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Books for Keeps 188 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 188 - May 2011
BfK 188 May 2011

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Emily Gravett’s Wolf Won’t Bite! Emily Gravett is interviewed in this issue. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their support for this May cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 188 May 2011.

BfK No. 188 Articles

Editorial – May 2011

News and comment from the Editor.

The marketing and reviewing of multicultural children’s books

Rosemary Stones discusses the issues.

Young Adult fiction comes of age?

Caroline Sanderson investigates the trends.

Flat Stanley: a Comic Hero

Elizabeth Hammill celebrates his appeal.

BfK Basics: Helping your child enjoy books and reading

Alison Kelly explains how to support early readers.

Ten of the Best Dystopian Novels

Geraldine Brennan chooses her top ten titles.

Windows into Illustration: Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan on illustrating The Red Tree.

Authorgraph No.188: Emily Gravett

Emily Gravett is interviewed by Clive Barnes.

BfK Briefing – May 2011

Awards * Publications * Obituary * News

Hal’s Reading Diary – May 2011

Roger Mills describes Hal’s emerging moral compass.

I Wish I'd Written… The Hunger Games

Lucy Christopher chooses The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Good Reads: Trafalgar Junior School Readers and Writers Club

Reviews from Trafalgar Junior School Readers and Writers Club.

Classics in Short No.87: James and the Giant Peach

Brian Alderson on Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach.

Roald Dahl and his illustrator Quentin Blake

Brian Alderson discusses the partnership of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake.

Frances Lincoln’s new poetry list

Morag Styles talks to Janetta Otter-Barry of Frances Lincoln about her new poetry list.

John Connolly turns to children’s fiction

 John Connolly interviewed for Graham Marks.

An interview with Mal Peet

Mal Peet talks about his book Life: An Exploded Diagram

Don Calame interviewed by Graham Marks

Why did a Hollywood screenwriter decide to write a novel for teenagers? Or, more specifically, a novel for teenage boys about teenage boys? The three main protagonists in Don Calame’s debut novel Swim the Fly - Matt, Coop and Sean - are artfully drawn, living, breathing boys, both funny and charming, even when they’re being gross. Graham Marks interviewed Don Calame for Books for Keeps and learnt how the novel came about.

Garth Nix and Sean Williams in a Collaborative Venture

Graham Marks interviews Garth Nix and Sean Williams for Books for Keeps about their new collaboration, Troubletwisters

Josh Lacey on The Island of Thieves

Read our interview with Josh Lacey

Editor's Choice

The Tiger-Skin Rug

Gerald Rose
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

A ‘sad and thin’ old tiger lives on the edge of the jungle. He finds food difficult to catch but comes up with an ingenious solution to his problems. He takes the place of the tiger-skin rug in the Rajah’s palace and when the family retires to...

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New Talent

Entangled

Cat Clarke
(Quercus Publishing Plc)
4

Grace meets Ethan the night she is planning to kill herself. After drinking most of a bottle of vodka she finds herself imprisoned in a mysterious white room with Ethan as her warder. He leaves pens and paper for her and eventually she begins to...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 188

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

Under 5s

  • The Tiger-Skin Rug

    Gerald Rose
    5
  • I Like Toys ¦ I Like Peas

    Lorena Siminovich
    4
  • Sometimes

    Rebecca Elliott
    4
  • Go Wild with... Colours

    Neal Layton
    4
  • Kipper

    Mick Inkpen
    3
  • The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse

    Mimi Hachikai
    3
  • Peely Wally

    Kali Stileman
    3
  • The Tickle Ghost

    Brett McKee
    3
  • I Love my Daddy

    Giles Andreae
    3
  • Funny Face

    Nicola Smee
    3
  • When Baby Lost Bunny

    Julia Jarman
    3
  • Oliver and the Noisy Baby

    Mara Bergman
    3
  • Katie's Zoo: A Day Oot for Wee Folk

    James Robertson
    3
  • Norman: The Slug with the Silly Shell

    Sue Hendra
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Number Circus: 1-10 and back again!

    Kveta Pacovska
    5
  • A Walk in London

    Salvatore Rubbino
    5
  • Little Red Hood

    Marjolaine Leray
    4
  • Claude in the City

    Alex T Smith
    3
  • The Kitten with no Name

    Vivian French
    3
  • Batty

    Sarah Dyer
    3
  • RHS How Does My Garden Grow?

    3
  • Runaway Duckling ¦ Where Are My Lambs?

    Francesca Simon
    3
  • Space School: Blast Off! ¦ Space School: Crash Course

    Tom Bradman
    Tony Bradman
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Tree Soup

    Joel Stewart
    5
  • Billionaire Boy

    David Walliams
    5
  • On the Blue Comet

    Rosemary Wells
    5
  • The Island of Thieves

    Josh Lacey
    5
  • The Secret Kingdom

    Jenny Nimmo
    4
  • Animal Tales

    Terry Jones
    4
  • The Great Rabbit Rescue

    Katie Davies
    4
  • Earthquakes!

    Helen Dwyer
    4
  • A Million Brilliant Poems (part one) ¦ How to Turn Your Teacher Purple!

