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Books for Keeps 162 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 162 - January 2007

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Peter Bailey is from Alexander McCall Smith’s Akimbo and the Snakes. Alexander McCall Smith is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for their help with this January cover.

BfK No. 162 Articles

Editorial - January 2007

News and comment from the Editor.
Toxic Childhood: Is the world damaging our children?

Nicholas Tucker discusses Sue Palmer's book on modern childhood.
On Being the Children’s Laureate

Jacqueline Wilson looks back on her Laureateship.
Early Years Reading: Francesca Simon’s ‘Horrid Henry’ series

Janet Evans explains his appeal.
Hal’s Reading Diary - January 2007

Roger Mills on Hal's discovery of Roald Dahl.
Diversity Matters: Growing markets in children’s publishing - ‘Books for All’ should include Gypsies, Roma and Travellers

Kate Evans on the lack of suitable titles for Traveller children.
Take 3: Poets

Valerie Bloom, Tony Mitton and Michael Rosen take poetic form.
Authorgraph No.162: Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
In the Picture: The Story So Far Conference

Julia Eccleshare reports on disability issues in children's literature.
I Wish I’d Written… Tadpole’s Promise

Mick Manning chooses Jeanne Willis's Tadpole's Promise.
Good Reads: St Christina’s School, North London

Reviews from St Christina's School, North London.
BfK Briefing - January 2007

Letters to the Editor * News * Obituaries
Useful Organisations No.48: www.100greatblackbritons.com

List of contemporary and historical Black Britons
Classics in Short No.61: Old Peter’s Russian Tales

Brian Alderson on Arthur Ransome's Old Peter's Russian Tales.

Editor's Choice

The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Oliver Jeffers
(HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
5

From a single word, to a sentence, to a page, to a whole book, Henry the book eating boy’s appetite for books becomes insatiable and his brain smarter and smarter as the ingested information rushes to it. Until the day he begins to feel ill and...

read more

New Talent

Black Book of Secrets, The
F E Higgins
(Macmillan Children's Books)
3

How can Ludlow Fitch trust anyone with parents like his? This debut novel gets off to a cracking start as Ludlow’s gin-soaked parents, desperate for money to buy drink, sell his teeth and hold him down for them to be extracted by the loathsome (...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 162

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

Under 5s

  • Pretty Salma
    Niki Daly
    5

  • Daft Bat
    Jeanne Willis
    5

  • Little Bo Peep’s Library Book
    Cressida Cowell
    5

  • That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown
    Cressida Cowell
    4

  • Sausages
    Jessica Souhami
    4

  • Mother Goose Remembers
    Clare Beaton
    4

  • Lost Ears, The
    Phillida Gili
    4

  • Just Like Mr Croc!
    Jo Lodge
    4

  • Journey Home from Grandpa's, The
    Jemima Lumley
    4

  • Georgie and the Dragon
    Marion Rose
    4

  • Children: A First Art Book
    Lucy Micklethwait
    3

  • Little Red Train Goes Chuff Chuff Chuff, The
    Benedict Blathwayt
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Water Witcher
    Jan Ormerod
    5

  • George Saves the World by Lunchtime
    Jo Readman
    5

  • The Incredible Book Eating Boy
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Shanyi Goes to China
    Sungwan So
    4

  • Scaredy Squirrel
    Melanie Watt
    4

  • Is it Because?
    Tony Ross
    4

  • Big Dog and Little Dog Go Flying; Who Loves Mr Tubs?
    Selina Young
    3

  • Whale
    David Lucas
    3

  • Very Important Idea, The
    Emma Dodson
    3

  • Traditional Stories from Native North America
    Linda Raczek
    3

  • Story of the Wind Children, The
    Sibylle Von Olfers
    3

  • Celebrity Cat
    Meredith Hooper
    3

  • Brains
    Kate Lennard
    3

  • Bamboo
    Paul Yee
    3

  • Isis and Osiris
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Starring Tracy Beaker
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • Port Through Time, A
    Dr Anne Millard
    5

  • Dark Tales from the Woods
    Daniel Morden
    5

  • Trick and Other Stories, The
    George Layton
    4

  • Three Little Pirates, The
    Georgie Adams
    4

  • Lucy Willow
    Sally Gardner
    4

  • Don't Look Back!
    Steve Barlow
    Steve Skidmore
    4

  • Ugalabanda: The boy who got caught up in a war
    3

  • Touch of Wind! A
    Steve Barlow
    Steve Skidmore
    3

  • Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business; Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth; Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying; Junie B. Jones Is On Her Way!
    Barbara Park
    3

  • Black Book of Secrets, The
    F E Higgins
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Jango
    William Nicholson
    5

  • Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • There's More to Life
    Rachel Billington
    4

