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Books for Keeps 177 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 177 - July 2009

Cover Story

This issue’s cover illustration features Kevin Brooks (photograph by Charles Shearn) and his latest book, Killing God. Kevin Brooks is interviewed by Brian Alderson. Thanks to Penguin Books for their help with this July cover.

BfK No. 177 Articles

Editorial – July 2009

News and comment from the Editor.
Last Laureate Log - July 2009

Michael Rosen reflects on his Laureateship.
Windows into Illustration: Emily Gravett

Emily Gravett explains the thinking behind her picture book, Dogs.
Ten of the Best Board Books for Babies

Rosemary Stones chooses ten outstanding titles.
Prehistory and the ‘Chronicles of Ancient Darkness’

Hannah Sackett on the impact of novels set in prehistoric times.
Authorgraph No.177: Kevin Brooks

Kevin Brooks interviewed by Brian Alderson

Forum: Helping the Teachers of Reading

Alison Kelly describes work with students at Roehampton University.
BfK Briefing – July 2009

Awards * Events * News.
Hal’s Reading Diary – July 2009

Roger Mills ponders on how to encourage tenacity in Hal.
I Wish I’d Written… Island of the Blue Dolphins

Caroline Lawrence chooses Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins.
Good Reads: Woldingham School

Reviews from pupils of Woldingham School, Surrey.
Classics in Short No.76: Mind Your Own Business

Brian Alderson on Michael Rosen’s Mind Your Own Business.

Editor's Choice

John Burningham
John Burningham
(Jonathan Cape)
5

Children’s book illustration’s equivalent of the Three Tenors has long been the trio of Blake, Briggs and Burningham, three illustrators whose creative genius has been central in transforming picture books for children into works of art that...

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New Talent

Devil's Kiss
Sarwat Chadra
(Puffin)
4

Not being a fan of The Da Vinci Code I doubted whether I would enjoy a novel whose heroine, Billi SangGreal, is the first female member of the Knights Templar. Within a few pages, however, Chadda had swept me into the hidden and...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 177

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

Under 5s

  • Baby Pie
    Tom MacRae
    5

  • First the Egg
    Laura Vaccaro Seeger
    5

  • I Don't Want a Cool Cat
    Emma Dodd
    4

  • Love Your World
    Dawn Sirett
    3

  • What Shall I Make?
    Nandini Nayar
    3

  • Where's the Bus?
    Eileen Browne
    James Croft
    3

  • SNAP!
    Margaret Mayo
    3

  • One More Hug for Nutmeg
    Caroline Jayne Church
    3

  • On Our Way Home
    Sebastien Braun
    2

  • Maisy Bakes a Cake
    Lucy Cousins
    2

Ages 5-8

  • A Little Guide to Trees
    Kate Petty
    Jo Elworthy
    5

  • Tales from around the World: A Classic Collection
    5

  • Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog
    Jeanne Willis
    4

  • Are You Sad, Little Bear?
    Rachel Rivett
    4

  • Being Angry
    Julie Johnson
    3

  • Pirates Ahoy!
    Sophie Smiley
    3

  • The Littlest Pirate
    Sherryl Clark
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Clementine
    Sara Pennypacker
    5

  • George's Secret Key to the Universe; George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt
    Lucy Hawking
    Stephen Hawking
    Christophe Galfard
    4

  • The Underneath
    Kathi Appelt
    4

  • Tales from the Keep: Wag and the King
    Joan Lennon
    4

  • Moon
    Stewart Ross
    3

  • Mohammed's Journey: A Refugee Diary
    Anthony Robinson
    Annemarie Young
    3

  • Seven Sorcerers
    Caro King
    3

  • 6 Feet Deep
    Rose Impey
    3

  • The Raven Mysteries, Book 1: Flood and Fang
    Marcus Sedgwick
    3

  • Bodyswap: the Boy who was 84
    L P Howarth
    3

  • A Bit of a Hero
    Gervase Phinn
    3

  • Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
    3

  • The Easter Angels
    Bob Hartman
    3

  • Agent Amelia: Spooky Ballet!
    Michael Broad
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Greenpeace
    Sean Connolly
    5

