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Books for Keeps 185 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 185 - November 2010
BfK 185 November 2010

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury’s There’s Going to be a Baby. This book, as well as an exhibition of John Burningham’s work, is discussed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Walker Books for their help with this November cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 185 November 2010

BfK No. 185 Articles

Editorial – November 2010

News and comment from the Editor.
Walter Crane: A revolution in nursery picture books

Lesley Delaney explains Crane’s revolutionary approach to learning to read.
Christmas Books for Giving

Rosemary Stones on books for younger readers.
To Kill a Mockingbird: 50th anniversary

Geraldine Brennan assesses its impact.
Ten of the Best: Graphic Novels

Clive Barnes chooses his top ten titles.
BfK Basics: Helping your child enjoy books and reading

Margaret Mallett suggests ways to start a home library.
Mr Gumpy and other Outings: John Burningham at Seven Stories, Newcastle

Julia Eccleshare discusses a Seven Stories exhibition on John Burningham.
Authorgraph No.185: Michelle Paver

Michelle Paver is interviewed by Nick Tucker.
Obituary: Hazel Townson

Hazel Townson: 1928–2010
Obituary: Lesley Agnew

Lesley Agnew: 1944–2010
Obituary: Eva Ibbotson

Eva Ibbotson: 1925 - 2010
BfK Briefing – November 2010

Awards * News
Useful Organisation No.53: The Faber Academy

A creative-writing programme based in the Bloomsbury offices of publisher Faber and Faber
Hal’s Reading Diary - November 2010

Roger Mills on how Hal dislikes loose ends in stories.
I Wish I’d Written… Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Linda Chapman chooses J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Good Reads: Owl Academy, New Jersey, USA

Reviews from pupils of the Owl Academy, New Jersey, USA.
Classics in Short No.84: Don Quixote

Brian Alderson on Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote.
Books for Anti-Bullying Week (15-19 November) and beyond

Books for Keeps Editor, Rosemary Stones offers a list of appropriate titles.
Bartimaeus and the Ring of Solomon

Extract from: Bartimaeus and the Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the film - how good is it?

The film of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ has just been released.  Julia Eccleshare went to see it…
Christmas treats

Books for Keeps Editor, Rosemary Stones, recommends two handsome volumes for younger readers of about 5-8 that will be treasured.

Editor's Choice

Otto, the Autobiography of a Teddy Bear
Tomi Ungerer
(Phaidon Press)
5

In 1940 Ungerer’s native Alsace was annexed by the Nazis and the then 8-year-old Tomi subjected to Nazi indoctrination in school. This powerfully moving picture book tale of Otto the teddy bear is perhaps a riposte to that experience.

Told...

read more

New Talent

Unhooking the Moon
Gregory Hughes
(Quercus Children's Books)
5

12-year-old Canadian Bob doesn’t remember much about his mother who died when he was little. He lives with his father who drinks too much but is an excellent cook (French onion soup and olive bread soon get a mention) and his quirkily wayward...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 185

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

Under 5s

  • Look Out Leon!
    Jez Alborough
    5

  • Iris and Isaac
    Catherine Rayner
    5

  • Ginger and the Mystery Visitor
    Charlotte Voake
    5

  • Fortunately, Unfortunately
    Michael Foreman
    5

  • Busy Boats
    Susan Steggall
    4

  • Winnie in Space
    Valerie Thomas
    4

  • Just Because
    Rebecca Elliott
    4

  • I'm Number One
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Green Eggs and Ham
    Dr Seuss
    4

  • Out and About in My Boots
    Christina Goodings
    3

  • Sir Laughalot
    Tony Mitton
    3

  • Wake Up!
    Katie Cleminson
    3

  • Tinysaurus
    Sheryl Webster
    3

  • Bears on the Stairs
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • A Bit Lost
    Chris Haughton
    3

  • I Want to Do It by Myself!
    Tony Ross
    3

  • The Sticky Doll Trap

    Jessica Souhami
    3

  • Music
    Polly Goodman
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Eddie’s Toolbox: and How to Make and Mend Things
    Sarah Garland
    5

