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Books for Keeps 200 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 200 - May 2013

This issue’s cover illustration is from The Fabulous Foskett Family Circus, by John Yeoman and Quentin Blake. Thanks to Quentin Blake for this special 200th cover and to Andersen Press.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 200 May 2013 .

BfK No. 200 Articles

Editorial BfK 200

Editorial and special 200th issue competition
THROUGHNESS IS ALL: MEG ROSOFF INTERVIEWED BY GERALDINE BRENNAN

Meg Rosoff interviewed by Geraldine Brennan
TEN OF THE VERY BEST

Ten of the Very Best Daniel Hahn chooses ten of the best works of contemporary children’s literature
Tony Ross: Windows into Illustration

Windows into IllustrationTony Ross on two of his favourite illustrations
500 Million Readers Can't Be Wrong

500 million readers can’t be wrong Laura Fraine asks ‘How relevant is Enid Blyton?’
Poetry by Appointment

John Agard interviewed by Nicholas Tucker
A Life in Pictures: John Burningham

A Life in Pictures: John Burningham interviewed by Clive Barnes
Thirty something years of inspirational non-fiction

Thirty something years of inspirational non-fiction chosen by Sue Unstead
All Aboard with Mo Willems

Julia Eccleshare interviews the creator of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Darren Shan I Wish I'd Written

Darren Shan dreams of writing the perfect picturebook
Good Reads: chosen by readers at Loreto High School

Readers at Loreto High School, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester choose their Good Reads
BfK’s Brilliant Children’s Bookshops: Letterbox Library

BfK’s Brilliant Children’s Bookshops: Letterbox Library
Classics in Short number 99

Two for the price of one: Brian Alderson chooses two classic works of children’s literature
Celebrating children’s creativity – the SHOUTSOUTH! festival

Beverley Birch on SHOUTSOUTH! the children's festival run entirely by authors.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS OF OKSA POLLOCK

The creators of publishing phenomenon Oksa Pollock talk to BfK.
AN INTERVIEW WITH LEVI PINFOLD, WINNER OF THE 2013 KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL

Clive Barnes interviews Kate Greenaway Medal winner Levi Pinfold.
Natasha Farrant interview: The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby

Natasha Farrant talks about her book After Iris The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby

Editor's Choice

The Story of the Blue Planet
(Pushkin Children's Books)
3

Only children live on the blue planet until a grown-up arrives in a space ship on Brimir and Hulda’s idyllic island. Until the arrival of Gleesome Goodday, an intergalactic vacuum cleaner salesman, the island children had been happy enough...

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New Talent

The Child's Elephant
Rachel Campbell-Johnston
(David Fickling Books)
5

One of the best children’s novels published this year, and surely a hot contender for any prizes going, this is a story of two parts. The first dwells on the life of Bat, a young herds boy living in a traditional village in the African Savannah....

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 200

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

Under 5s

  • Troll Swap
    Leigh Hodgkinson
    5

  • The Great Big Book of Feelings
    Mary Hoffman
    5

  • Two Nests
    Laurence Anholt
    5

  • Lion and Mouse
    Catalina Echeverri
    5

  • No More Kisses for Bernard!
    Niki Daly
    4

  • I Am Not a Copycat!
    Ann Bonwill
    4

  • My Big World: Facts and fun, questions and answers, things to make and do
    Sophie Dauvois
    Alex Barrow
    4

  • Harris the Hero
    Lynne Rickards
    3

  • The Disgusting Sandwich
    Gareth Edwards
    3

  • Eleanor's Eyebrows
    Timothy Knapman
    3

  • The Mummy Shop
    Abie Longstaff
    3

  • Benjamin and the Super Spectacles
    Rachel Bright
    3

  • Nat the Cat's Sunny Smile
    Jez Alborough
    3

Ages 5-8

  • What is a Crocodile’s Favourite Thing?
    Ben Hawkes
    4

  • We Have Lift Off!
    Sean Taylor
    4

  • A First Book of Nature
    Nicola Davies
    4

  • Tim, Ted and the Pirates
    Ian Whybrow
    3

  • Claude in the Spotlight
    Alex T Smith
    3

  • Murdoch Mole’s Big Idea
    Georgie Adams
    3

  • When Tom met Tallulah
    Rosie Reeve
    3

  • Arthur and the Mystery of the Egg
    Johanne Mercier
    3

  • Mariella Mystery Investigates The Ghostly Guinea Pig
    Kate Pankhurst
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Charlie’s War Illustrated: Remembering World War One
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    5

