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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

LONGLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Members of YLG have selected 20 books for each list from no less than 254 nominations.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS 2019

Funny Women win the Lollies!

Lollies winners 2019

Elys Dolan, Emer Stamp and Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon have been named the winners of the 2019 Laugh Out Loud Awards, or Lollies.

read more...
HILARY MCKAY WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH ‘PERFECT’ NOVEL

Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for the second time for The Skylarks’ War, a story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the backdrop of World War One. The judges described The Skylarks’ War as ‘as perfect a novel as you could ever want to read’. She receives £5,000 and her book is now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2018 Costa Book of the Year.

read more...
FAR FROM HOME WINS THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s sole award for creative educational writing, is Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty by Cath Senker, a topical and richly illustrated book which sensitively examines the root causes of mass migrations of people in the 21st century.

Cath Senker wins EWA 2018

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

read more...
COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2018: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

Costa have announced the shortlist for the 2018 Costa Children’s Book Award. In a record year for submissions, four novels have made it onto a strong shortlist.

read more...
PATRICE LAWRENCE AND DARREN CHETTY TO JUDGE 2019 LITTLE REBELS AWARD

Little Rebels prize logoAward-winning YA author Patrice Lawrence and Books for Keeps contributor Darren Chetty have been named as judges of the 2019 Little Rebels Award. The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s books for readers age 0-12 which promote social equality and social justice.

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SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS

The shortlists have been announced for the 2019 Blue Peter Book Awards. They are:

Best book with facts

The Element in the Room by Mike Barfield and illustrated by Lauren Humphry, Laurence King Publishing

The Colours of History by Clive Gifford and Marc-Etienne Peintre, QED Publishing

Professor Astro Cat's Human Body Odyssey by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman, Flying Eye Books

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NOMINATIONS PUBLISHED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE & KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS 2019

Nominations have been published for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, the country's oldest children’s book awards.

read more...
‘SHARE A STORY’ AT THE HEART OF WORLD BOOK DAY 2019

Lauren Child WBD coverSnap by Patrice Lawrence

read more...
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