    Roger Stevens
    3
  • The Travelling Restaurant

    Barbara Else
    3
  • The Double Life of Cora Parry

    Angela McAllister
    3
  • Blackout

    Robert Swindells
    3
  • The Case of the Glasgow Ghoul

    Joan Lennon
    3
  • The Dream Dealer

    Marita Phillips
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Bracelet of Bones

    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5
  • Ice Maiden

    Sally Prue
    5
  • The Story of Britain

    Patrick Dillon
    5
  • Ministry of Pandemonium

    Chris Westwood
    4
  • The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group

    Catherine Jinks
    4
  • Scorpia Rising

    Anthony Horowitz
    4
  • The Gun

    Bali Rai
    4
  • Camden Town Tales: The Celeb Next Door

    Hilary Freeman
    4
  • Twilight Robbery

    Frances Hardinge
    4
  • Castle of Shadows ¦ City of Thieves

    Ellen Renner
    4
  • Stories About Surviving Cancer

    Jane Bingham
    4
  • Lily Alone

    Jacqueline Wilson
    4
  • The Bad Karma Diaries

    Bridget Hourican
    4
  • Wreckers

    Julie Hearn
    4
  • Moon Pie

    Simon Mason
    4
  • Forge

    Laurie Halse Anderson
    4
  • Blood Red Road

    Moira Young
    4
  • Buried Thunder

    Tim Bowler
    4
  • Running in Heels

    3
  • The Replacement

    Brenna Yovanoff
    3
  • Bloodline

    Kate Cary
    3
  • The Emerald Atlas

    John Stephens
    3
  • Run Rabbit Run

    Barbara Mitchelhill
    3
  • Badlands: Gold Rush

    Eldridge James
    3
  • Hidden

    Miriam Halahmy
    3
  • Agent 21

    Chris Ryan
    3
  • Milo and the Restart Button

    Alan Silberberg
    3
  • Spirit of the Titanic

    Nicola Pierce
    3

Ages 14+

  • Between Shades of Gray

    Ruta Sepetys
    5
  • Life: An Exploded Diagram

    Mal Peet
    5
  • SHADOWS ON THE MOON

    Zoe Marriott
    5
  • The Opposite of Amber

    Gillian Philip
    4
  • In the Bag

    Jim Carrington
    4
  • Heart Burn

    Anne Cassidy
    4
  • Entangled

    Cat Clarke
    4
  • Long Reach

    Peter Cocks
    3
  • A Beautiful Lie

    Irfan Master
    3
  • Everybody Jam

    Ali Lewis
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Book Power: Literacy through Literature, Year 2

    Jane Bunting
    Sue Ellis
    Jenny Vernon
    5

BfK News

DICKENS AND CHILDHOOD CONFERENCE

Dickens and Childhood Conference and Symposium Monday 18 June

It is not too late to book places on this special one-day conference on Dickens and Childhood, which will include walks, lectures, readings, and parallel sessions on topics that will appeal to students, teachers, Dickens experts, and the ‘interested reader’.

Marcia Williams Dickens

read more...
Siobhan Dowd Trust launches competition to help encourage a love of reading

The Siobhan Dowd Trust launches competition to help encourage a love of reading

The Siobhan Dowd Trust is proud to announce that Michael Rosen, Poet and ex-Childrens’ Laureate will be on the judging panel of a schools campaign, which is asking teachers and librarians for their ideas about how they encourage a love of books in their schools. The Trust will use the entries to build up a database of ideas which can be shared and swapped… and the ten best or most innovative ideas will receive £1000 worth of books.

read more...
Maurice Sendak June 1928 – May 2012

Maurice Sendak, who has died at the age of 83 was one of the most important illustrators of the twentieth century. Joanna Carey assesses his career for Books for Keeps

read more...
2012 Branford Boase Shortlist

Branford Boase Award logoSeven authors are on the shortlist for the 2012 Branford Boase Award, announced today, Monday 30 April.

The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

read more...
Riddell and Stewart Guest Speakers at IBBY UK AGM 2 May

Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart will be guest speakers at the IBBY UK AGM on Wednesday 2 May at Random House 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA, London. The meeting is free and non-members are welcome. Refreshments will be available from 6.30pm with Chris and Paul speaking at 7pm. Book sales and a signing will take place after the meeting. To book a place email bicarrington@nasuwt.net

read more...
2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

The shortlists have been announced for the 2012 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the oldest and most prestigious of all the UK’s children’s book awards.

There are eight books on each shortlist, two more than has been usual: a sign perhaps of the difficulty the judges had in making their final choice.

read more...
GUUS KUIJER TO RECEIVE THE ASTRID LINDGREN MEMORIAL AWARD 2012

The 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is to be awarded to the Dutch author Guus Kuijer.

read more...
FIRST BRITISH EXHIBITION OF CHINESE PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATION

In April, London hosts the first exhibitions in Britain of Chinese children’s and picture book illustration. The exhibitions feature eighty individual illustrations by China’s most celebrated children’s illustrators, and is organised by the Zhejiang Publishing Group, the Publishers’ Association of China, Propeller TV, and the Chinese Board on Books for Young People (CBBY); with the cooperation of the UK section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY UK).

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NEW AWARD SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED

As we wait for the announcement of the shortlists for this year’s CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, two other interesting and unusual award shortlists have just been revealed.

read more...
Transfer for Once Upon A Wartime exhibition

The Once Upon A Wartime exhibition is now at IWM North Manchester, until 2 September 2012

Based on five war-based children’s novels, the exhibition explores the history of real life conflicts from 1914 to the present day through the eyes of fictional children.

Read Kate Agnew’s Books for Keeps review of the exhibition here.

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