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Books for Keeps 174 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 174 - January 2009

Cover Story

This issue’s cover illustration by Helen Oxenbury is from Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox (Walker, 978 1 4063 1592 9, £10.99 hbk). Helen Oxenbury writes about her illustration here. Thanks to Walker Books for their help with this January cover.

BfK No. 174 Articles

Editorial - January 2009

News and comment from the Editor.
Print on Demand

Brian Alderson on new technology and children's books.
Laureate Log - January 2009

Michael Rosen reports on his Laureate projects.
Windows into Illustration: Helen Oxenbury

Helen Oxenbury explains her approach to illustration.
Picture Books for Everyone

Janice Morris discusses picture books for older readers.
Authorgraph No.174: Mal Peet

Mal Peet interviewed by Geoff Fox.
Hal’s Reading Diary - January 2009

Roger Mills enjoys stories full of suspense with Hal.
Letter to the Editor - January 2009

Yukino Semizu writes about Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior.
Forum: helping the teachers of reading

Mary Sutcliffe shares good practice with trainee teachers.
I Wish I’d Written… Treasure Island

Tim Bowler chooses Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
Good Reads: Hull Collegiate Prep School

Reviews from pupils of Hull Collegiate Prep School.
Classics in Short No.73: The Little White Horse

Brian Alderson on Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse.

Editor's Choice

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Pop-Up Book
(Sterling)
5

Marine biologist Professor Pierre Aronnax of France is invited by the US navy to investigate some ‘unexplained incidents’ in their waters. This leads to his capture by the crew of the Nautilus, an undersea ship, and a meeting with the...

read more

New Talent

The Haunted House
Kazuno Kohara
(Macmillan Children's Books)
5

A little girl and her cat are about to move into a ‘splendid’ old house but when the little girl opens the front door she is confronted by an enormous ghost trying to prevent her from entering. Fortunately, the little girl is a witch so ghosts...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 174

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

Under 5s

  • The Aliens are Coming
    Colin McNaughton
    5

  • The Haunted House
    Kazuno Kohara
    5

  • The Baby in the Hat: an early romance
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Melrose and Croc: A Hero's Birthday
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • I Really Want to Eat a Child
    Sylviane Donnio
    4

  • If I Were You
    Richard Hamilton
    4

  • Pirate Gran
    Geraldine Durrant
    4

  • I Want Two Birthdays!
    Tony Ross
    4

  • Mine's Bigger than Yours!
    Jeanne Willis
    3

  • Big Brave Brian
    M P Robertson
    3

  • Baby Blue Egg
    Mij Kelly
    3

  • Miffy Goes to the Zoo
    Dick Bruna
    3

Ages 5-8

  • The Great Paper Caper
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Zoo-ology
    Joëlle Jolivet
    5

  • Manfred the Baddie
    John Fardell
    5

  • Kaspar, Prince of Cats
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • Stories from the Billabong
    4

  • Molly and her Dad
    Jan Ormerod
    4

  • Pugwash in the Pacific; Pugwash and the Buried Treasure
    John Ryan
    4

  • Johnny's Bad Day
    Edward Ardizzone
    4

  • Oscar and the Bird: A Book about Electricity; Oscar and the Snail: A Book about Things We Use
    Geoff Waring
    3

  • Kenny & the Dragon
    Tony DiTerlizzi
    3

  • Peter the Penguin Pioneer
    Daren King
    3

  • Tim and Tig
    Victor Kelleher
    3

  • Understanding Sam and Asperger Syndrome
    Clarabelle Von Niekerk
    Liezl Venter
    3

  • Little Blue
    Gaye Chapman
    3

  • Comings and Goings at Parrot Park
    Mary Murphy
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Teach Your Granny to Text - and Other Ways to Change the World
    Tanis Taylor
    5

  • Charles Darwin
    Alan Gibbons
    5

  • Tail-End Charlie
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    5

  • The Wind in the Willows
    Kenneth Grahame
    5

  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Pop-Up Book
    5

  • Our Living Earth
    Yann Arthus-Bertrand
    4

  • Using Energy; Why Should I Switch Off the Light?
    Sally Hewitt
    4

  • Cookie
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • How to Ride a Dragon's Storm
    Cressida Cowell
    4

  • Christmas with the Savages
    Mary Clive
    4

  • The Birthday Book: An Illustrated Treasury of Stories and Poems
    3

  • The Baker Street Mysteries: The Dragon Tattoo
    Tim Piggott-Smith
    3

  • Leaving Home
    Jan Michael
    3

  • Night Flight
    Michaela Morgan
    3

  • The Goose Guards
    Terry Deary
    2

  • Moi and Marie Antoinette
    Lynn Cullen
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Runemarks
    Joanne Harris
    5

  • Mothstorm
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • Heroes of the Valley
    Jonathan Stroud
    5

  • Sylvie and the Songman
    Tim Binding
    5

  • Waterslain Angels
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5

  • Great Explorers
    Jim Pipe
    4

  • Inkdeath
    Cornelia Funke
    4

  • Necropolis
    Anthony Horowitz
    4

  • Running on the Cracks
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phyllis Wheatley
    Ann Rinaldi
    4

  • The Graveyard Book
    Neil Gaiman
    4

  • Inchworm
    Ann Kelley
    4

  • Then
    Morris Gleitzman
    4

  • Super Structures: Inside the World's Most Spectacular Buildings
    Samone Bos
    3

  • The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The Museum's Secret
    Henry Chancellor
    3

  • Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London
    Keith Mansfield
    3

  • Voyage across the Cosmos; Cosmic!
    Giles Sparrow
    2

Ages 14+

  • What On Earth Happened?
    Christopher Lloyd
    5

  • Double Cross
    Malorie Blackman
    4

  • Fish in the Sky
    Fridrik Erlings
    3

  • Fair Game: the Steps of Odessa
    James Watson
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Kiss Chase and Conkers: The Games We Played
    Caroline Sanderson
    5

  • Mary Carries On: Reflections on Some Favourite Girls' Stories
    Mary Cadogan
    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)

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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