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BfK No. 181 - March 2010

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Brian Wildsmith’s The Hare and the Tortoise (© Brian Wildsmith 1966) published by Oxford University Press and re-issued in 2007 (978 0 19 272708 4, £5.99 pbk). Brian Wildsmith’s work is discussed by Joanna Carey in this issue. Thanks to Oxford University Press for their help with this March cover.

BfK No. 181 Articles

Editorial – March 2010

News and comment from the Editor.

The Children’s Books of the Decade

Rosemary Stones reflects on the first ten years of the new millennium.

Brian Wildsmith: A retrospective

Joanna Carey assesses his unique contribution.

Ten of the Best: Books that Introduce Children to Art

Martin Salisbury chooses his top ten.

Authorgraph No.181: Elizabeth Laird

Elizabeth Laird interviewed by Nicholas Tucker

A Time Like No Other

Peter Hollindale discusses A S Byatt's The Children's Book

BfK Briefing – March 2010

Event * Award

Useful Organisations No.52: Perform-a-Poem

A unique poetry performance website for primary school children.

Hal’s Reading Diary – March 2010

Roger Mills on the appeal of violence to children in their books.

I Wish I’d Written… Red Shift

Anthony McGowan chooses Alan Garner's Red Shift

Good Reads: Bishop Rawstorne C of E Language College, Lancashire

Reviews from pupils of Bishop Rawstorne C of E Language College.

Classics in Short No.80: The Eagle of the Ninth

Brian Alderson on Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth.

Editor's Choice

The General

Janet Charters

(Templar Books)

Not many generals can be seen wearing a CND badge but General Jodhpur, illustrated by Michael Foreman in 1961 when he was still an art student, is a general who disbands his army so that the soldiers can return home and make their country ‘the...

Quicksilver

Sam Osman

(Marion Lloyd Books)

Ever since Alfred Watkins coined the term ‘ley lines’ in the 1920s and proposed that the lines connecting ancient sites are in fact old routes followed in prehistoric times for religious or trade reasons, there have been those who have attributed...

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

Under 5s

This is my Book

Mick Inkpen

5
Yummy

Lucy Cousins

5
One Smart Fish

Chris Wormell

4
Little Miss Muffet and other rhymes

PatrickGeorge

4
The Wide-Mouthed Frog

Iain Smyth

3
The Terrible Plop

Ursula Dubosarsky

3
Dennis Duckling ¦ Where is Poppy’s Panda?

Paul Sambrooks

3
Grandma Comes to Stay ¦ Deron Goes to Nursery School

Ifeoma Onyefulu

3
What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? ¦ Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Mandy Ross

