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Books for Keeps 156 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 156 - January 2006

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Graham Marks’ Tokyo. Graham Marks is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for their help with this January cover.

BfK No. 156 Articles

Editorial - January 2006

News and comment from the Editor.
J K Rowling by Stuart Pearson Wright at the National Portrait Gallery

Brian Sewell on the recently commissioned portrait.
Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts & Crosses’ Trilogy

Errol Lloyd assesses its appeal.
How should we teach children to read?

Henrietta Dombey debates synthetic phonics.
Story of the Storeys or Seven at one go

Brian Alderson discusses the new centre for the study of children's literature.
Authorgraph No.156: Graham Marks

Graham Marks interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
BfK Briefing - January 2006

News * Awards * Events * Obituaries * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.42: Children's Poetry Bookshelf

Children's poetry for 7-11 year-olds.
Hal’s Reading Diary - January 2006

Roger Mills on Hal being taught to read.
I Wish I’d Written… Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Kevin Brooks chooses Jack Gantos's Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
Good Reads: Maidenhill School, Gloucestershire

Reviews from Maidenhill School, Gloucestershire.
Classics in Short No.55: Mary Poppins

Brian Alderson on P L Travers' Mary Poppins.

Editor's Choice

Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent
Lauren Child
(Hodder Children's Books)
5

A natural at almost everything (reading, swimming, table tennis, Japanese, Maths), Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent has ‘frightfully, frightfully rich’ parents with houses in London, New York and Milan. Extremely sociable and generous, the...

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New Talent

Fly By Night
Frances Hardinge
(Macmillan Children's Books)
4

When 12-year-old Mosca Mye burns down her uncle’s mill (accidentally or on purpose?), it is time for her to leave the village of Clough and seek her fortune with storyteller, poet and petty crook Eponymous Clent. On their arrival in the capital,...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 156

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Ages 14+

Under 5s

  • Opposites
    Robert Crowther
    5

  • Hit the Ball Duck
    Jez Alborough
    5

  • Mixed Up Fairy Tales
    Hilary Robinson
    4

  • Hieronymus Betts and his Unusual Pets
    M P Robertson
    4

  • Bored Bill
    Liz Pichon
    4

  • Alligator Alphabet
    Stella Blackstone
    4

  • Pablo the Artist
    Satoshi Kitamura
    3

  • Kidogo
    Anik McGrory
    3

  • Just Like You Did
    Marjorie Newman
    3

  • I Wish I Were a Dog
    Lydia Monks
    3

  • Fantastic Mr Wani, The
    Kanako Usui
    3

  • Elmer and Rose
    David McKee
    3

  • Whose nose?; Whose teeth?
    Jeannette Rowe
    2

  • Robot Dog
    Mark Oliver
    2

  • Myron's Magic Cow
    Marlene Newman
    2

  • Whatever
    William Bee
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Wizard, the Ugly and the Book of Shame, The
    Pablo Bernascon
    5

  • I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur
    Stella Blackstone
    5

  • Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent
    Lauren Child
    5

  • Fairy Tales, The
    Charles Perrault
    The Brothers Grimm
    5

  • Tractor Trouble
    Steve Augarde
    4

  • Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur
    Joan Aiken
    4

  • Witch Pigs
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    3

  • Belonging; Celebrating Harvest; Gifts at Christmas; Jewish Faith, The; Visiting a Church; Visiting a Gurdwara; Visiting a Mandir; Visiting a Mosque; Visiting a Synagogue
    Ruth Nason
    3

  • Mr Large In Charge
    Jill Murphy
    3

  • Man of the Match
    Sophie Smiley
    3

  • Harry the Poisonous Centipede Goes to Sea
    Lynne Reid Banks
    3

  • Burger Boy
    Alan Durant
    3

  • Billy Wizard
    Chris Priestley
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Nicholas
    Rene Goscinny
    5

  • Imagine
    Norman Messenger
    5

  • Connor's Eco Den; Doomsday Virus, The; Last Viking, The; Space Ace; Stat Man; Traitor's Gate
    Pippa Goodhart
    4

  • Three Cheers for Inventors!
    Marcia Williams
    4

  • Here Be Monsters! (The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1)
    Alan Snow
    4

  • Girl with the Broken Wing, The
    Heather Dyer
    4

  • Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveller
    William Wise
    4

  • Super Zeroes
    Rhiannon Lassiter
    3

  • Story of Chocolate, The
    Katie Daynes
    3

  • She's All That! Poems About Girls
    3

  • Outsiders
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    3

  • Ragwitch, The
    Garth Nix
    2

  • Dawn Undercover
    Anna Dale
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Framed
    Frank Cottrell Boyce
    5

  • Writers and their tall tales
    Tracey Turner
    4

  • Return of Death Eric, The
    Sam Llewellyn
    4

  • Forensics
    Richard Platt
    4

  • Fly By Night
    Frances Hardinge
    4

  • Clay
    David Almond
    4

  • Chasing Vermeer
    Blue Balliett
    4

  • Body
    Richard Walker
    4

  • Fire!; Shouting at the Stars; Witness
    David Orme
    3

  • Walking with the Dead
    Tim Bowler
    3

  • Spirit Walker
    Michelle Paver
    3

  • Blade; Mutant; Respect!; Smoke
    Chris Powling
    3

  • Mrs Marridge Project, The
    Pauline Fisk
    3

  • Jazz A.B.Z
    Wynton Marsalis
    3

  • Jane Austen: The Girl with the Magic Pen!
    Gill Hornby
    3

  • Flush
    Carl Hiaasen
    3

  • Fire Star
    Chris D'Lacey
    3

  • Electric Telepath, The
    Jan Mark
    3

  • Amadans Alert
    Malachy Doyle
    3

  • Aids Orphan: Mary's Story
    Louise Armstrong
    3

  • Riddles of Epsilon, The
    Christine Morton-Shaw
    2

  • Ingo
    Helen Dunmore
    2

  • Arthur and the Minimoys
    Luc Besson
    2

Ages 14+

  • Innocent's Story, The
    Nicky Singer
    5

  • Tell Me What You See
    Zoran Drvenkar
    4

  • Story of Stone, The
    N M Browne
    4

  • Passion Flower Massacre, The
    Nicola Morgan
    4

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.

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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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