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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

HIP HOP ARTIST AND DEBUT POET KARL NOVA WINS CLIPPA 2018

Karl Nova at the CLiPPAPoet Karl Nova has been announced as the winner of CLiPPA 2018 (CLPE Poetry Award) for his debut collection, Rhythm and Poetry, published by Caboodle Books.

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McCaughrean and Smith winners 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest children’s book awards, are announced today, Monday 18thJune.

read more...
LOLLIES 2018 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Lollies logoMichael Rosen has announced the shortlist for the 2018 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies). This is the third year of The Lollies, created by Scholastic UK, to celebrate the funniest children’s books.

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ZANIB MIAN WINS 2018 LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) has announced that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Zanib Mian for her book, The Muslims, (Sweet Apple Books).

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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2018 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

The shortlist for the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize has been revealed. Set up to honour publisher Klaus Flugge, founder of Andersen Press and a key figure in children’s picture books, this important new award, now in its third year, is for the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration.

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THE 2018 LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

THE 2018 LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST

Conflicts, Class and Youth Protest

Islamophobia, young people’s activism, the Syrian conflict, challenges to gendered occupations, the English class system and workers’ pay and conditions are just some of the subjects highlighted by the 8-strong shortlist for this year’s Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction.

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DEBUT AUTHORS AND THEIR EDITORS ON 2018 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD SHORTLIST

The shortlist for the 2018 Branford Boase Award has been announced. The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

BBA shortlist 2018

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CLiPPA 2018 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2018 shortlist for the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award). Established in 2003, the CLiPPA encourages and celebrates outstanding poetry published for children and has done a huge amount to encourage the publishing of children’s poetry.

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THE HATE U GIVE WINS WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE 2018

Angie ThomasWCBP logo

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SHORTLISTS FOR 2018 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

CILIP CKG logo

The shortlists for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest book awards for children and young people, are announced today, Thursday 15th March.

read more...
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