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Books for Keeps 151 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 151 - March 2005

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Grace Nichols’ Everybody Got a Gift. Grace Nichols is interviewed by Morag Styles. Thanks to A & C Black for their help with this March cover.

BfK No. 151 Articles

Editorial - March 2005

News and comment from the Editor.

Early Years Reading: getting young readers passionate about books

Alison Kelly explains ways to 'cultivate' young readers.

The Best Stories of 2004

Librarians and booksellers recommend their top titles.

BfK Profile: Philippa Pearce

Julia Eccleshare looks at Philippa Pearce's distinguished career.

Hal’s Reading Diary - March 2005

Roger Mills explores Hal's obsession with books on knights.

The Art of the Translator: translating children's books into English

Nicholas Tucker on translating children's books into English.

Take 3: Laureates

Revelations from Quentin Blake, Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo.

BfK Briefing - March 2005

News * Events * Awards * Obituaries

Useful Organisations No.37: Itchy Coo

Award-winning imprint specialising in Scots language books for children.

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

Jean Sprackland discusses Nimrah Zeb's 'My Two Week Cat'.

Authorgraph No.151: Grace Nichols

Grace Nichols interviewed by Morag Styles.

I Wish I’d Written... The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Anne Cassidy chooses Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Good Reads: King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds

Reviews from pupils of King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds.

Classics in Short No.50: The Box of Delights

Brian Alderson on John Masefield's The Box of Delights.

Editor's Choice

Polo Finds a Friend

Mathew Price
(Mathew Price Ltd)
5

This small square book with its pulls and flap is a masterly account in miniature of the trials and the pleasures of friendship, touching on such important early childhood themes as losing and finding, loving and hating.

Polo the dog has...

read more

New Talent

The Dreamwalker's Child

Steve Voake
(Faber and Faber)
3

A gap in the fabric between our world and the world of Aurobon has been opened and through it schoolboy Sam Palmer is snatched from the English country lane where he has been riding his bike to be thrust into a high security prison in the warring...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 151

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

Under 5s

  • Polo Finds a Friend

    Mathew Price
    5
  • You're All My Favourites

    Sam McBratney
    5
  • Cushie Butterfield

    Colin McNaughton
    4
  • It's Quacking Time!

    Martin Waddell
    4
  • Bartholomew and the Bug

    Neal Layton
    4
  • When I Grow Up

    Colin McNaughton
    4
  • Alphabet book

    Pittau Gervais
    4
  • Oscar and Hoo Forever

    Theo
    3
  • The Bad Mood!

    Moritz Petz
    3
  • Baba's Gift

    Beverley Naidoo
    Maya Naidoo
    3
  • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe; Said Mouse to Mole; Going to the Dentist; The Wonderful Gift; Numbers, Book 1

    2
  • Floppy's Friends

    Guido Van Genechten
    2
  • my very first Bedtime book

    Lois Rock
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Tales Told in Tents: Stories from Central Asia

    Sally Pomme Clayton
    5
  • Katie and the Bathers

    James Mayhew
    4
  • The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish

    Neil Gaiman
    4
  • Alphabet Poem

    Michael Rosen
    4
  • So Hungry

    Daniel Morden
    3
  • If Dinosaurs were Cats and Dogs

    Colin McNaughton
    1

Ages 8-10

  • The Scarecrow and his Servant

    Philip Pullman
    5
  • What Makes Me Me?

    Robert Winston
    4
  • Taliesin: The Boy Wizard; Shock Forest and other stories; The Barber's Clever Wife; The Path of Finn McCool; Snow Horse and other stories; Sky Ship and other stories

    4
  • Football Fantasy Mersey City 4 4 2; Football Fantasy Tyne Athletic 4 3 3; Football Fantasy Medway United 4 5 1; Football Fantasy Thames United 4 4 2

    Jonathan Sutherland
    3
  • Aneil has a Food Allergy; Jordan has a Hearing Loss; Luke has Down's Syndrome; Sam uses a Wheelchair; Becky has Diabetes; Zack has Asthma

    Jillian Powell
    3
  • Swedish Folk Tales

    3
  • Brind and the Dogs of War

    Christopher Russell
    3
  • The Dreamwalker's Child

    Steve Voake
    3
  • Amadans

    Malachy Doyle
    3
  • Horse Tales

    3
  • Lucy and the Big Bad Wolf

    Ann Jungman
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

    Michael Morpurgo
    5
  • Under Fire: Children of the Second World War tell their Stories

    5
  • Girl Underground

    Morris Gleitzman
    5
  • Pagan in Exile

    Catherine Jinks
    4
  • Tiger, Tiger

    Lynne Reid Banks
    4
  • The Witch of Clatteringshaws

    Joan Aiken
    4
  • No Way Am I Living With Her!

