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Books for Keeps 163 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 163 - March 2007

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Meg Rosoff’s Just In Case. Meg Rosoff is interviewed by Nicholas Tucker. Thanks to Penguin Books for their help with this March cover.

BfK No. 163 Articles

Editorial - March 2007

News and comment from the Editor.
Teenagers Promoting Books – A Novel Idea

Nicola Morgan on how her new novel was promoted.
The Best Books of 2006

Rosemary Stones discusses the books that came to the top.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature

Brian Alderson assesses this new work of reference.
Windows into Illustration: Mairi Hedderwick

Mairi Hedderwick explains the thinking behind her illustration.
Authorgraph No.163: Meg Rosoff

Meg Rosoff interviewed by Nicholas Tucker.
‘Teaching’ Poems for Children: A Praise Poem

Robert Hull explores how to use a praise poem.
Take 3: Eponymous Imprints

David Fickling Books, Jane Nissen Books and Marion Lloyd Books.
Hal’s Reading Diary - March 2007

Roger Mills on Hal and thank you letters.
BfK Briefing - March 2007

News * Obituaries * Letter to the Editor
Cool to be Clever: Getting Boys to Read

Philip Wilkinson discusses boys and reading.
I Wish I’d Written... Warrior Scarlet

Stuart Hill chooses Rosemary Sutcliff's Warrior Scarlet.
Good Reads: Broadwater School, Godalming, Surrey

Reviews from Broadwater School, Godalming, Surrey.
Classics in Short No.62: The Battle of Bubble and Squeak

Brian Alderson on Philippa Pearce's The Battle of Bubble and Squeak.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature - additional information

Brian Alderson discusses further.

Editor's Choice

Beware of the Storybook Wolves
Lauren Child
(Hodder Children's Books)
5

Too often, publishers impose the bells and whistles of paper engineering on stories because they can, rather than with any discernable purpose. Lauren Child’s Beware of the Storybook Wolves worked very well as a picture book...

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New Talent

Waves
Sharon Dogar
(Scholastic US)
4

A year has gone by since Charlie went surfing at night and was discovered the next morning lying on the rocks by her younger brother, 15-year-old Hal. It has been a year for the family of visiting Charlie in hospital where she lies in a coma. Is...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 163

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

Under 5s

  • Follow the Swallow
    Julia Donaldson
    5

  • Rotten and Rascal: The Two Terrible Pterosaur Twins
    Paul Geraghty
    4

  • Elmer and the Lost Teddy
    David McKee
    4

  • Hello, Who's There?
    Satoshi Kitamura
    3

  • The Amazing Lift-The-Flap ABC
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    3

  • Max Moves to Moscow
    Winifred Riser
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • The Lost Happy Endings
    Carol Ann Duffy
    5

  • Beware of the Storybook Wolves
    Lauren Child
    5

  • The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems
    5

  • Uneversaurus
    Aidan Potts
    4

  • The Orchard Book of Goblins, Ghouls & Ghosts & Other Magical Stories
    Martin Waddell
    4

  • Amazing Bugs
    Richard Ferguson
    4

  • Actual Size
    Steve Jenkins
    4

  • Finding Fizz ¦ Nothing But Trouble ¦ On the Ghost Trail ¦ Scratch and Sniff ¦ Taking Flight ¦ The Thing in the Basement
    J Alexander
    3

  • That's Why!
    Babette Cole
    3

  • Sahir Goes to the Dentist
    Chris Petty
    3

  • Miss Fox
    Simon Puttock
    3

  • The Littlest Pirate and the Hammerheads
    Sherryl Clark
    3

  • I Very Really Miss You
    Jane Kemp
    Clare Walters
    3

  • The Courageous Cats Compete
    Steve Wood
    3

  • Tom and Sofia Start School
    Henriette Barkow
    2

Ages 8-10

  • The Adventures of Odysseus
    Hugh Lupton
    Daniel Morden
    5

  • Viking Longship
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    4

  • Jake Jellicoe and the Dread Pirate Redbeard
    Joanna Nadin
    4

  • The Dragon Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Cats
    Gareth Jones
    4

  • Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now
    Lauren Child
    4

  • Beware! Killer Tomatoes
    Jeremy Strong
    4

  • Sir Gadabout Goes to Knight School
    Martyn Beardsley
    3

  • The Silver Donkey
    Sonya Hartnett
    3

  • I Am a Tree
    Kaye Umansky
    3

  • Topaz on Ice ¦ Topaz Takes a Break ¦ Topaz Takes the Stage
    Helen Bailey
    2

  • 101 Things You Need To Know (… and Some You Don't!)
    Richard Horne
    Tracey Turner
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Weedflower
    Cynthia Kadohata
    5

  • The Thing with Finn
    Tom Kelly
    5

  • I Am the Great Horse
    Katherine Roberts
    5

  • Urgum the Axeman
    Kjartan Poskitt
    4

  • Kiss of Death
    Malcolm Rose
    4

  • The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
    Victor Hugo
    4

  • Catcall
    Linda Newbery
    4

  • Bec
    Darren Shan
    4

  • Amethyst
    Rebecca Lisle
    4

  • The Witches' Mark
    Donald Lightwood
    3

  • River Secrets
    Shannon Hale
    3

  • The Lurkers
    Charles Butler
    3

  • In the Nick of Time
    Robert Swindells
    3

  • I Don't Want an Avocado for an Uncle
    Chrissie Gittins
    3

  • I Am a Cloud, I Can Blow Anywhere
    Jonathan Tulloch
    Shirley Tulloch
    3

  • After the Death of Alice Bennett
    Rowland Molony
    3

Ages 14+

  • This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn
    Aidan Chambers
    5

  • Finding Violet Park
    Jenny Valentine
    5

  • Dirty Work
    Julia Bell
    5

  • The Book Thief
    Markus Zusak
    5

  • Zenith
    Julie Bertagna
    4

  • Waves
    Sharon Dogar
    4

  • Life as We Knew It
    Susan Pfeffer
    4

  • Growing Yams in London
    Sophia Acheampong
    3

  • Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn
    Sarah Miller
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • The Invention of Childhood
    Hugh Cunningham
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • Universal Verse: Poetry for Children
    4

BfK News

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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Zaro Weil wins 2020 CLiPPA (CLPE Children’s Poetry Award)

Poet Zaro Weil was today announced the winner of the annual poetry award, CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) for her collection of nature poems, Cherry Moon, published by ZaZaKids Books/ Troika Books and illustrated by Junli Song.

CLiPPA winner

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CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY SHADOWERS’ CHOICE AWARDS TO DEAN ATTA AND KADIR NELSON

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowers’ Choice Awards, voted for by children and young people, have been announced.

The Black Flamingo

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LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 UKLA BOOK AWARDS

UKLA award

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EVA ELAND NAMED WINNER OF THE FIFTH KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Eva Eland has won the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book When Sadness Comes to Call (Andersen Press), in which a young child opens the door to an unexpected visitor, Sadness, personified as a semi-transparent amorphous shape.

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THE JHALAK PRIZE: A NEW PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS WRITTEN BY WRITERS OF COLOUR

Jhalak Prize logo

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LIZ HYDER AND EDITOR SARAH ODEDINA WIN 2020 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

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UK NOMINATIONS IBBY’S OUTSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 2021

Every two years, IBBY invites nominations from national sections for its international list of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. The final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s book world. It is a huge voluntary undertaking as every country is encouraged to submit up to twelve titles across the three categories.

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