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Books for Keeps 192 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 192 - January 2012
BfK 192 January 2012

This issue’s cover illustration is from The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan. Thanks to David Fickling Books for their help with this January cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 192January 2012 .

BfK No. 192 Articles

Celia Rees Q and A

Celia Rees answers questions on her new novel This is Not Forgiveness

January 2012 Editorial

Editorial

The Best Children’s Books of 2011

A round-up of fiction, picture books, poetry and non-fiction titles.

Brilliant Bookshops: The Children's Bookshop Huddersfield

Sonia Benster on her bookshop.

Emma Chichester Clark Windows into Illustration

Emma Chichester Clark on how she went about illustrating
‘Wagtail Town’.

Richard Dawkins: The Magic of Reality

Sue Unstead interviews Richard Dawkins.

Ten of the Best Horse and Pony Books

Jane Badger chooses her top ten.

Authorgraph 192 - Margo Lanagan

Margo Lanagan interviewed by Nicholas Tucker.

The Legacy of the Arabian Nights

Neil Philip discusses Marina Warner’s latest book.

January Briefing

Awards and news

Steve Cole I Wish

Steve Cole chooses Catherine Storr’s Marianne Dreams.

Hal's Reading Diary January 2012

Roger Mills on books v computer games.

January Good Reads

Reviews from Widcombe C of E Junior School, Bath.

Classics in Short No. 91

Brian Alderson on Erich Kästner’s Emil and the Detectives.

Life Beyond the Bunker

Susanne Winnacker’s The Other Life is sending shivers up the spine of diehard dystopian fiction fans. Damian Kelleher discovers why.

A Squash and a Squeeze: Sharing Stories with Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson interviewed about the Seven Stories exhibition A Squash and a Squeeze

Sally Nicholls on All Fall Down

Sally Nicholls on her new novel All Fall Down

Editor's Choice

The Highway Rat

Julia Donaldson
(Alison Green Books)
5

A comic homage to Alfred Noyes’s 1906 narrative poem ‘The Highwayman’, Julia Donaldson’s The Highway Rat echoes to dramatically witty effect Noyes’s rhythmic cadences (‘And the highwayman came riding— /Riding—riding— /The...

read more

New Talent

Lolly Luck

Ellie Daines
(Andersen Press)
4

It is on Lollyanna’s 11th birthday that things start to go wrong. Lolly has always thought of herself, fittingly since her surname is Luck, as a lucky person but even she cannot make everything good when her dad loses his job. Financial problems...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 192

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Ages 14+

Under 5s

  • Freight Train

    Donald Crews
    5
  • How Do You Feel?

    Anthony Browne
    5
  • The Highway Rat

    Julia Donaldson
    5
  • Lulu Reads to Zeki

    Anna McQuinn
    4
  • The Day the Gogglynipper Escaped

    James McKnight
    4
  • Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?

    Clare Wigfall
    4
  • Utterly Lovely One

    Mary Murphy
    4
  • Little Penguin Learns to Swim

    Eilidh Rose
    4
  • Chilly Milly Moo

    Fiona Ross
    3
  • Little Lion

    Lesley Beake
    3
  • Big Blue Engine

    Ken Wilson-Max
    3
  • The Three Sillies

    Tony Ross
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Sticky Ends

    Jeanne Willis
    5
  • The Pirates Next Door

    Jonny Duddle
    5
  • Pinkie Mouse, Where Are You?

    Alison Green
    4
  • The Barefoot Book of Mother and Daughter Tales

    Josephine Everts-Secker
    4
  • Fern and the Fiery Dragon

    Georgie Adams
    4
  • Number Rhymes Tens and Teens

    Opal Dunn
    4
  • Magic Beans. A Handful of Fairy Tales from the Storybag

    Various Authors
    3
  • Dirty Bertie: Snow!

    Alan MacDonald
    3
  • Bella Donna Witchling

    Ruth Symes
    3
  • The Pirate Suit

    Raewyn Caisley
    3
  • Me and My Family

    Jean Maye
    3
  • The Flute

    Rachna Gilmore
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Sea Swallow

    Gareth Thompson
    5
  • Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe

    Joanna Nadin
    5
  • The Road to Stonehenge

    Jan Shirley
    4
  • Opal Moonbaby

    Maudie Smith
    4
  • Lolly Luck

    Ellie Daines
    4
  • The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World

    Shahrukh Husain
    4
  • Nelson at Sea

    Simon Weston
    David Fitzgerald
    4
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

    Jeff Kinney
    4
  • Mr Gum in the Hound of Lamonic Bibber

    Andy Stanton
    4
  • Scrum!

    Tom Palmer
    3
  • Blood Hound

    Tanya Landman
    3
  • The Peppers and the International Magic Guys

    Sian Pattenden
    3
  • To Be a Cat

    Matt Haig
    3
  • How the Olympics Came to Be

    Helen East
    2
  • Furball and the Mokes

    A N Wilson
    2
  • The Sewer Demon

    Caroline Lawrence
    2
  • Spaceheadz Save the World

    Jon Scieszka
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Into the Unknown

    Stewart Ross
    5
  • Dark Warning

    Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
    5
  • The Kalevala: tales of magic and adventure

    Kirsti Makinen
    5
  • 15 Days Without a Head

    Dave Cousins
    5
  • Oliver Twisted

    J D Sharpe
    4
  • Far Rockaway

    Charlie Fletcher
    4
  • Hollow Earth

    John Barrowman
    4
  • Knowing Me, Knowing You

    Helen Bailey
    3
  • Psychosilly

    Alan Murphy
    3
  • Out of the Depths

    Cathy MacPhail
    3
  • Street of Tall People

    Alan Gibbons
    3
  • Cinder

    Marissa Meyer
    3
  • Out of this World

    Clive Gifford
    3

Ages 14+

  • The Song of Achilles

    Madeline Miller
    5
  • Virtuosity

    Jessica Martinez
    4
  • A Witch in Winter

    Ruth Warburton
    4
  • In Darkness

    Nick Lake
    4
  • Twisted Heart

    Eden Maguire
    4
  • Beat the Band

    Don Calame
    4
  • Code Name Verity

    Elizabeth Wein
    4
  • Torn

    Cat Clarke
    3
  • The Catastrophic History of You and Me

    Jess Rothenberg
    2
  • India Dark

    Kirsty Murray
    1

BfK News

LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The longlist for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.

CKG Logo

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
NOW OPEN: 2021 HENRIETTA BRANFORD WRITING COMPETITION

Finish a story started by Branford Boase Award winner Liz Hyder

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, is now open.

read more...
TWO UK ENTRIES ON IBBY LIST OF OUTSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Every two years, IBBY invites nominations for its international List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. Nominations are made by IBBY national sections and the final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s book world. It is a huge voluntary undertaking as every country is encouraged to submit up to twelve titles across the three categories.

read more...
LONGLIST FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The longlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award has been announced. Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.

read more...
NATASHA FARRANT WINS 2020 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Natasha Farrant

Writer and literary scout Natasha Farrant has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award for Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, a book which the judges described as ‘pure heavenly escapism and a purely joyful read.’

read more...
ROBIN WALKER WINS THE 2020 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD FOR BLACK HISTORY MATTERS

The winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter. Written by acclaimed Black historian, Robin Walker, the 2020 judges praised this accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book which provides a timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement.

read more...
IBBY UK nominate Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2022

IBBY UK has announced that Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee will be the UK nominations for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

read more...
SHORTLIST FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award.

The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (Little Tiger)

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BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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