2

Ages 5-8

Yucky Worms

Vivian French

5
The General

Janet Charters

5
Miko’s Magic Number

Ruth Brown

4
The King and the Seed

Kes Gray

4
Pea Boy and other stories from Iran

4
Insect Detective

Steve Voake

4
Mum and Dad Glue

Kes Gray

3
Azad's Camel

Erika Pál

3
My First Book of Garden Bugs

Mike Unwin

3
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

David Benedictus

2

Ages 8-10

The Man Who Lost His Head

Claire Huchet Bishop

5
The Wainscott Weasel

Tor Seidler

5
Umpteen Pockets: New and Collected Poems for Children

Adrian Mitchell

5
Cars: A pop-up book of automobiles

Robert Crowther

5
Bram Stoker’s Dracula

4
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ¦ Alice in Wonderland

4
The Kites Are Flying!

Michael Morpurgo

4
Day by Day by Me

Various Illustrators

4
Remembering Green

Lesley Beake

3
The Great Hamster Massacre

Katie Davies

3
The Wickedest Witch

Martin Howard

3
Don Quixote

Miguel De Cervantes

3
Out of the Woods

Lyn Gardner

3
The Lightning Key

Jon Berkeley

3
Hamzat’s Journey: A Refugee Diary

Anthony Robinson

3
The Raven Mysteries, Book 2: Ghosts and Gadgets

Marcus Sedgwick

2
I Spy: The Constantinople Caper

Graham Marks

2
Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum

Neale Osborne

2
The Wild Things

Dave Eggers

1

Ages 10-14

The Battle of the Sun

Jeanette Winterson

5
Fortune Cookie

Jean Ure

4
Thief!

John Pilkington

4
Halo

Zizou Corder

4
Time Quake

Linda Buckley-Archer

4
The Lark and the Laurel

Barbara Willard

3
Salem Brownstone – All Along the Watchtowers

John Harris Dunning

3
Witch & Wizard

James Patterson

3
Hell’s Heroes

Darren Shan

3
Crocodile Tears

Anthony Horowitz

3
Quicksilver

Sam Osman

3
Leviathan

Scott Westerfeld

3
Energy Revolution: Climate change and our post-carbon future

Joseph Lacey

3
Esty’s Gold

Mary Arrigan

2

Ages 14+

Rich and Mad

William Nicholson

4
Sacred Scars

Kathleen Duey

4
Hunger

Michael Grant

4
Inside

Julia Jarman

3
Paradise Red

K M Grant

3
Daughter of Fire and Ice

Marie-Louise Jensen

3
We Were Young and at War

Sarah Wallis
Svetlana Palmer

3
Evermore

Alyson Noël

1

Books About Children's Books

BfK News

PATRICE LAWRENCE AND DARREN CHETTY TO JUDGE 2019 LITTLE REBELS AWARD

Award-winning YA author Patrice Lawrence and Books for Keeps contributor Darren Chetty have been named as judges of the 2019 Little Rebels Award. The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s books for readers age 0-12 which promote social equality and social justice.

The shortlists have been announced for the 2019 Blue Peter Book Awards. They are:

Best book with facts

The Element in the Room by Mike Barfield and illustrated by Lauren Humphry, Laurence King Publishing

The Colours of History by Clive Gifford and Marc-Etienne Peintre, QED Publishing

Professor Astro Cat's Human Body Odyssey by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman, Flying Eye Books

Nominations have been published for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, the country's oldest children’s book awards.

Lauren Child WBD cover Snap by Patrice Lawrence

Kate Milner has won the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book My Name is Not Refugee (Barrington Stoke), which follows a young boy as he and his mother set out from their home to find somewhere safe to live.

UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2018

UKLA logos

Mitch Johnson and M G Leonard

Karl Nova at the CLiPPA Poet 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.

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

Lollies logo Michael 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.

Books for Keeps 181 - the children's book magazine online

Digital version – browse, print or download

BfK Newsletter

BfK No. 181 Articles

Editor's Choice

The General

New Talent

Quicksilver

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 181

Under 5s

This is my Book

Yummy

One Smart Fish

Little Miss Muffet and other rhymes

The Wide-Mouthed Frog

The Terrible Plop

Dennis Duckling ¦ Where is Poppy’s Panda?

Grandma Comes to Stay ¦ Deron Goes to Nursery School

What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? ¦ Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Ages 5-8

Yucky Worms

The General

Miko’s Magic Number

The King and the Seed

Pea Boy and other stories from Iran

Insect Detective

Mum and Dad Glue

Azad's Camel

My First Book of Garden Bugs

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

Ages 8-10

The Man Who Lost His Head

The Wainscott Weasel

Umpteen Pockets: New and Collected Poems for Children

Cars: A pop-up book of automobiles

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ¦ Alice in Wonderland

The Kites Are Flying!

Day by Day by Me

Remembering Green

The Great Hamster Massacre

The Wickedest Witch

Don Quixote

Out of the Woods

The Lightning Key

Hamzat’s Journey: A Refugee Diary

The Raven Mysteries, Book 2: Ghosts and Gadgets

I Spy: The Constantinople Caper

Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum

The Wild Things

Ages 10-14

The Battle of the Sun

Fortune Cookie

Thief!

Halo

Time Quake

The Lark and the Laurel

Salem Brownstone – All Along the Watchtowers

Witch & Wizard

Hell’s Heroes

Crocodile Tears

Quicksilver

Leviathan

Energy Revolution: Climate change and our post-carbon future

Esty’s Gold

Ages 14+

Rich and Mad

Sacred Scars

Hunger

Inside

Paradise Red

Daughter of Fire and Ice

We Were Young and at War

Evermore

Books About Children's Books

The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley

Illustrated Children’s Books

BfK News