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Books for Keeps 209 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 209 - November 2014
BfK 209 November 2014

COVER STORY
This issue’s cover illustration is from Animalium (Welcome to the Museum) by Jenny Broom with illustrations by Katie Scott. Thanks to Big Picture Press for their help with this Christmas cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 209 November 2014 .

BfK No. 209 Articles

Editorial 209

Comment from the editor

Books of the Year 2014

Chosen by leading children’s booksellers.

Books for Giving Christmas 2014

Our selection of the best Christmas gift books.

Books for Giving 2014: Book List

Bibliographic details for our best books for giving Christmas 2014

Windows into Illustration: Chris Riddel

Chris Riddell on The Sleeper and the Spindle

Ten of the Best: Traditional Tales retold

chosen by Pam Dix.

Authorgraph 209: Marcus Sedgwick

The author of The Ghosts of Heaven interviewed by Nicholas Tucker

Jacqueline Wilson: happy 100th book

Julia Eccleshare appraises Jacqueline Wilson

Nina Macdonald’s War-Time Nursery Rhymes

WW1 literature for children put into context by Geoff Fox.

Two Children Tell: The Author and Nicholas

Virginia Lowe's observations on children's realy response to stories.

Mutiny and murder for Christmas

Treasure Island at the National Theatre

I Wish I'd Written: Kate Saunders

Kate Saunders on a deliciously creepy book.

Good Reads 209

Chosen by pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.

That’s Edutainment

An introduction to the QED list

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Shadow of Long John Silver

Angeline B. Adams and Remco van Straten discover Treasure Island in Edinburgh's Old Town.

Classics in Short Number 108

Where's Spot? asks Brian Alderson

KATE SAUNDERS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WINNER

Costa Children's Book Award winner Kate Saunders interviewed by Imogen Russell Williams.

Q&A interview with Garth Jennings, author of The Deadly 7

Editor's Choice

The Grimm Conclusion

Adam Gidwitz
(Andersen)
5

Those who have been following Adam Gidwitz's take on the Grimms' tales will know what to expect – mayhem, madness and a great deal of blood. Nor will they be disappointed by the conclusion to the trilogy. New readers may want to start at the...

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New Talent

Snow de la Mare and Rabei

Walter de la Mare
(Faber & Faber)
5

Taking de la Mare's poem Snow, Carolina Rabei has imagined a white Christmas setting, in which the snow falls and the world becomes a glittering wonderland where children can build snowmen and sledge. Stockings are hung in front...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 209

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

Under 5s

  • Snow de la Mare and Rabei

    Walter de la Mare
    5
  • Alfie in the Garden

    Debi Gliori
    5
  • This Book Just Ate my Dog!

    Richard Byrne
    5
  • Jampires

    Sarah McIntyre
    David O’Connell
    4
  • Rita’s Rhino

    Tony Ross
    4
  • Bella’s Bad Hair Day

    Stephen Michael King
    4
  • My Big Barefoot Book of Wonderful Words

    Sophie Fatus
    4
  • Worst in Show

    William Bee
    4
  • Melissa’s Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets

    Charlotte Voake
    4

Ages 5-8

  • Something about a Bear

    Jackie Morris
    5
  • Gravity

    Jason Chin
    5
  • Timmy Failure: We Meet Again

    Stephan Pastis
    4
  • The New Small Person

    Lauren Child
    4
  • The Moon Dragons

    Dyan Sheldon
    4
  • Big Bad Bubble

    Adam Rubin
    4
  • Woozy the Wizard: A Spell to Get Well

    Elli Woollard
    3
  • Horace the Haggis and the Christmas Mystery

    Sally Magnusson
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor

    Jon Scieszka
    5
  • My Life As a Goldfish

    Rachel Rooney
    5
  • Half a Man

    Michael Morpurgo
    5
  • Atlas of Adventures

    Lucy Letherland
    4
  • Dead or Alive?

    Clive Gifford
    4
  • Witchworld

    Emma Fischel
    4
  • Pathfinder

    Angie Sage
    4
  • Lucy’s Secret Reindeer

    Anne Booth
    4
  • Moone Boy: The Blunder Years

    Chris O’Dowd
    Nick V Murphy
    3
  • Pete and the Five-a-side Vampires

    Malachy Doyle
    3
  • The Day No One Was Angry

    Toon Tellegen
    3
  • Plum Puddings and Paper Moons

    Glenda Millard
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Give the Ball to the Poet – A New Anthology of Caribbean Poetry

    5
  • Malala The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World

    Malala Yousafzai
    5
  • Blue Moon Day

    Anne Fine
    5
  • Loyal Creatures

    Morris Gleitzman
    5
  • Trouble on Cable Street

    Joan Lingard
    5
  • Young Sherlock: Stone Cold

    Andrew Lane
    5
  • Dragon Racer: First Flight

    Margaret Bateson-Hill
    5
  • Only Remembered

    4
  • The Sign of the Black Dagger

    Joan Lingard
    4
  • How to be a Girl

    Anita Naik
    4
  • First Light

    Rebecca Stead
    4
  • Girl Online

    4
  • Uprooted: A Canadian War Story

    Lynne Reid Banks
    3
  • The Last of the Spirits

    Chris Priestley
    3

Ages 14+

  • Half a Creature from the Sea

    David Almond
    5
  • Lies We Tell Ourselves

    Robin Talley
    5
  • A Song for Ella Grey

    David Almond
    5
  • Stories Inspired by Objects from The Great War

    Various Authors
    4
  • Terror Kid

    Benjamin Zephaniah
    4
  • Thirteen Chairs

    Dave Shelton
    4
  • Messenger of Fear

    Michael Grant
    4
  • Winter's Bullet

    William Osborne
    4
  • Girl Online

    4
  • The Walled City

    Ryan Graudin
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Help Your Child Love Reading

    Alison David
    3

BfK News

ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS’ GREAT ADVENTURERS WINS THE 2019 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Educational Writers’ Award is Alastair Humphreys’ Great Adventurers: The Incredible Expeditions of 20 Explorers (Big Picture Press).

Alastair Humphreys Great Adventures

read more...
BLACKMAN AND DOWNHAM ON SHORTLIST FOR 2019 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award, which was announced today, 26th November 2020. Alongside them on the list are newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing, both of whom are published by Chicken House.

The 2019 Costa Children’s Award shortlist

read more...
2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

read more...
‘INSPIRING’: CONTENDERS FOR THE 2020 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

read more...
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4th November.

read more...
2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

read more...
JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

read more...
LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

read more...
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

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