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Books for Keeps 175 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 175 - March 2009

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by John Kelly is from Terry Deary’s new series Master Crook’s Crime Academy: Burglary for Beginners. Terry Deary is interviewed by Elizabeth Hammill. Thanks to Scholastic Children’s Books for their help with this March cover.

BfK No. 175 Articles

Editorial – March 2009

News and comment from the Editor.

Guantanamo: the agony and the courage of Prisoner No.256

James Watson pays tribute to a remarkable new novel.

Ten of the Best Stories set in Tudor times

Janet Fisher selects novels with a Tudor background.

Taking Tom from Page to Stage

David Wood discusses his adaptation of Tom's Midnight Garden.

A Question of Words

Sue Unstead investigates the thinking behind children's dictionaries.

Authorgraph No.175: Terry Deary

Terry Deary interviewed by Elizabeth Hammill.

I Wish I’d Written… Stop the Train

Elizabeth Laird chooses Geraldine McCaughrean's Stop the Train.

Good Reads: St Mary’s and St Peter’s Church of England Primary School

Reviews from pupils of St Mary's and St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Teddington.

Hal’s Reading Diary – March 2009

Roger Mills on Hal's reading progress.

Laureate Log – March 2009

Michael Rosen is concerned about threats to libraries.

BfK Briefing – March 2009

Awards * News * Events

Useful Organisations No.51: The Story Museum

The 'virtual' museum celebrating children's literature.

Classics in Short No.74: Johnny the Clockmaker

Brian Alderson on Edward Ardizzone's Johnny the Clockmaker.

Editor's Choice

Dogs

Emily Gravett
(Two Hoots)
5

Narrated in the first person, this witty celebration of dogs takes the form of a book of opposites featuring many different canine breeds. Thus the double page spread for ‘I love big dogs and small dogs’ is completely filled by a Great Dane that...

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New Talent

Knife

R J Anderson
(Orchard Books)
3

Eoin Colfer reinvigorated the world of faery with Artemis Fowl, the fairy with attitude and R J Anderson’s Knife is a heroine in the same irreverent and rebellious mould.

Chosen by the queen to be a hunter...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 175

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

Under 5s

  • My First Nursery Stories

    5
  • Dogs

    Emily Gravett
    5
  • Don't Read This Book!

    Jill Lewis
    5
  • The Tale of Two Mice

    Ruth Brown
    5
  • There are cats in this book

    Viviane Schwarz
    5
  • Rattle and Rap

    Susan Steggall
    4
  • Mr Pusskins, Best in Show

    Sam Lloyd
    4
  • Alphabet

    Matthew Van Fleet
    4
  • Little Goose Goes Out of Step

    Jean-Francois Dumont
    4
  • I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

    Kevin Sherry
    3
  • The Story Blanket

    Ferida Wolff
    Harriet May Savitz
    3
  • Hen's Cake

    Malachy Doyle
    3
  • The Perfect Prince

    Paul Harrison
    3
  • Super Duck

    Jez Alborough
    3
  • Ballet Kitty: Ballet Class

    Bernette Ford
    3

Ages 5-8

  • My First Book of Garden Wildlife

    Mike Unwin
    5
  • The Tales of Beedle the Bard

    J K Rowling
    5
  • Singing to the Sun

    Vivian French
    5
  • 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World

    Melanie Walsh
    4
  • The Selfish Crocodile Book of Nursery Rhymes

    Faustin Charles
    4
  • Merlin's Magical Creatures

    Graham Howells
    4
  • That Pesky Rat

    Lauren Child
    4
  • The Church Mouse

    Graham Oakley
    4
  • My Friend Jamal

    Anna McQuinn
    4
  • The Bumper Book of Betsey Biggalow

    Malorie Blackman
    3
  • Dirty Bertie: Crackers!

    David Roberts
    3
  • In the Dark of the Night

    Paul Stewart
    3
  • Pink!

    Lynne Rickards
    3
  • Something Wickedly Weird: The Smugglers' Mine

    Chris Mould
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Ships: A pop-up book

    Robert Crowther
    5
  • Bambert's Book of Missing Stories

    Reinhardt Jung
    5
  • ABC 3D

    Marion Bataille
    5
  • A Song for Cambodia

    Michelle Lord
    4
  • Hate That Cat

    Sharon Creech
    4
  • Ghostscape

    Joe Layburn
    4
  • Faster, Further, Higher, Deeper

    Richard Brassey
    3
  • Pompeii

    Richard Platt
    3
  • Benjamin Zephaniah; Malorie Blackman

    Verna Wilkins
    3
  • I Belong to the Muslim Faith

    Katie Dicker
    Zohal Azizi
    3
  • The Magic Thief

    Sarah Prineas
    3
  • The Boy in the Dress

    David Walliams
    3
  • Beryl Goes Wild

    Jane Simmons
    3
  • Swap

    Malachy Doyle
    3
  • Tim the Tiny Horse at Large

    Harry Hill
    3
  • We Are All Born Free

    3
  • Toxic! Killer Cures and Other Poisonings

    Susie Hodge
    2
  • My Village

    Hansi
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Trap

    John Smelcer
    5
  • Power: Ethical debates about resources and the environment; Food: Ethical debates about what we eat

    Kate Ravilious
    4
  • One Boy's War

    Lynn Huggins-Cooper
    4
  • Vikings

    Philip Wilkinson
    4
  • The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins
    4
  • Malice

    Chris Wooding
    4
  • Life, Interrupted

    Damian Kelleher
    4
  • Solace of the Road

    Siobhan Dowd
    4
  • The Sandfather

    Linda Newbery
    4
  • Knife

    R J Anderson
    3
  • Solitaire

    Bernard Ashley
    3
  • CHERUB: The General

    Robert Muchamore
    3
  • Spokes: Stories from the Romani World

    Janna Eliot
    3
  • Amazons! Women Warriors of the World

    Sally Pomme Clayton
    3
  • Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye

    Alison Goodman
    2
  • The Parliament of Blood

    Justin Richards
    2

Ages 14+

  • The Carbon Diaries 2015

    Saci Lloyd
    5
  • The Long Weekend

    Savita Kalhan
    5
  • Exposure

    Mal Peet
    4
  • Bedlam

    Ally Kennen
    4
  • The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. Vol II: The Kingdom on the Waves

    M T Anderson
    3
  • Gone

    Michael Grant
    3
  • The Traitor Game

    B R Collins
    3
  • Nick's Blues

    John Harvey
    3
  • When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism

    Serge Schmemann
    2
  • The Kiss of Death

    Marcus Sedgwick
    2

BfK News

NATASHA FARRANT WINS 2020 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Natasha Farrant

Writer and literary scout Natasha Farrant has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award for Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, a book which the judges described as ‘pure heavenly escapism and a purely joyful read.’

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ROBIN WALKER WINS THE 2020 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD FOR BLACK HISTORY MATTERS

The winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter. Written by acclaimed Black historian, Robin Walker, the 2020 judges praised this accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book which provides a timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement.

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IBBY UK nominate Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2022

IBBY UK has announced that Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee will be the UK nominations for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

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SHORTLIST FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award.

The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (Little Tiger)

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BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

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Happy National Non-Fiction November 2020

It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November.

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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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