    Caroline Plaisted
    4
  • 35 Kilos of Hope

    Anna Gavalda
    4
  • A City Through Time

    Philip Steele
    4
  • Bad, Bad Darlings: Small But Deadly

    Sam Llewellyn
    4
  • Blood on Snow

    Tim Bowler
    3
  • Back to The Divide

    Elizabeth Kay
    3
  • One Chance

    Steve May
    3
  • At the Firefly Gate

    Linda Newbery
    3
  • The Ice Road

    Jaap Ter Haar
    3
  • Children of the Lamp: the Akhenaten adventure

    P B Kerr
    2
  • The Unrivalled Spangles

    Karen Wallace
    2

Ages 14+

  • Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

    Susanna Clarke
    5
  • The Wish House

    Celia Rees
    5
  • Politics and Propaganda

    Adam Hibbert
    4
  • Candy

    Kevin Brooks
    4
  • The House in Norham Gardens

    Penelope Lively
    4

Books About Children's Books

  • Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication

    Martin Salisbury
    5
  • Publisher

    Tom Maschler
    4
  • Studies in Children's Literature 1500-2000

    4
  • Chin Up, Chest Out, Jemima! A Celebration of the Schoolgirls' Story

    Mary Cadogan
    3

BfK News

DANIEL MORDEN WINS 2013 TIR NA N-OG ENGLISH AWARD

The Welsh Books Council has announced Daniel Morden as winner of the 2013 Tir na n-Og English Award for his collection of stories Tree of Leaf and Flame (Pont Books).

Morden’s first book, Weird Tales from the  Storyteller, was shortlisted for the Tir
na n-Og English-language award in 2004 and he won the award in 2007 for Dark Tales from the Woods.

read more...
ROYAL SOCIETY YOUNG PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE 2013 SHORTLIST

The Royal Society has announced the shortlist for their 2013 Young People’s Book Prize, naming the six books the judges consider best communicate science to young people.

Professor John Goodby FRS, Chair of the judges described the shortlist as eclectic, but enthralling.

The six books shortlisted by the judges are:

Build the Human Body by Richard Walker (Templar Publishing)

In the judges’ words: ‘A hands on, fun kit to help learn about the human body, accompanied by a well-illustrated, concise, clear book.’

read more...
SARAH GARLAND WINS INAUGURAL LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Sarah Garland has won the first Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Azzi in Between, which tells the story of a family forced to fell their homeland and settle in a strange and unfamiliar country. The book is based on the author’s own experience of working among refugee families and is endorsed by Amnesty International.

read more...
2013 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD: THE SHORTLIST

‘Seven outstanding debuts, eight really interesting authors, doing really interesting things’

The shortlist for the 2013 Branford Boase Award has been announced. 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...
2013 CLPE Poetry Award: Winner

CLPE AwardThe 2013 CLPE Poetry Award has been won by George Szirtes for  In the Land of the Giants, illustrated by Helen Szirtes (Salt Publishing). Szirtes was presented with the award by last year’s winner Rachel Rooney at a ceremony at CLPE on the evening of Tuesday 30 April.

read more...
THE 2013 CLPE POETRY AWARD SHORTLIST

Weight of WaterFour outstanding poetry books are shortlisted for the 2013 CLPE Poetry Award. Established in 2003, the annual Poetry Award encourages and celebrates outstanding new children’s poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

The four books on the shortlist are:

read more...
2013 ENGLISH 4 – 11 PICTURE BOOK AWARDS: THE WINNERS

The winners of the 2013 English 4 – 11 Picture Book Awards have been announced. Established in 1995, the awards are presented annually to the best picture books of the previous year, in four categories, Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years, and Non-Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years.

From a 15 strong shortlist, the winners are:

Fiction 4 – 7 years

Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis illustrated by Tony Ross (Andersen Press)

Fiction 7 – 11 years

read more...
IBBY Announces the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award have been announced.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children's books. Awarded every other year by IBBY, the award recognizes lifelong achievement and is given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature.

For the 2014 Awards 29 authors and 31 illustrators have been nominated from 34 countries. They are:

read more...
New Little Rebels Children’s Book Award: Shortlist Announced

The shortlist has been announced for The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award, a new award for radical children’s fiction.

The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award recognises fiction for ages 0-12 which promotes or celebrates social justice and equality. It is awarded by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) and administered by Letterbox Library. Wendy Cooling, Bookstart co-founder & editor and author Elizabeth Laird are both judges.

The four books on the inaugural shortlist are:

read more...
School Library Association Information Book Award 2013 Short List Announcement

The School Library Association has announce the shortlist for the 2013 prize. The Information Book Award is an annual event, in its third year its aim is to reinforce the importance of non-fiction whilst highlighting the high standard of resources available.

The judges - a panel of experienced librarians, SLA board members and a member of Peters Bookselling Services - have produced what they describe as ‘a strong and very varied selection of titles for the shortlist’. These are

Under 7s

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