Home
Blood Red Road Banner Ad
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Books for Keeps 182 - the children's book magazine online

Digital version – browse, print or download

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

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...

read more

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...

read more

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

A Passion for Picture books

‘Although interest in the art of the picture book seems to have grown greatly in recent years, study of the field has remained polarised in its nature and perceptions,’ claim the authors of an important new book, Children’s Picturebooks: The art of visual storytelling.

Books for Keeps invited co-writers Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles to explain their aim to bring together ideas from the world of literature and education with ideas from the field of art and design.

read more...
BLOOD RED ROAD WINS 2011 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

For the second year in succession, a debut novel has won the Costa Children’s Book Award. The 2011 prize went to Jason Wallace for his novel Out of Shadows; this year’s prize has gone to Moira Young for her book Blood Red Road.

Set in a dystopian future world, Blood Red Road tells the story of 18-year-old Saba, a tough young woman who embarks on an epic quest to rescue her twin brother when he is kidnapped by four mysterious horsemen.

read more...
Behind the Bookshelf

A new way of bringing authors into the classroom – and a special competition for Books for Keeps readers.

read more...
2011 Educational Writers’ Award Winner Announced

The winner of the 2011 Educational Writers’ Award is Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond…The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour by Stewart Ross.

The Educational Writers’ Award was established in 2008 by ALCS and The Society of Authors to celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.

read more...
Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize winner announced

The winner of the 2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize is How the World Works, an interactive opus that uses illustrations, pop ups, flaps and more to make children think about the impact of human actions on our environment, while encouraging respect for the natural world.

read more...
Muslim Writers Awards 2011

Na'ima B Robert's Far from Home (Frances Lincoln) has won the Published Children's Book category of the Muslim Writers Awards.

The Awards were held at the Globe Theatre on Tuesday 22nd November and acknowledged dramatists and young journalists as well as authors.

read more...
2011 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize

After a two year gap when, due to funding issues it was not awarded, The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2011 will be awarded on Thursday 1st December, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

The prize celebrates the books that best communicate science to young people aged up to 14 and there are six books on the shortlist. They are:

The Icky Sticky Blood and Snot Book by Steve Alton and Nick Sharratt (Bodley Head)

read more...
Liz Pichon and Peter Bently: Roald Dahl Funny Prize Winners

Winners Roald Dahl Prize 2011 2Tuesday 8th November saw the fourth annual Roald Dahl Funny Prize ceremony, which again took place at the Unicorn Theatre. This year Chair, and instigator of the prize, Michael Rosen was joined on the judging panel by author and broadcaster Grace Dent, illustrator Tony Ross, Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon and journalist/scriptwriter Danny Wallace.

read more...
PIRATE CATS AND DOODLING SCHOOLBOY WIN THE 2011 ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE

Roald Dahl Winners 2011Peter Bently and Liz Pichon have been announced as winners of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize. 

read more...
FIRST SLA INFORMATION BOOK AWARD: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Adrian Dingle’s book How to make a Universe with 92 Ingredients (Scholastic) and The Life and Times of William Shakespeare by Kirsten McDermott and Ari Berk (Templar) were announced winners of the first SLA Information Book Award at a celebration event in London last night, Wednesday 2nd November.

read more...
more
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account
website developed by purkiss