  • Stone Heart
    Charlie Fletcher
    4

  • Ruler of the Realm
    Herbie Brennan
    4

  • Nemesis: Into the Shadows
    Catherine MacPhail
    4

  • Larklight
    Philip Reeve
    4

  • Forbidden Room, The
    Sarah Wray
    4

  • Cassandra's Sister
    Veronica Bennett
    4

  • Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
    Eoin Colfer
    4

  • Angel Isle
    Peter Dickinson
    4

  • Troll Mill
    Katherine Langrish
    3

  • Sure Fire
    Jack Higgins
    Justin Richards
    3

  • Questors
    Joan Lennon
    3

  • Prisoner's Apprentice, The
    Stephen Elboz
    3

  • Prison Ship
    Paul Dowswell
    3

  • Medici Seal, The
    Theresa Breslin
    3

  • Don't Tell
    Sandra Glover
    3

  • Cat among the Pigeons
    Julia Golding
    3

  • Capture, The
    Kathryn Lasky
    3

  • Slawter
    Darren Shan
    2

  • Pick Me Up
    2

  • Maddigan's Fantasia
    Margaret Mahy
    2

  • Flight of the Fire Thief
    Terry Deary
    2

  • Riddle of the Poisoned Monk, The
    Sarah Matthias
    1

Ages 14+

  • Things I Know About Love
    Kate Le Vann
    4

  • Snakehead
    Ann Halam
    4

  • Politics: Cutting Through the Crap
    Bali Rai
    4

  • Down to the Wire
    Bernard Ashley
    4

  • Blue Skies and Gunfire
    K M Peyton
    4

  • Blowout
    Susan Vaught
    4

  • Hood
    Stephen R Lawhead
    3

  • Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose, The
    Mary Hooper
    2

  • Angel Stone, The
    Livi Michael
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Rights of the Reader, The
    Daniel Pennac
    5

BfK News

A Passion for Picture books

‘Although interest in the art of the picture book seems to have grown greatly in recent years, study of the field has remained polarised in its nature and perceptions,’ claim the authors of an important new book, Children’s Picturebooks: The art of visual storytelling.

Books for Keeps invited co-writers Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles to explain their aim to bring together ideas from the world of literature and education with ideas from the field of art and design.

read more...
BLOOD RED ROAD WINS 2011 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

For the second year in succession, a debut novel has won the Costa Children’s Book Award. The 2011 prize went to Jason Wallace for his novel Out of Shadows; this year’s prize has gone to Moira Young for her book Blood Red Road.

Set in a dystopian future world, Blood Red Road tells the story of 18-year-old Saba, a tough young woman who embarks on an epic quest to rescue her twin brother when he is kidnapped by four mysterious horsemen.

read more...
Behind the Bookshelf

A new way of bringing authors into the classroom – and a special competition for Books for Keeps readers.

read more...
2011 Educational Writers’ Award Winner Announced

The winner of the 2011 Educational Writers’ Award is Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond…The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour by Stewart Ross.

The Educational Writers’ Award was established in 2008 by ALCS and The Society of Authors to celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.

read more...
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize winner announced

The winner of the 2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize is How the World Works, an interactive opus that uses illustrations, pop ups, flaps and more to make children think about the impact of human actions on our environment, while encouraging respect for the natural world.

read more...
Muslim Writers Awards 2011

Na'ima B Robert's Far from Home (Frances Lincoln) has won the Published Children's Book category of the Muslim Writers Awards.

The Awards were held at the Globe Theatre on Tuesday 22nd November and acknowledged dramatists and young journalists as well as authors.

read more...
2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize

After a two year gap when, due to funding issues it was not awarded, The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2011 will be awarded on Thursday 1st December, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

The prize celebrates the books that best communicate science to young people aged up to 14 and there are six books on the shortlist. They are:

The Icky Sticky Blood and Snot Book by Steve Alton and Nick Sharratt (Bodley Head)

read more...
Liz Pichon and Peter Bently: Roald Dahl Funny Prize Winners

Winners Roald Dahl Prize 2011 2Tuesday 8th November saw the fourth annual Roald Dahl Funny Prize ceremony, which again took place at the Unicorn Theatre. This year Chair, and instigator of the prize, Michael Rosen was joined on the judging panel by author and broadcaster Grace Dent, illustrator Tony Ross, Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon and journalist/scriptwriter Danny Wallace.

read more...
PIRATE CATS AND DOODLING SCHOOLBOY WIN THE 2011 ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE

Roald Dahl Winners 2011Peter Bently and Liz Pichon have been announced as winners of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize. 

read more...
FIRST SLA INFORMATION BOOK AWARD: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Adrian Dingle’s book How to make a Universe with 92 Ingredients (Scholastic) and The Life and Times of William Shakespeare by Kirsten McDermott and Ari Berk (Templar) were announced winners of the first SLA Information Book Award at a celebration event in London last night, Wednesday 2nd November.

read more...
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