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Books for Keeps 140 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 140 - May 2003

Cover Story
This issue's cover illustration is from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's A Squash and a Squeeze. Julia Donaldson is interviewed by Lindsey Fraser. Thanks to Macmillan Children's Books for their help with this May cover.

BfK No. 140 Articles

Editorial - May 2003

News and comment from the Editor.
Childbirth in Children’s Books

Sarah Hunt on how pregnancy and birth are depicted.
Hal’s Reading Diary - May 2003

Roger Mills on his son Hal at 26 months.
Picture Books with Something to Say

Joanna Carey finds titles of quality and originality.
Whose Dark Materials?

Gillian Cross on theology and Philip Pullman's trilogy.
Authorgraph No.140: Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson interviewed by Lindsey Fraser.
Survivors

John Rowe Townsend on the 'golden age' titles that are still in print.
BfK Briefing - May 2003

News * Awards * Events * Letters to the Editor * Obituary
Useful Organisations No.27: CustomEyes Books

Customised large print books for visually impaired children.
I Wish I’d Written... The Eclipse of the Century

Keith Gray chooses Jan Mark's The Eclipse of the Century.
Good Reads: Craigholme School

Reviews from pupils of Craigholme School, Glasgow.
Classics in Short No.39: Mr Gumpy's Outing

Brian Alderson on John Burningham's Mr Gumpy's Outing.

Editor's Choice

Hal the Highwayman
June Crebbin
(Walker Books)
5

If only more first reading books were written and illustrated with the dash and panache of this highly entertaining short tale in which the integration of text and illustration is seamless. Hal is a highwayman and at dead of night, in the Alfred...

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New Talent

A Gathering Light
Jennifer Donnelly
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

Can you have love and books? For 17-year-old Mattie, growing up by Big Moose Lake on the edge of the Adirondack Mountains in the early 1900s, the only option appears to be marriage and life on a farm. Even her teacher, the stylish Miss Wilcox,...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 140

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

Under 5s

  • The Swirling Hijaab
    Na'ima Bint Robert
    5

  • Little Rabbit Lost
    Harry Horse
    5

  • Lullaby Lion
    Vivian French
    5

  • The River
    Nik Pollard
    4

  • The Magic Paintbrush
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • Full, Full, Full of LOVE
    Trish Cooke
    4

  • A Bit More Bert
    Allan Ahlberg
    4

  • Hello, Sailor
    André Sollie
    3

  • Sleepyhead
    Nicola Smee
    3

  • Hamish
    Moira Munro
    2

  • Number Chains
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Hal the Highwayman
    June Crebbin
    5

  • Everybody Poos; The Holes in Your Nose
    Taro Gomi
    5

  • Our Gracie Aunt
    Jacqueline Woodson
    5

  • Death; Divorce; Hospital; Moving
    Janine Amos
    4

  • Precious Potter
    Rose Impey
    4

  • Hidden Tales from Eastern Europe; The Clever Rat and other African Tales
    4

  • Lake of Shadows
    Malachy Doyle
    4

  • Riley, Kylie and Smiley
    Malachy Doyle
    3

  • Jabberwocky
    Lewis Carroll
    3

  • Atuk
    Mischa Damjan
    3

  • Jennifer Jones won't Leave Me Alone
    Frieda Wishinsky
    3

  • Pandora's Box
    3

  • You've Got Dragons
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • The Usborne Internet-linked First Encyclopedia of Science
    Rachel Firth
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Atticus the Storyteller's 100 Greek Myths; Viking! Myths of Gods and Monsters
    Lucy Coats
    5

  • The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D
    Marilyn Sachs
    5

