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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

THE LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

Little Rebels prize logoThe shortlist for the 2019 Little Rebels Award has been announced. Seven books have made the list with war and conflict recurring themes.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

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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...
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

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