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Books for Keeps 160 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 160 - September 2006

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Getty Images is from Tim Bowler’s Frozen Fire. Tim Bowler is interviewed by Geoff Fox. Thanks to Oxford University Press for their help with this September cover.

BfK No. 160 Articles

Editorial - September 2006

News and comment from the Editor.
Diversity Matters: growing markets in children’s publishing - How Committed Are Publishers to Publishing Black Writers?

Malorie Blackman describes her experiences of being published.
Early Years Reading: Anna Wilson’s ‘Nina Fairy Ballerina’ series

Alison Kelly explores Anna Wilson's 'Nina Fairy Ballerina' series.
Diversity Matters: growing markets in children’s publishing - Conference Report

Shereen Pandit reports on her impressions.
Waiting for a Jamie Oliver: Beyond bog-standard literacy

Henrietta Dombey assesses the arguments.
Authorgraph No.160: Tim Bowler

Tim Bowler interviewed by Geoff Fox.
BfK Briefing - September 2006

News * Letters to the Editor * Obituary
Useful Organisations No.46: Bayard magazines for children

StoryBox, AdventureBox and StoryBox monthly magazines for children.
Hal’s Reading Diary – September 2006

Roger Mills on Hal’s science library.
I Wish I’d Written… Fly By Night

Meg Rosoff chooses Frances Hardinge's Fly By Night.
Good Reads: King Edward VI Aston School

Reviews from King Edward VI Aston School, Birmingham.
Classics in Short No.59: The Jungle Books

Brian Alderson on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books.

Editor's Choice

The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home
Jill Tomlinson
(Egmont Books Ltd)
5

Best known for The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark , Jill Tomlinson excelled at warmly written, humorous young fiction titles featuring young animals faced with a challenge. Now her text for The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home...

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New Talent

Beast
Ally Kennen
(Marion Lloyd Books)
4

17-year-old Stephen is due to leave his foster family of four years, the Reynolds, and all his social worker can offer him as a place to live is St Mark’s, the rough hostel for homeless people where, ironically, Stephen’s biological father once...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 160

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

Under 5s

  • The Runaway Dinner
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Clip-Clop
    Nicola Smee
    5

  • 006 and a Bit
    Kes Gray
    5

  • The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home
    Jill Tomlinson
    5

  • Little Fish
    Guido Van Genechten
    4

  • Happy Birthday, Jamela!
    Niki Daly
    4

  • Un Deux Trois: First French Rhymes
    3

  • Animal Moves; Animal Noises
    Dawn Apperley
    3

  • All My Friends
    Gill Lobel
    3

  • Mrs Pepperpot Learns to Swim; Mrs Pepperpot Minds The Baby
    Alf Prøysen
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Fly, Pigeon, Fly!
    John Henderson
    Julia Donaldson
    5

  • Running Shoes
    Frederick Lipp
    4

  • My First Book of Garden Birds
    Mike Unwin
    4

  • The Great Tug of War
    Beverley Naidoo
    4

  • Four Red Apples
    David McKee
    4

  • Death in a Nut
    Eric Maddern
    3

Ages 8-10

  • War With Troy: Teacher's Guide; War With Troy: The Story of Achilles
    Grant Bage
    Jennie Dunn
    Bob Lister
    5

  • Terribly True Crime Stories; Terribly True Spy Stories
    Terry Deary
    4

  • The Boy With The Lightning Feet
    Sally Gardner
    4

  • A Horse Called El Dorado
    Kevin Kiely
    3

  • The Awful Tale of Agatha Bilke
    Sian Pattenden
    2

  • Acid Rain
    Lucy Poddington
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Tanglewreck
    Jeanette Winterson
    5

  • Smokescreen
    Bernard Ashley
    5

  • Nothing Scares Me
    Gene Kemp
    5

  • Into the Woods
    Lyn Gardner
    5

  • Does My Head Look Big In This?
    Randa Abdel-Fattah
    5

  • Coster Girls & Mudlarks: Street voices from Victorian London
    5

  • The Tide Knot
    Helen Dunmore
    4

  • Obesity
    Michaela Miller
    4

  • My Swordhand Is Singing
    Marcus Sedgwick
    4

  • Marco's Pendulum
    Thom Madley
    4

  • Half Moon Investigations
    Eoin Colfer
    4

  • Can You Feel The Force?
    Richard Hammond
    4

  • Blade of Fire
    Stuart Hill
    4

  • '...startled by his furry shorts!' Fab New Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
    Louise Rennison
    4

  • The Willow Man
    Sue Purkiss
    3

  • The Telling Pool
    David Clement-Davies
    3

  • Rise of The Blood Moon
    Alan Gibbons
    3

  • How the Hangman Lost His Heart
    K M Grant
    3

  • Fourth Horseman, The
    Kate Thompson
    3

  • The Black Tattoo
    Sam Enthoven
    3

  • The Sirens of Surrentum
    Caroline Lawrence
    1

Ages 14+

  • Small-Minded Giants
    Oisín McGann
    5

  • Centre of my World
    Andreas Steinhöfel
    5

  • A Brief Chapter in my Impossible Life
    Dana Reinhardt
    4

  • Beast
    Ally Kennen
    4

  • Shining On
    3

  • Malcolm X
    Michael Benson
    3

  • Damage
    Sue Mayfield
    3

  • Angel Blood
    John Singleton
    3

  • Kidulthood
    Jim Eldridge
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Making of Me,The. A writer's childhood
    Robert Westall
    4

  • Wand in the Word, The: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy
    3

BfK News

NATASHA FARRANT WINS 2020 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Natasha Farrant

Writer and literary scout Natasha Farrant has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award for Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, a book which the judges described as ‘pure heavenly escapism and a purely joyful read.’

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ROBIN WALKER WINS THE 2020 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD FOR BLACK HISTORY MATTERS

The winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter. Written by acclaimed Black historian, Robin Walker, the 2020 judges praised this accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book which provides a timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement.

read more...
IBBY UK nominate Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2022

IBBY UK has announced that Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee will be the UK nominations for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

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SHORTLIST FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award.

The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (Little Tiger)

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BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

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Happy National Non-Fiction November 2020

It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November.

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JANE PORTER AND MAISIE PARADISE SHEARRING 2020 LITTLE REBELS AWARD WINNERS

Jane Porter and Maisie Paradise Shearring have won the 2020 Little Rebels Award for their picture book The Boy who Loved Everyone. They will share the £2000 prize.

Little Rebels logo 2020

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OU AND MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS LAUNCH BOOK CHAT SCHEME

The Open University (OU) is launching Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support families with reading to different ages of children.

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TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

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