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Books for Keeps 194 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 194 - May 2012
BfK 194 May 2012

This issue’s cover illustration by Catherine Rayner is from Solomon Crocodile. Catherine Rayner is interviewed on p.14 of this issue. Thanks to Macmillan Children's Books for their help with this May cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 194 May 2012 .

BfK No. 194 Articles

Q&A with Burn Mark author Laura Powell

Laura Powell answers questions on her novel Burn Mark

194 Editorial

Editorial

Being at Bologna

Clive Barnes visits the international rights fair for Books for Keeps

Creating Picture Books: Alison Green

Alison Green explains her approach to picture book making.

Process, Creation and Audience: the 32 page picture book

Sue Buswell explains why most picture books have 32 pages

Windows into Illustration: Jan Fearnley

Jan Fearnley on how she went about illustrating Harry and the Jaggedy Daggers.

Anthea Bell, Literary Translator Par Excellence

Gillian Lathey interviews the translator of Asterix

Ten of the Best: Kate Greenaway Medal Winners

Joanna Carey chooses her top ten Kate Greenaway Medal winners.

Authorgraph 194: Catherine Rayner

Catherine Rayner interviewed by George Hunt

The Children's Bookshop Muswell Hill

BfK’s Brilliant Children’s BookshopsThe Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill, London.

194 Briefing

Obituaries, awards

Frances Hardinge I Wish

Frances Hardinge chooses her favourite epic saga…

194 Hal's Reading Diary

Roger Mills on 11-year-old Hal’s engagement with reading.

Corpus Christi Primary School Good Reads

Reviews from Corpus Christi Primary School, Gateshead.

Classics in Short No 93

Brian Alderson on Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Next – a new collection of short stories about life after death

Keith Gray talks to Books for Keeps about the thinking behind the new anthology Next and his approach as editor.

An interview with Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente talks about her award winning fantasy adventure.

Q&A with Elen Caldecott on The Mystery of Wickworth Manor

Elen Caldecott talks about her latest book The Mystery of Wickworth Manor.

The Henry Finkler interview

Tell anyone you are interviewing Henry Winkler and the response is universally positive and envious. Everyone knows The Fonz and just thinking about him seems to bring on a happy state of nostalgia. Julia Eccleshare talked to Henry Finkler for Books for Keeps

Kevin Crossley-Holland - School Library Association President for 2012

The distinguished author Kevin Crossley-Holland is the new President of the SLA. He took up on the role on the 10th June when he gave the final key-note speech at the joint SLG, SLA and YLG Conference Lighting the Future.

Here are elements of that speech. An edited and printed version of the speech will appear in the School Librarian in September.

Editor's Choice

Rubbish Town Hero

Nicola Davies
(Corgi Childrens)
4

Orphaned in a civil war, Chipo and his sister Gentle survive by sorting through rubbish looking for metal, plastic, wood and electrical wire. Gentle has a cleft palate and lip and is thus vulnerable to bullying and harassment so she hides her...

read more

New Talent

Hamda and Fisaikra

Kaltham Al-Ghanim
(Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing)
4

A variant of the Cinderella story, Hamda and Fisaikra is the version known in the Arabian Gulf. Hamda’s father, a fisherman, sets out in his boat each day to cast his net. At the end of the day Hamda waits for him on the shore...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 194

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

Under 5s

  • Nora: The Girl Who Ate and Ate and Ate

    Andrew Weale
    4
  • Belle and Boo and the Birthday Surprise

    Mandy Sutcliffe
    4
  • Selkie

    Gillian McClure
    4
  • Six Little Chicks

    Jez Alborough
    4
  • Collywobble

    Malachy Doyle
    4
  • Wanda Wallaby Finds Her Bounce

    Jonathan Emmett
    4
  • The Snorgh and the Sailor

    Will Buckingham
    4
  • Cats and Kittens

    Anita Ganeri
    3
  • Cub’s First Summer

    Rebecca Elliott
    3
  • The Fearsome Beastie

    Giles Paley-Phillips
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Zoe's Boat

    Gillian McClure
    5
  • Hamda and Fisaikra

    Kaltham Al-Ghanim
    4
  • My Own Special Way

    Mithaa Alkhayyat
    4
  • Eric!

    Chris Wormell
    4
  • Penguin’s Hidden Talent

    Alex Latimer
    4
  • The Yoga Ogre

    Peter Bently
    4
  • The Goblin and the Girl

    Neil Irani
    4
  • Burping Bertha

    Michael Rosen
    3
  • I Love You, Little Monster

    Giles Andreae
    3
  • Sophia the Flame Sister

    Amber Castle
    3
  • Pixie at the Palace

    Julie Sykes
    3
  • Medal Mayhem

    Tamsyn Murray
    3
  • Sparkle's Song

    Samantha Hale
    3
  • Three Ladies Beside the Sea

    Rhoda Levine
    2
  • The Great Sheep Shenanigans

    Peter Bently
    0

Ages 8-10

  • Goblins

    Philip Reeve
    5
  • Tales for great grand children

    John Jackson
    5
  • The Dragonsitter

    Josh Lacey
    4
  • Digging in the Dark

    Hilda Offen
    4
  • Rubbish Town Hero

    Nicola Davies
    4
  • The Secret Hen House Theatre

    Helen Peters
    4
  • Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder: The End of the World Maybe

    Jo Nesbø
    4
  • The Worst Thing About My Sister

    Jacqueline Wilson
    3
  • Dark Lord: A Fiend in Need

    Jamie Thomson
    3
  • The Money, Stan, Big Lauren and Me

    Joanna Nadin
    3
  • Excuses, Excuses

    Anushka Ravishankar
    3
  • Paw Prints in the Snow

    Sally Grindley
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Chronicles of Harris Burdick

    Chris Van Allsburg
    5
  • Changeling

    Philippa Gregory
    4
  • What rhymes with sneeze?

