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Books for Keeps 166 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 166 - September 2007

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Kev Walker is from William Nicholson’s Noman. William Nicholson is interviewed by Clive Barnes. Thanks to Egmont for their help with this September cover.

BfK No. 166 Articles

Editorial – September 2007

News and comment from the Editor.
The Depiction of the Slave Trade in Children’s Books

Brycchan Carey discusses recent titles.
Reading in the Middle Years (9-11): What do digikids read? Seeing the books for the texts

Prue Goodwin on the role of visual texts.
The CLPE Poetry Award 2007

Fiona Waters reveals the judges' thinking.
The New Children’s Laureate: Michael Rosen

Morag Styles in conversation with Michael Rosen.
Authorgraph No.166: William Nicholson

William Nicholson interviewed by Clive Barnes.
Letter to the Editor - September 2007

Lynne Reid Banks on her books about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Hal’s Reading Diary - September 2007

Roger Mills introduces Hal to a favourite book.
Good Reads: York Steiner School

Reviews from York Steiner School.
Classics in Short No.65: Kidnapped and Catriona

Brian Alderson on Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped and Catriona.

Editor's Choice

King Pom and the Fox
Jessica Souhami
(Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
5

A storyteller, a shadow puppeteer, and an expert in folk tales from around the world with many picture book versions of the same to her credit, Jessica Souhami’s latest title offers a Chinese variant of the tale we know as Puss-in-Boots. In this...

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New Talent

Oswald and the End of the World
Andrew Strong
(Scholastic)
3

Having a dad who is a ‘bearded, batty fraud, a liar, a cheat and full of nonsense’ lands the long suffering Oswald in all kinds of difficult situations. After being chased off the island of Greater Fury, the pair are to be found treading water...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 166

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

Under 5s

  • King Pom and the Fox
    Jessica Souhami
    5

  • Here's a Little Poem
    5

  • Giants
    Mij Kelly
    5

  • Play With Me! A Dottie Duck Book
    Satoshi Kitamura
    4

  • Melrose and Croc Go to Town
    Emma Chichester Clark
    4

  • Look Out, He's Behind You
    Tony Bradman
    4

  • Growl, Growl, On The Prowl!; Squeak,Squeak, Take A Peek!
    Michael Terry
    3

  • Snappy Green
    Jo Lodge
    3

  • Doctor Miaow's Big Emergency
    Sam Lloyd
    3

  • Captain Wag the Pirate Dog
    Michael Terry
    3

  • The Boy on the Bus
    Penny Dale
    3

  • To market! To market!
    Anushka Ravishankar
    2

Ages 5-8

  • White Owl, Barn Owl
    Nicola Davies
    4

  • Terry Deary's Greek Tales: The Boy Who Cried Horse; Terry Deary's Greek Tales: The Tortoise and the Dare
    Terry Deary
    4

  • Ghaddar the Ghoul and other Palestinian Stories
    Sonia Nimr
    4

  • A Place in the Middle
    Angela McAllister
    4

  • Squeak Street: Old Bun and the Burglar; Squeak Street: One-Shoe's Wishes
    Emily Rodda
    3

  • Princess Pigsty
    Cornelia Funke
    3

  • The Opposite
    Tom MacRae
    3

  • Dino Doggy; Mouldylocks and the Three Clares
    Tony De Saulles
    3

  • The Elves and the Shoemaker; Lion Fables
    3

  • The Elephant's Child
    Rudyard Kipling
    3

  • Damian Drooth Supersleuth
    Barbara Mitchelhill
    3

  • Creaky Castle: Tom's Dragon Trouble
    Tony Bradman
    3

  • Count Your Way through Afghanistan; Count Your Way through Iran
    Jim Haskins
    Kathleen Benson
    3

  • The Boy in the Biscuit Tin
    Heather Dyer
    3

  • Princess Poppy: Friends Together; Princess Poppy: The Baby Twins
    Janey Louise Jones
    2

Ages 8-10

  • The Hat
    Carol Ann Duffy
    5

  • Ask Dr K Fisher about Animals
    Claire Llewellyn
    5

  • The Last of the High Kings
    Kate Thompson
    4

  • The Cats in Krasinski Square
    Karen Hesse
    4

  • Buzz
    Caroline Bingham
    Ben Morgan
    Matthew Robertson
    4

  • Spy Dog Unleashed
    Andrew Cope
    3

  • Oswald and the End of the World
    Andrew Strong
    3

  • The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
    Eoin Colfer
    3

  • Inside You
    Richard Walker
    3

  • Forever Family
    Gill Lobel
    3

  • Agent Amelia: Ghost Diamond!
    Michael Broad
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Tamburlaine's Elephants
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • The Road of Bones
    Anne Fine
    5

  • Global Debt: The impact on our lives
    Teresa Garlake
    5

  • The Underground Reporters
    Kathy Kacer
    4

  • Snowbone
    Cat Weatherill
    4

  • Slavery: From Africa to the Americas
    Christine Hatt
    4

  • Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You
    Hanna Jansen
    4

  • Hunky Dory
    Jean Ure
    4

  • The Earth and its Moon
    Chris Oxlade
    4

  • City of Bones
    Cassandra Clare
    4

  • Ten Things I Hate About Me
    Randa Abdel-Fattah
    3

  • Skulduggery Pleasant
    Derek Landy
    3

  • Shamanka
    Jeanne Willis
    3

  • Pride and Penalties
    Chris Higgins
    3

  • Orphan of the Sun
    Gill Harvey
    3

  • New World
    Chris Priestley
    3

  • The Medici Curse
    Matt Chamings
    3

  • The Lion Encyclopedia of Christianity
    David Self
    3

  • Girl, 15 - Flirting for England
    Sue Limb
    3

  • The Falconer's Knot
    Mary Hoffman
    3

  • Crusade
    Elizabeth Laird
    3

  • Abela
    Berlie Doherty
    3

Ages 14+

  • What I Was
    Meg Rosoff
    5

  • Voices
    Ursula Le Guin
    5

  • Good Girls
    Laura Ruby
    5

  • Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy
    5

  • Apache
    Tanya Landman
    5

  • Careless
    Anne Cassidy
    4

  • Two Friends, One Summer
    Kate Le Vann
    3

  • The Strawberry Picker
    Monika Feth
    3

  • The Angel Collector
    Bali Rai
    3

  • Immigration
    Cath Senker
    2

  • High Jinx
    Sara Lawrence
    1

Books About Children's Books

  • Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion; Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre
    Jack Zipes
    5

  • Children's Literature: Some Marxist Perspectives
    3

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. 

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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