  • Lola and the Rent-a-Cat
    Ceseli Josephus Jitta
    5

  • Instructions
    Neil Gaiman
    4

  • Three by the Sea
    Mini Grey
    4

  • Firebird
    4

  • Madame Pamplemousse and the Enchanted Sweet Shop
    Rupert Kingfisher
    4

  • Hudson Hates School ¦ It’s Called Dyslexia
    Ella Hudson
    3

  • Mary’s Penny
    Tanya Landman
    3

  • Stories for a Fragile Planet
    Kenneth Steven
    3

  • The Heartless Robots
    Simon Bartram
    3

  • Wasim One Star ¦ Wasim’s Challenge
    Chris Ashley
    3

  • The Three Little Witches
    Georgie Adams
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Michael Rosen’s Big Book of Bad Things
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • Otto, the Autobiography of a Teddy Bear
    Tomi Ungerer
    5

  • Taff in the WAAF
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    5

  • Animals at the Edge
    Jonathan Baillie
    Marilyn Baillie
    5

  • FArTHER
    Grahame Baker-Smith
    4

  • Doctor Bonkers!
    Jeremy Strong
    4

  • Dustbin Cat
    Ingrid Lee
    4

  • Worse Things Happen at Sea!
    Alan Snow
    4

  • A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E.
    Penny Dolan
    4

  • Frightfully Friendly Ghosties: Ghostly Holler-Day
    Daren King
    3

  • Swarf
    L P Howarth
    3

  • Fetlocks Hall: The Unicorn Princess ¦ Fetlocks Hall: The Ghostly Blinkers
    Babette Cole
    3

  • Wanted!
    Kate Thompson
    3

  • Philippa Fisher and the Stone Fairy’s Promise
    Liz Kessler
    3

  • Grow Your Own Monsters
    Nicola Davies
    Simon Hickmott
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Unhooking the Moon
    Gregory Hughes
    5

  • Forest Born
    Shannon Hale
    5

  • Dancing in the Dark
    Peter Prendergast
    4

  • The Ogre of Oglefort
    Eva Ibbotson
    4

  • Cherry Crush
    Cathy Cassidy
    4

  • Candor
    Pam Bachorz
    4

  • Wishful Thinking
    Ali Sparkes
    4

  • I Shall Wear Midnight
    Terry Pratchett
    4

  • The Mourning Emporium
    Michelle Lovric
    4

  • Flood and Fire
    Emily Diamand
    4

  • Loving Spirit

    Linda Chapman
    3

  • Shadow of the Ninja
    Andrew Matthews
    3

  • Trash
    Andy Mulligan
    3

  • A Most Improper Magick
    Stephanie Burgis
    3

  • The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight
    Jenny Valentine
    3

  • Witch Breed
    Alan Gibbons
    3

  • What’s the Point of Being Green?
    Jacqui Bailey
    3

  • The Dead
    David Gatward
    2

  • The Cabinet of Curiosities
    Paul Dowswell
    2

  • Put Out the Light
    Terry Deary
    1

Ages 14+

  • Genesis
    Bernard Beckett
    5

  • The Radleys
    Matt Haig
    5

  • The Children of the Lost
    David Whitley
    5

  • Angel
    L A Weatherly
    4

  • Passing Strange
    Daniel Waters
    3

  • Almost True
    Keren David
    3

  • Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die and The Deep of Fear
    Elizabeth Chandler
    3

  • The Cardturner
    Louis Sachar
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11
    Margaret Mallett
    5

  • The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature
    4

  • Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl
    Donald Sturrock
    3

BfK News

EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

read more...
JASBINDER BILAN WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH HER DEBUT NOVEL

Jasbinder Bilan

read more...
COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2019: SHORTLIST FEATURES

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award alongside newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing.

Costa Book Awards logo

Click the links below to read new Books for Keeps feature articles on each of the shortlisted authors.

read more...
THE IBBY LIST OF OUSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Dr Rebecca Butler writes.

Readers of Books for Keeps will remember that IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) arranges every two years a competition to identify the very best books for young readers featuring disability or designed to be read by young people with disabilities. Last time this list was compiled in 2017/18 I was the coordinator for the UK section.

read more...
ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS’ GREAT ADVENTURERS WINS THE 2019 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Educational Writers’ Award is Alastair Humphreys’ Great Adventurers: The Incredible Expeditions of 20 Explorers (Big Picture Press).

Alastair Humphreys Great Adventures

read more...
BLACKMAN AND DOWNHAM ON SHORTLIST FOR 2019 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award, which was announced today, 26th November 2020. Alongside them on the list are newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing, both of whom are published by Chicken House.

The 2019 Costa Children’s Award shortlist

read more...
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...
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