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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...

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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...

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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

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.

read more...
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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