edge
    Alan Gibbons
    5

  • Burning Issy
    Melvin Burgess
    5

  • Tuck Everlasting
    Natalie Babbitt
    5

  • The Great Depression; The Civil Rights Movement
    R G Grant
    4

  • Why Do People Fight Wars?; Why Do People Harm Animals?
    Ali Brownlie
    Chris Mason
    4

  • Cut
    Patricia McCormick
    4

  • Shopaholic
    Judy Waite
    4

  • Pawnee Warrior
    Chris D'Lacey
    4

  • Child X
    Lee Weatherly
    4

  • Green Fingers
    Paul May
    4

  • Twilight Ghost
    Magdalen Nabb
    4

  • What My Mother Doesn't Know
    Sonya Sones
    3

  • Daisy Chain War
    Joan O'Neill
    3

  • Letters to Liz: Jo's Letter; Letters to Liz: Nicki's Letter
    Mary Hooper
    3

  • Spindle's End
    Robin McKinley
    3

  • Transported: The Diary of Elizabeth Harvey, Australia 1790
    Goldie Alexander
    3

  • Whispers on the Wind
    Sue Welford
    3

  • Paper Faces
    Rachel Anderson
    3

  • Catherine the Great; Mao Zedong
    Christine Hatt
    2

  • Vicky Angel
    Jacqueline Wilson
    2

  • Book of Shadows; The Coven
    Cate Tiernan
    1

Ages 14+

  • The Other Wind
    Ursula Le Guin
    5

  • Martyn Pig
    Kevin Brooks
    5

  • Generations: Poems between Fathers, Mothers, Daughters, Sons
    5

  • They're Only Human
    James Grieve
    4

  • Raider's Tide
    Maggie Prince
    4

Books About Children's Books

  • The Address Book of Children's Authors and Illustrators
    Gervase Phinn
    4

  • The Child that Books Built
    Francis Spufford
    4

BfK News

EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

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

Jasbinder Bilan

read more...
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.

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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.

read more...
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.

read more...
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