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Books for Keeps 161 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 161 - November 2006

Cover Story
This issue’s cover shows Neil Gaiman (photo © Kelli Bickman) with his book The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr Punch illustrated by Dave McKean. Neil Gaiman is interviewed by Nicholas Tucker. Thanks to Bloomsbury for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 161 Articles

Editorial - November 2006

News and comment from the Editor.
BfK Profile: Kevin Crossley-Holland

Colin Mills discusses Kevin Crossley-Holland’s sequel to his ‘Arthur’ trilogy, Gatty’s Tale.
Can children learn to love punctuation?

Lynne Truss on her junior version of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Windows into Illustration: Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell explains his approach to The Emperor of Absurdia.
Hal’s Reading Diary - November 2006

Roger Mills on how Hal finds list of words boring.
Diversity matters - Multi-cultural Publishing: What it took to get to where we are

Rosemary Stones on the history of multi-cultural publishing.
Take 3: Father Christmases

The Santas of Clement C Moore, J R R Tolkien and Raymond Briggs.
Authorgraph No.161: Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman interviewed by Nicholas Tucker.
BfK Briefing – November 2006

Letters to the Editor * Publications * Obituary
Useful Organisations No.47: Just One More Book!

A thrice-weekly audio on demand broadcast discussing children’s books.
I Wish I’d Written… The Homeward Bounders

Margaret Mahy chooses Diana Wynne Jones' The Homeward Bounders.
Good Reads: The King’s School, Worcester

Reviews from
The King’s School, Worcester.
Classics in Short No.60: The Stone Book Quartet

Brian Alderson on Alan Garner's The Stone Book Quartet.

Editor's Choice

Just in Case
Meg Rosoff
(Puffin)
5

The precariousness of existence is driven home to the reader from the opening pages of Rosoff’s stonking new novel when 15-year-old David only just catches hold of his baby brother in time as Charlie launches himself out of an upstairs window in...

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New Talent

Breathe
Anne-Sophie Brasme
(W&N)
4

Told in a lucidly reflective style, this first person narrative is recounted by a 19-year-old Parisian, Charlene, who murdered her best friend when she was 16. Brasme takes us back to the time when the lonely, suicidal 13-year-old Charlene first...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 161

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

Under 5s

  • Uan the Little Lamb
    Sandra Klaassen
    5

  • Melrose and Croc: Friends for Life
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • Lettice: The Birthday Party
    Mandy Stanley
    4

  • The Lamb Who Came for Dinner
    Steve Smallman
    4

  • Hello Twins
    Charlotte Voake
    4

  • Harry and the Dinosaurs Go To School
    Ian Whybrow
    4

  • Happy Birthday to You, Blue Kangaroo!
    Emma Chichester Clark
    4

  • Alphabet Ice Cream
    Sue Heap
    Nick Sharratt
    4

  • Very Interesting!
    Yokococo
    3

  • Together
    Jane Simmons
    3

  • There once was a boy called Tashi
    Anna Fienberg
    Barbara Fienberg
    3

  • A Tale of Two Kitties
    Liz Pichon
    3

  • Chunky, bumpy, dumpy Trucks
    Dawn Sirett
    3

  • Mama's Going to Heaven Soon
    Kathe Martin Copeland
    2

Ages 5-8

  • My Body Book
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    4

  • Minnie Piper: Undercover Puzzler
    Caroline Juskus
    4

  • Mia's Story: A Sketchbook of Hopes and Dreams
    Michael Foreman
    4

  • Mario's Angels
    Mary Arrigan
    4

  • J is for Jamaica
    Benjamin Zephaniah
    4

  • The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean; The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean; Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats
    Alexander McCall Smith
    4

  • The Hair Scare
    Jeffrey Fisher
    4

  • Dirty Bertie: Worms!
    Alan MacDonald
    4

  • Dino-Dinners
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    4

  • Wizzbang Wizard: Super Splosh
    Scoular Anderson
    3

  • Witch-in-Training: The Last Task
    Maeve Friel
    3

  • The Magic Wand; When Anna Slept Over
    Ursula Dubosarsky
    3

  • The Deep Blue Sea
    Jakki Wood
    3

Ages 8-10

  • You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!
    Andy Stanton
    4

  • The Tail of The Trinosaur
    Charles Causley
    4

  • The Picture History of Great Explorers
    Gillian Clements
    4

  • Breathe: A Ghost Story
    Cliff McNish
    4

  • Tiger
    Joanna Skipwith
    3

  • Sam stars at Shakespeare's Globe
    Pauline Francis
    3

  • Id-ul-Fitr
    Saviour Pirotta
    3

  • Hurricane Wills
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist
    Liz Kessler
    3

  • The Dog in the Diamond Collar
    Rebecca Lisle
    3

  • Blart - The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World
    Dominic Barker
    3

  • Araminta Spook Book 1: My Haunted House; Araminta Spook Book 2: The Sword in the Grotto
    Angie Sage
    3

  • Purple Class and the Skelington
    Sean Taylor
    2

  • The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless
    Ahmet Zappa
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Wintersmith: A Story of Discworld
    Terry Pratchett
    5

  • Soul Eater
    Michelle Paver
    5

  • The Dragon's Eye
    Durgald Steer
    5

  • The Duke of Wellington: The Gentleman Soldier; William the Conqueror: The Norman King
    Joshua Doder
    4

  • Vampirates: Tide of Terror
    Justin Somper
    4

  • The Story of Costume
    John Peacock
    4

  • The Penalty
    Mal Peet
    4

  • Martin Luther King: Father of the Civil Rights Movement
    Liz Gogerly
    4

  • Iraq
    Simon Ponsford
    4

  • H.I.V.E.
    Mark Walden
    4

  • The Curse of the Toads
    Rebecca Lisle
    4

  • Attica
    Garry Kilworth
    4

  • Stormbreaker - the graphic novel
    Anthony Horowitz
    3

  • The Princess and the Captain
    Anne-Laure Bondoux
    3

  • The Pig Who Saved the World by Gryllus the Pig
    Paul Shipton
    3

  • The Moneylender's Daughter
    V A Richardson
    3

  • Kat Got Your Tongue
    Lee Weatherly
    3

  • How nearly everthing was invented by the Brainwaves
    Jilly MacLeod
    3

  • Fur
    Meg Harper
    3

  • Dream Chaser
    Joan O'Neill
    3

  • Do the Creepy Thing
    Graham Joyce
    3

  • The Coming of Dragons
    A J Lake
    3

  • Will Shakespeare and the Pirate's Fire
    Robert J Harris
    2

Ages 14+

  • Just in Case
    Meg Rosoff
    5

  • Innocent
    Anne Cassidy
    5

  • The Hollow People
    Brian Keaney
    5

  • Song for Eloise
    Leigh Sauerwein
    4

  • Inexcusable
    Chris Lynch
    4

  • The Earth, My Butt and Other BIG Round Things
    Carolyn Mackler
    4

  • Breathe
    Anne-Sophie Brasme
    4

  • The Story of my Life
    Anne Cassidy
    3

  • 32C, That's Me
    Chris Higgins
    3

  • A Nicer Way to Die
    Sam Mills
    2

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:

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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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