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Books for Keeps 165 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 165 - July 2007

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by David Roberts is from Julia Donaldson’s Tyrannosaurus Drip (see also Windows into Illustration). Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help with this July cover.

BfK No. 165 Articles

Editorial - July 2007

News and comment from the Editor.
Windows into Illustration: David Roberts

David Roberts explains his approach to Tyrannosaurus Drip.
Reading in the Middle Years (9-11): 'I enjoy biting into a good read now and then...'

Alison Kelly on ways to maintain interest in reading.
The Depiction of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Contemporary Children’s Fiction: Part 2

Fouad Moughrabi discusses Three Wishes and A Little Piece of Ground.
New Picture Books

Clive Barnes looks at a selection of recent titles.
Authorgraph No.165: Lian Hearn

Lian Hearn interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
‘Teaching’ Poems for Children:

Robert Hull explores how to use The Odyssey.
BfK Briefing - July 2007

Letter to the Editor * Obituaries
Useful Organisations No.50: Teaching about slavery

An on-line resource created by the Commission for Racial Equality.
Hal’s Reading Diary - July 2007

Roger Mills on Hal and spelling.
I Wish I’d Written… Wolves

Jeanne Willis chooses Emily Gravett's Wolves.
Good Reads: St Stithians Girls’ Preparatory School, South Africa

Reviews from St Stithians Girls’ Preparatory School, Randburg, South Africa.
Classics in Short No.64: Aesop’s Fables

Brian Alderson on Aesop's Fables.
The History of Aesop’s Fables

Editor's Choice

The Tinderbox
Hans Christian Andersen
(Walker Books Ltd)
5

Why this Andersen tale has to be ‘retold’ when a good translation would suffice is a mystery. Mitchell makes a reasonable fist of the narrative but his soldier does not have the casual chutzpah of other (more authentic?) versions. ‘It’s awfully...

read more

New Talent

Hybrids
David Thorpe
(HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
3

Abandoned by his parents when he catches the Creep virus, 15-year-old Johnny has been living rough for two year when the beautiful Kestrella, who is also Creep positive, tracks him down. She needs his skills to help her find her mother who has...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 165

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

Under 5s

  • Eliza and the Moonchild
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • 99 Mostly Fun Things I'll Do Today
    Jane Kemp
    Clare Walters
    5

  • Princess for a Day
    Sarah Dyer
    4

  • Chimp and Zee's First Words and Pictures
    Laurence Anholt
    4

  • You Won't Shift a Hippo
    Michael Catchpool
    3

  • The Magic Blanket; The Magic Box
    3

Ages 5-8

  • The Tinderbox
    Hans Christian Andersen
    5

  • My Brother
    Anthony Browne
    5

  • This is the Reef
    Miriam Moss
    4

  • P is for Pakistan
    Shazia Razzak
    4

  • Troll Trouble: Trolls United!; Troll Trouble: Trolls Go Home!
    Alan MacDonald
    3

  • Felicity Wishes: Fairy Fun and other stories; Felicity Wishes: Holly's Hideaway and other stories
    Emma Thomson
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Human Body
    Emily Hawkins
    Sue Harris
    5

  • Grk: Operation Tortoise
    Joshua Doder
    5

  • Something Wickedly Weird: The Wooden Mile
    Chris Mould
    4

  • Mega-Beasts
    Robert Sabuda
    Matthew Reinhart
    4

  • An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming
    Al Gore
    4

  • Dragonkeeper: Garden of the Purple Dragon
    Carole Wilkinson
    4

  • The Wickit Chronicles: Ely Plot
    Joan Lennon
    3

  • The Trouble with Owls; Watch out for Witches!
    Hilda Offen
    3

  • Peter and the Starcatchers
    Dave Barry
    Ridley Pearson
    3

  • Alice Again?
    Judi Curtin
    3

  • Stage School: Sara's Big Chance
    Holly Skeet
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Museum Book
    Jan Mark
    5

  • The London Eye Mystery
    Siobhan Dowd
    5

  • Burn My Heart
    Beverley Naidoo
    5

  • The Boyhood of Burglar Bill
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Blood Red Snow White
    Marcus Sedgwick
    5

  • Toonhead
    Fiona Dunbar
    4

  • Monster Blood Tattoo: Book 1: Foundling
    D M Cornish
    4

  • Escape from Genopolis
    T E Berry-Hart
    4

  • CHERUB:The Fall
    Robert Muchamore
    4

  • The Book of Story Beginnings
    Kristin Kladstrup
    4

  • Angel
    Cliff McNish
    4

  • Worse Than Boys
    Catherine MacPhail
    3

  • Traces: Double Check
    Malcolm Rose
    3

  • Setting of a Cruel Sun
    Alan Gibbons
    3

  • Chemotherapy, Cakes and Cancer; Oh Brother!
    Megan Blunt
    3

  • New Moon
    Stephenie Meyer
    3

  • Mixing It
    Rosemary Hayes
    3

  • Me, Dead Dad and Alcatraz
    Chris Lynch
    3

  • Jimmy Coates: Revenge
    Joe Craig
    3

  • Hybrids
    David Thorpe
    3

  • Den of Thieves
    Julia Golding
    3

  • My So-Called Life
    Joanna Nadin
    2

  • Hunting Season
    Dean Vincent Carter
    2

  • The Wave Runners
    Kai Meyer
    1

Ages 14+

  • Berserk
    Ally Kennen
    5

  • The Rope Ladder
    Nigel Richardson
    4

  • The Lost Art
    Simon Morden
    4

  • From Where I Stand
    Tabitha Suzuma
    4

  • Claiming Georgia Tate
    Gigi Amateau
    4

  • Sea Change
    Kate Cann
    3

  • Incarceron
    Catherine Fisher
    3

  • Desert Crossing
    Elise Broach
    3

  • Tell Me Lies
    Patrick Cooper
    2

  • Ancient Appetites
    Oisín McGann
    2

  • Race Hate; Religious Extremism
    Anne Rooney
    1

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)

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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.

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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. 

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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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