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Books for Keeps 159 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 159 - July 2006

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Carol Lawson is from Cornelia Funke’s Inkspell. Cornelia Funke is interviewed by Nicholas Tucker. Thanks to The Chicken House for their help with this July cover.

BfK No. 159 Articles

Editorial - July 2006

News and comment from the Editor.

Visual surprise and innovation? New British picture books

Martin Salisbury assesses new picture books.

Early Years Reading: Leigh Hobbs’ ‘Old Tom’ series

Margaret Mallett explores Leigh Hobbs' 'Old Tom' series.

Back to Basics

Robert Hull on approaches that enable children's writing.

Authorgraph No.159: Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke interviewed by Nicholas Tucker.

I Wish I’d Written… Peace Weavers

Robert Swindells chooses Julia Jarman's Peace Weavers.

Good Reads: Rednock School

Reviews from Rednock School, Dursley, Gloucestershire.

BfK Briefing - July 2006

Letters to the Editor

Useful Organisations No.45: childrensillustrators.com

Online showcase for professional children's illustrators.

Hal’s Reading Diary - July 2006

Roger Mills on how Hal doesn't like help with reading.

Return Ticket to Newcastle

Brian Alderson on the collaborative work of Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

Classics in Short No.58: Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and Katy and the Big Snow

Brian Alderson on Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and Katy and the Big Snow.

Phyllis Hunt (1927-2006): a tribute by Penny Sibson

Penny Sibson remembers Phyllis Hunt.

Editor's Choice

Star Dancer

Beth Webb
(Macmillan Children's Books)
5

‘Most people, when they are told a story, only hear the pattern of the comings and goings of the characters. A bard learns how to discover and celebrate the deeper layers within the tale... if you close your eyes and see and sing, you will...

read more

New Talent

The Year the Gypsies Came

Linzi Glass
(Puffin)
4

Emily is almost 13 and she is growing up in the apartheid South Africa of the 1960s, a privileged child of the white elite yet also the neglected child of two estranged parents who have little time for Emily or her older sister, 15-year-old Sarah...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 159

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

Under 5s

  • Wooden Dragon, The

    Joan Aiken
    4
  • It's So Unfair!

    Pat Thomson
    4
  • Imagine

    Ruth Brown
    4
  • Cheep! Cheep!

    Julie Stiegemeyer
    4
  • Seven for a Secret

    Laurence Anholt
    3
  • Night the Lights Went Out, The

    Anna Perera
    3
  • Bringing Down the Moon; Jody's Beans; Last Noo-Noo, The; Max

    Jonathan Emmett
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Seven Welsh Folk Tales

    Richard Eastwood
    4
  • Road Closed

    Jan Mark
    4
  • Hey Crazy Riddle!

    Trish Cooke
    4
  • Plant; Tree; Water

    Penelope Arlon
    3
  • Bunchy

    Joyce Lankester Brisley
    3
  • Bird

    Penelope Arlon
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Dirty Dozen, The; Mad Iris Goes Missing; Sammy and the Starman; Wildly Weird

    Tony Bradman
    5
  • History of the Steel Band, The

    Verna Wilkins
    Michael La Rose
    5
  • Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The

    Kate DiCamillo
    4
  • Giant Under the Snow, The

    John Gordon
    4
  • Boudica

    Richard Brassey
    4
  • Snakes' Elbows

    Deirdre Madden
    3
  • Nicholas Again

    Rene Goscinny
    3
  • Jolene's Back

    Helena Pielichaty
    3
  • Hare's Choice

    Dennis Hamley
    3
  • Butter-Finger

    Bob Cattell
    John Agard
    3
  • Black Sphinx, The

    Matt Hart
    3
  • Alex's Back

    Helena Pielichaty
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Small Steps

    Louis Sachar
    5
  • Star Dancer

    Beth Webb
    5
  • Tarot Reader's Daughter, The

    Helen Dunwoodie
    4
  • Plague Sorcerer

    Christopher Russell
    4
  • High King, The

    Lloyd Alexander
    4
  • Foretelling, The

    Alice Hoffman
    4
  • Chew on This

    Eric Schlosser
    Charles Wilson
    4
  • Boudicca: Warrior Queen

    Sian Busby
    4
  • Young Rebels, The

    Morgan Llywelyn
    3
  • Truth About Josie Green, The

    Belinda Hollyer
    3
  • Trash! On Ragpicker Children and Recycling

    Gita Wolf
    Anushka Ravishankar
    3
  • Playing Twm

    Ruth Morgan
    3
  • Like Mother, Like Daughter? 14 stories about girls and their mums

    3
  • Jazz Age Poet: A Story about Langston Hughes

    Veda Boyd Jones
    3
  • Hill of the Red Fox, The

    Allan Campbell Mclean
    3
  • Help! I'm a Classroom Gambler

    Pete Johnson
    3
  • French for Kissing

    Sophie Parkin
    3
  • Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, The

    Catherine Webb
    3
  • CHERUB: Divine Madness

    Robert Muchamore
    3
  • Anna/Bella

    Amanda Swift
    3
  • Style Sisters: Friends First

    Liz Elwes
    2
  • Navigator, The

    Eoin McNamee
    2
  • Jugglin'

    Bali Rai
    2
  • Endymion Spring

    Matthew Skelton
    2
  • Constellation of Sylvie, The

    Roderick Townley
    2
  • Babymouse Our Hero; Babymouse Queen of the World

    Jennifer L Holm
    2
  • Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

    James Patterson
    1

Ages 14+

  • Girl, 16: Pants On Fire

    Sue Limb
    5
  • This Strange New Life

    Rachel Anderson
    4
  • Road of the Dead, The

    Kevin Brooks
    4
  • Playing in Traffic

    Gail Giles
    4
  • The Year the Gypsies Came

    Linzi Glass
    4
  • Twilight

    Stephenie Meyer
    3
  • Mimus

    Lilli Thal
    3
  • Sara's Face

    Melvin Burgess
    2

BfK News

THE FRANCES LINCOLN DIVERSE VOICES CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2013

Tariq Mehmood has won the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013 for You’re Not Proper. The announcement was made on 23rd May 2013 by John Nicoll, founder of the award, at Seven Stories - National Centre for Children’s Books.

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...
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...
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...
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