  • The Secrets of Stonehenge
    Mick Manning
    5

  • Tuesdays at the Castle
    Jessica Day George
    5

  • An Illustrated Treasury of Grimm’s Fairy Tales
    4

  • Goblins vs Dwarves
    Philip Reeve
    4

  • No Return – Captain Scott’s Race to the Pole
    Peter Goldthorpe
    4

  • Magic Trix: The Witching Hour
    Sara Grant
    4

  • Queenie
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • Captain Valiant and Me: Revenge of the Black Phantom
    Adam Britten
    3

  • The Story of the Blue Planet
    3

  • Wendy Quill is a Crocodile's Bottom
    Wendy Meddour
    3

  • Jemmy Button. The Boy that Darwin Returned Home
    Alix Barzelay
    3

  • The Accidental Time Traveller
    Janis Mackay
    3

  • Super Sister and the Birthday Party
    Gwyneth Rees
    3

  • Pip Street A Whiskery Mystery
    Jo Simmons
    3

  • Tom Gates Genius Ideas (Mostly)
    Liz Pichon
    0

Ages 10-14

  • The Child's Elephant
    Rachel Campbell-Johnston
    5

  • In the Palace of the Khans
    Peter Dickinson
    5

  • The Poison Boy
    Fletcher Moss
    4

  • A Twist of Fortune
    Barbara Mitchelhill
    4

  • Moon Bear
    Gill Lewis
    4

  • Young Knights of the Round Table
    Julia Golding
    4

  • Smuggler's Kiss
    Marie-Louise Jensen
    4

  • The Book of Doom
    Barry Hutchison
    4

  • Fyre
    Angie Sage
    4

  • Monster Odyssey: The Eye Of Neptune
    Jon Mayhew
    4

  • Through Dead Eyes
    Chris Priestley
    4

  • Quantum Drop
    Saci Lloyd
    3

  • While The Others Sleep
    Tom Becker
    3

  • The Disgrace of Kitty Grey
    Mary Hooper
    3

  • The Maleficent Seven
    Derek Landy
    3

  • The Hanged Man Rises
    Sarah Naughton
    0

Ages 14+

  • After Tomorrow
    Gillian Cross
    5

  • Firewallers
    Simon Packham
    5

  • If You Find Me
    Emily Murdoch
    5

  • The Wall
    William Sutcliffe
    4

  • The Butterfly Clues
    Kate Ellison
    4

  • Dead to You
    Lisa McMann
    4

  • Black Sheep
    Na'ima B Robert
    3

  • Heroic
    Phil Earle
    3

  • The Underdog
    Marcus Zusak
    3

  • Shipwrecked
    Siobhan Curham
    2

  • The Last Minute
    Eleanor Updale
    2

BfK News

HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

read more...
CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

read more...
CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

read more...
STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

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MUHAMMAD KHAN WINS 20TH BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award for outstanding debut novel for children is Muhammad Khan for his YA novel I Am Thunder. Set up in memory of author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase who both died in 1999, the award also recognizes his editor Lucy Pearse of Macmillan Children’s Books.

read more...
SLA School Librarian of the Year 2019 Announced

Ros Harding School Librarian of the Year

Ros Harding of The King’s School Chester has been awarded the honour of the School Librarian of the Year 2019. 2019 YA Book Prize winner Sara Barnard presented Ros Harding with her award at a special ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London Kensington on 27 June.

read more...
The Children's Book Award 2019

Earlier this month, Arree Chung was named overall winner of The Children’s Book Award 2019. His book Mixed, which he wrote and illustrated, also won the Books for Younger Children category before going on to win the overall prize.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced at a ceremony at The British Library, hosted by broadcaster and writer Konnie Huq.

read more...
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...
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