  • How to Train Your Dragon
    Cressida Cowell
    4

  • Utterly Me, Clarice Bean
    Lauren Child
    4

  • Good Enough to Eat
    Roger McGough
    4

  • The Last Castaways
    Harry Horse
    4

  • Little King December
    Axel Hacke
    4

  • The Book of Books: The Bible Retold
    Trevor Dennis
    3

  • The Deadly Secret of Dorothy W.
    Jon Blake
    3

  • Pigface
    Catherine Robinson
    3

  • Way Home
    Libby Hathorn
    3

  • The Kingfisher Book of Living Worlds
    Clive Gifford
    Jerry Cadle
    2

Ages 10-14

  • A Life Like Mine
    5

  • The Merlin Conspiracy
    Diana Wynne Jones
    5

  • The Land
    Mildred D Taylor
    5

  • The Oracle
    Catherine Fisher
    5

  • Hoot
    Carl Hiaasen
    5

  • Bad Alice
    Jean Ure
    5

  • The Way the Universe Works
    Robin Kerrod
    Giles Sparrow
    4

  • Ada Lovelace
    Lucy Lethbridge
    4

  • Journey to the River Sea
    Eva Ibbotson
    4

  • The Wish List
    Eoin Colfer
    4

  • Happy
    Keith Gray
    4

  • Harvey Angell; Harvey Angell Beats Time
    Diana Hendry
    4

  • The Animal Garden
    William Mayne
    4

  • Locomotion
    Jacqueline Woodson
    4

  • Coraline
    Neil Gaiman
    3

  • The Dungeon
    Lynne Reid Banks
    3

  • Dog
    Daniel Pennac
    3

  • Dragon's Tear
    Sue Lawson
    3

  • The Magician of Samarkand
    Alan Temperley
    3

  • Wheels
    Catherine MacPhail
    2

  • Wolf Wing
    Tanith Lee
    1

Ages 14+

  • Palestine
    Joe Saccho
    5

  • Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
    Robin McKinley
    5

  • A Gathering Light
    Jennifer Donnelly
    5

  • If You Come Softly
    Jacqueline Woodson
    5

  • Abortion; Love Stings; 4 Boys; Periods; 4 Girls; Pregnancy; Is Everybody Doing It?
    4

  • Catalyst
    Laurie Halse Anderson
    4

  • Bread and Sugar; Daisy Chain Dream
    Joan O'Neill
    4

  • Can You Keep a Secret?
    Sandra Glover
    4

  • Dreamland
    Sarah Dessen
    3

  • Who The Man
    Chris Lynch
    3

  • Last Chance
    Patrick Cave
    3

  • Lucas
    Kevin Brooks
    2

  • Doll
    Nicky Singer
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature; Terry Pratchett
    4

  • Pinocchio Goes Postmodern: Perils of a Puppet in the United States
    Richard Wunderlich
    Thomas J Morrissey
    3

BfK News

SHORTLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Selected by volunteer Youth Librarians from longlists of 20 books per medal, there are eight on each shortlist.

Alongside previously shortlisted authors and illustrators, there are newcomers on each shortlist, and as the poetry boom for young readers continues, three verse novels make the Carnegie shortlist by US authors Elizabeth Acevedo, Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.

The 2019 shortlists are as follows:

read more...
BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf and The Colours of History by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Marc-Etienne Peintre, have been revealed as the 2019 Blue Peter Book Award winners.

read more...
LONGLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Members of YLG have selected 20 books for each list from no less than 254 nominations.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS 2019

Funny Women win the Lollies!

Lollies winners 2019

Elys Dolan, Emer Stamp and Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon have been named the winners of the 2019 Laugh Out Loud Awards, or Lollies.

read more...
HILARY MCKAY WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH ‘PERFECT’ NOVEL

Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for the second time for The Skylarks’ War, a story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the backdrop of World War One. The judges described The Skylarks’ War as ‘as perfect a novel as you could ever want to read’. She receives £5,000 and her book is now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2018 Costa Book of the Year.

read more...
FAR FROM HOME WINS THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s sole award for creative educational writing, is Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty by Cath Senker, a topical and richly illustrated book which sensitively examines the root causes of mass migrations of people in the 21st century.

Cath Senker wins EWA 2018

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

read more...
COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2018: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

Costa have announced the shortlist for the 2018 Costa Children’s Book Award. In a record year for submissions, four novels have made it onto a strong shortlist.

read more...
PATRICE LAWRENCE AND DARREN CHETTY TO JUDGE 2019 LITTLE REBELS AWARD

Little Rebels prize logoAward-winning YA author Patrice Lawrence and Books for Keeps contributor Darren Chetty have been named as judges of the 2019 Little Rebels Award. The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s books for readers age 0-12 which promote social equality and social justice.

read more...
SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS

The shortlists have been announced for the 2019 Blue Peter Book Awards. They are:

Best book with facts

The Element in the Room by Mike Barfield and illustrated by Lauren Humphry, Laurence King Publishing

The Colours of History by Clive Gifford and Marc-Etienne Peintre, QED Publishing

Professor Astro Cat's Human Body Odyssey by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman, Flying Eye Books

read more...
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