  • Fever Crumb
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • Love Aubrey
    Suzanne LaFleur
    5

  • Evolution Revolution
    Robert Winston
    4

  • Are We Running Out of Energy?
    Christiane Dorion
    4

  • Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones
    Derek Landy
    4

  • The Joshua Files: Ice Shock
    M G Harris
    4

  • The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
    Helen Grant
    4

  • Bloodline Rising
    Katy Moran
    4

  • Devil's Kiss
    Sarwat Chadra
    4

  • The Book of a Thousand Days
    Shannon Hale
    4

  • Tim, Defender of the Earth
    Sam Enthoven
    4

  • Gullstruck Island
    Frances Hardinge
    3

  • Tuck
    Stephen R Lawhead
    3

  • The Pickle King
    Rebecca Promitzer
    3

  • If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
    Pseudonymous Bosch
    3

  • Sharp Shot
    Jack Higgins
    Justin Richards
    3

  • A Lazlo Strangolov's Feather and Bone
    Lazlo Strangolov
    3

  • The Runaway
    Angela McAllister
    3

  • The Well Between the Worlds
    Sam Llewellyn
    2

  • The Secret Ministry of Frost
    Nick Lake
    2

  • Spartan Warrior: Legacy of Blood
    Michael Ford
    2

Ages 14+

  • Everything Beautiful
    Simmone Howell
    5

  • Bonechiller
    Graham McNamee
    4

  • The Forest of Hands and Teeth
    Carrie Ryan
    4

  • Dido
    Adèle Geras
    4

  • If I Stay
    Gayle Forman
    4

  • Iraq
    Geoff Barker
    3

  • The Ask and the Answer
    Patrick Ness
    3

  • Bye Bye Birdie
    Shirley Hughes
    3

  • Nicholas Dane
    Melvin Burgess
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • John Burningham
    John Burningham
    5

  • The Hidden Roads: A Memoir of Childhood
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    3

  • Death, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Adolescent Literature
    Kathryn James
    3

BfK News

BRANFORD BOASE AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

The children’s authors to watch: shortlist for the 2019 Branford Boase Award announced

Branford Boase Award shortlist 2019

read more...
THE YEAR'S BEST POETRY FOR CHILDREN: CLiPPA 2019 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2019 shortlist for their poetry award, CLiPPA (The Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award). Children’s poetry is booming and there were a record number of entries for the CLiPPA, the only award for children’s poetry.

read more...
THE LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

Little Rebels prize logoThe shortlist for the 2019 Little Rebels Award has been announced. Seven books have made the list with war and conflict recurring themes.

read more...
SHORTLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Selected by volunteer Youth Librarians from longlists of 20 books per medal, there are eight on each shortlist.

Alongside previously shortlisted authors and illustrators, there are newcomers on each shortlist, and as the poetry boom for young readers continues, three verse novels make the Carnegie shortlist by US authors Elizabeth Acevedo, Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.

The 2019 shortlists are as follows:

read more...
BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf and The Colours of History by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Marc-Etienne Peintre, have been revealed as the 2019 Blue Peter Book Award winners.

read more...
LONGLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Members of YLG have selected 20 books for each list from no less than 254 nominations.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS 2019

Funny Women win the Lollies!

Lollies winners 2019

Elys Dolan, Emer Stamp and Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon have been named the winners of the 2019 Laugh Out Loud Awards, or Lollies.

read more...
HILARY MCKAY WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH ‘PERFECT’ NOVEL

Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for the second time for The Skylarks’ War, a story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the backdrop of World War One. The judges described The Skylarks’ War as ‘as perfect a novel as you could ever want to read’. She receives £5,000 and her book is now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2018 Costa Book of the Year.

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FAR FROM HOME WINS THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s sole award for creative educational writing, is Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty by Cath Senker, a topical and richly illustrated book which sensitively examines the root causes of mass migrations of people in the 21st century.

Cath Senker wins EWA 2018

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

read more...
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