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BfK No. 182 - May 2010
BfK 182 May 2010

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Mary Hooper’s latest book, Fallen Grace, to be published on 7 June (978 0 7475 9913 5, £8.99 hbk). Mary Hooper is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Bloomsbury for their help with this May cover.

BfK No. 182 Articles

Editorial – May 2010

News and comment from the Editor.
Once bitten: the fang bang fiction of Stephenie Meyer

Nicholas Tucker analyses the appeal of the vampire.
Ten of the Best Poetry Books for Children

Morag Styles chooses her top ten titles.
Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne on appreciating picture books

Anthony Browne discusses Chris Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
The Catcher in the Rye

Clive Barnes assesses the influence of Salinger's classic novel.
Authorgraph No.182: Mary Hooper

Mary Hooper interviewed by Julia Eccleshare
Hal’s Reading Diary – May 2010

Roger Mills tries to avoid being a pushy parent.
BfK Briefing – May 2010

* Awards * Letter * Events
Obituary: William Mayne

William Mayne: 1928 – 2010
I wish I’d written… The Hidden Adult – Defining Children’s Literature

Peter Hunt chooses Perry Nodelman’s The Hidden Adult – Defining Children’s Literature.
Good Reads: Truro School, Cornwall

Reviews from pupils of Truro School, Cornwall.
Classics in Short: The Sword in the Stone

Brian Alderson on T H White’s The Sword in the Stone.

Editor's Choice

Everybody was a baby once and other poems
Allan Ahlberg
(Walker)
5

In his discussion of single poet collections in BfK No 179, Brian Alderson talked about the importance for such compilations to be ‘what might be called “shaped units” existing as a complete reading experience in themselves...

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New Talent

Montacute House
Lucy Jago
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
3

As an illegitimate child, 13-year-old poultry maid Cess is lucky to have a job at all. Life is hard for her and her mother who are shunned by their prosperous and ‘respectable’ relatives – but rebellious Cess finds it hard to accept being...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 182

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

Under 5s

  • Don't Want to Go!
    Shirley Hughes
    5

  • Six Dinner Sid: A Highland Adventure
    Inga Moore
    5

  • Let's Save the Animals
    Frances Barry
    5

  • Love-a-Duck
    Alan James Brown
    4

  • I'm the Best
    Lucy Cousins
    4

  • Little Rex
    Ruth Symes
    4

  • The Fox and the Hen
    Eric Battut
    3

  • Don't Let the Aliens Get My Marvellous Mum!
    Gillian Shields
    3

  • Rhino's Great Big Itch!
    Natalie Chivers
    3

  • The Giant Carrot
    Allan Manham
    3

  • Big Noisy Book of Animals
    Harriet Blackford
    3

Ages 5-8

  • When Daddy's Truck Picks Me Up
    Jana Novotny Hunter
    5

  • Catherine's Story
    Genevieve Moore
    5

  • Everybody was a baby once and other poems
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Cloud Tea Monkeys
    Mal Peet
    Elspeth Graham
    4

  • The Most Precious Present in the World ¦ Dad David, Baba Chris and ME
    Becky Edwards
    4

  • Frightfully Friendly Ghosties
    Daren King
    4

  • The Snake King of the Kalinago
    Children - Atkinson School - Dominica
    3

  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses
    3

  • Why the Animals Came to Town
    Michael Foreman
    3

  • Noddy and the Farmyard Muddle
    Sophie Smallwood
    3

  • The Knight of Swords and Spooks
    Terry Deary
    3

  • What's Ukrainian for Football?
    Helena Pielichaty
    3

  • Pigs in Planes: The Chicken Egg-splosion
    Paul Cooper
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Calamity Jack
    Shannon Hale
    Dean Hale
    5

  • No Way Out
    Gene Kemp
    4

  • Lob
    Linda Newbery
    4

  • The Raven Mysteries: Book 3: Lunatics and Luck
    Marcus Sedgwick
    4

  • Beswitched
    Kate Saunders
    4

  • Enchanted Glass
    Diana Wynne Jones
    4

  • The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever… by the Brainwaves
    Carole Stott
    4

  • The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon
    David Almond
    3

  • Rose and the Lost Princess
    Holly Webb
    3

  • Nobody's Horse
    Jane Smiley
    3

  • Tassie and the Black Baron
    Katie Roy
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Bone by Bone by Bone
    Tony Johnston
    5

  • Where I Belong
    Gillian Cross
    5

  • Leon - Spit on the Mic
    Ola Laniyan-Amoako
    4

  • The Legionary from Londinium and Other Mini-mysteries
    Caroline Lawrence
    4

  • Drawing With Light
    Julia Green
    4

  • Crawlers
    Sam Enthoven
    4

  • Rebel
    R J Anderson
    4

  • Flyaway
    Lucy Christopher
    4

  • Geronimo ¦ The Perfect Rebel: The Life and Death of Emily Davison
    Tanya Landman
    4

  • Montacute House
    Lucy Jago
    3

  • Striker Boy
    Jonny Zucker
    3

  • The Stone Crown
    Malcolm Walker
    3

  • The History Book
    Samone Bos
    Laura Buller
    others
    3

  • The Way We Work
    David Macaulay
    Richard Walker
    3

  • Gaia Warriors
    Nicola Davies
    2

Ages 14+

  • No and Me
    Delphine de Vigan
    5

  • The Carbon Diaries 2017
    Saci Lloyd
    5

  • My Love Lies Bleeding
    Alyxandra Harvey
    4

  • Koh Tabu
    Ann Kelley
    4

  • The Worst of Me
    Kate Le Vann
    3

  • Guilt Trip
    Anne Cassidy
    3

  • Stolen
    Lucy Christopher
    3

  • Need
    Carrie Jones
    3

  • Prisoner of the Inquisition
    Theresa Breslin
    3

  • When I Was Joe
    Keren David
    3

  • Pretties
    Scott Westerfeld
    3

  • The Left Hand of God
    Paul Hoffman
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Reading the Novels of Aidan Chambers: Seven Essays
    Nancy Chambers
    5

  • Poetry - From Reading to Writing: A Classroom Guide for Ages 7-11
    Robert Hull
    5

BfK News

2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

read more...
‘INSPIRING’: CONTENDERS FOR THE 2020 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

read more...
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4th November.

read more...
2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

read more...
JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

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LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

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HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

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CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

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CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

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STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

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