    Roger Stevens
    4
  • Burn Mark

    Laura Powell
    4
  • Drive By

    Jim Carrington
    4
  • The Prince Who Walked With Lions

    Elizabeth Laird
    4
  • Bringing the Summer

    Julia Green
    4
  • Wonder

    R J Palacio
    4
  • Hero on a Bicycle

    Shirley Hughes
    3
  • Brotherband: The Outcasts

    John Flanagan
    3
  • The World’s Worst Mothers

    Sabine Ludwig
    2
  • Vixen

    Jillian Larkin
    2
  • Hitler’s Angel

    William Osborne
    1

Ages 14+

  • I'll Be There

    Holly Goldberg Sloan
    5
  • Skin Deep

    Laura Jarratt
    4
  • Unravelling

    Elizabeth Norris
    4
  • Slated

    Teri Terry
    4
  • Unrest

    Michelle Harrison
    4
  • Black Heart Blue

    Louisa Reid
    4
  • Valentina

    Kevin McDermott
    4
  • The Gathering Dark

    Leigh Bardugo
    4
  • The Fury

    Alexander Gordon Smith
    3
  • Slide

    Jill Hathaway
    3
  • Witchstruck

    Victoria Lamb
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Arthur Rackham’s Book of Pictures

    Arthur Rackham
    2

BfK News

THE FRANCES LINCOLN DIVERSE VOICES CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2013

Tariq Mehmood has won the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013 for You’re Not Proper. The announcement was made on 23rd May 2013 by John Nicoll, founder of the award, at Seven Stories - National Centre for Children’s Books.

read more...
ROYAL SOCIETY YOUNG PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE 2013 SHORTLIST

The Royal Society has announced the shortlist for their 2013 Young People’s Book Prize, naming the six books the judges consider best communicate science to young people.

Professor John Goodby FRS, Chair of the judges described the shortlist as eclectic, but enthralling.

The six books shortlisted by the judges are:

Build the Human Body by Richard Walker (Templar Publishing)

In the judges’ words: ‘A hands on, fun kit to help learn about the human body, accompanied by a well-illustrated, concise, clear book.’

read more...
DANIEL MORDEN WINS 2013 TIR NA N-OG ENGLISH AWARD

The Welsh Books Council has announced Daniel Morden as winner of the 2013 Tir na n-Og English Award for his collection of stories Tree of Leaf and Flame (Pont Books).

Morden’s first book, Weird Tales from the  Storyteller, was shortlisted for the Tir
na n-Og English-language award in 2004 and he won the award in 2007 for Dark Tales from the Woods.

read more...
SARAH GARLAND WINS INAUGURAL LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Sarah Garland has won the first Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Azzi in Between, which tells the story of a family forced to fell their homeland and settle in a strange and unfamiliar country. The book is based on the author’s own experience of working among refugee families and is endorsed by Amnesty International.

read more...
2013 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD: THE SHORTLIST

‘Seven outstanding debuts, eight really interesting authors, doing really interesting things’

The shortlist for the 2013 Branford Boase Award has been announced. 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...
2013 CLPE Poetry Award: Winner

CLPE AwardThe 2013 CLPE Poetry Award has been won by George Szirtes for  In the Land of the Giants, illustrated by Helen Szirtes (Salt Publishing). Szirtes was presented with the award by last year’s winner Rachel Rooney at a ceremony at CLPE on the evening of Tuesday 30 April.

read more...
THE 2013 CLPE POETRY AWARD SHORTLIST

Weight of WaterFour outstanding poetry books are shortlisted for the 2013 CLPE Poetry Award. Established in 2003, the annual Poetry Award encourages and celebrates outstanding new children’s poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

The four books on the shortlist are:

read more...
2013 ENGLISH 4 – 11 PICTURE BOOK AWARDS: THE WINNERS

The winners of the 2013 English 4 – 11 Picture Book Awards have been announced. Established in 1995, the awards are presented annually to the best picture books of the previous year, in four categories, Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years, and Non-Fiction 4 – 7 and 7 – 11 years.

From a 15 strong shortlist, the winners are:

Fiction 4 – 7 years

Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis illustrated by Tony Ross (Andersen Press)

Fiction 7 – 11 years

read more...
IBBY Announces the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award have been announced.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children's books. Awarded every other year by IBBY, the award recognizes lifelong achievement and is given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature.

For the 2014 Awards 29 authors and 31 illustrators have been nominated from 34 countries. They are:

read more...
New Little Rebels Children’s Book Award: Shortlist Announced

The shortlist has been announced for The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award, a new award for radical children’s fiction.

The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award recognises fiction for ages 0-12 which promotes or celebrates social justice and equality. It is awarded by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) and administered by Letterbox Library. Wendy Cooling, Bookstart co-founder & editor and author Elizabeth Laird are both judges.

The four books on the inaugural shortlist are:

read more...
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