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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

EVA ELAND NAMED WINNER OF THE FIFTH KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Eva Eland has won the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book When Sadness Comes to Call (Andersen Press), in which a young child opens the door to an unexpected visitor, Sadness, personified as a semi-transparent amorphous shape.

read more...
THE JHALAK PRIZE: A NEW PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS WRITTEN BY WRITERS OF COLOUR

Jhalak Prize logo

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LIZ HYDER AND EDITOR SARAH ODEDINA WIN 2020 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

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UK NOMINATIONS IBBY’S OUTSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 2021

Every two years, IBBY invites nominations from national sections for its international list of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. The final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s book world. It is a huge voluntary undertaking as every country is encouraged to submit up to twelve titles across the three categories.

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NEW CROWD-FUNDED CHILDREN’S BOOK TO RETELL BRITAIN’S OLDEST STORIES

Children’s Laureate of Wales, Eloise Williams and author Matt Brown have launched a new crowdfunded project, The Mab.

The Mab

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LOOK UP! WINNERS OF THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE 2020 NAMED

WCBP logo 2020

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THE 2020 LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST

The shortlist for the 2020 Little Rebels Award has been announced. The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world.

Little Rebels logo 2020

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UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2020

The winners of the 2020 UKLA Book Awards have been announced.

UKLA award

The UKLA Book Awards are the only awards to be judged entirely by teachers and highlight texts that can ‘enhance all aspects of literacy learning’.

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WINNERS OF THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

Carnegie Greenaway logo

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CHILDREN READING MORE IN LOCKDOWN

Silly Squad Laura Ellen Anderson

read more...
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