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Books for Keeps 213 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 213 - July 2015
BfK 213 July 2015

COVER STORY
This issue’s cover illustration is from Crowns and Codebreakers (The Marsh Road Mysteries) by Elen Caldecott. The illustration is by Nathan Reed. Thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for their help with this July cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 213 July 2015.

BfK No. 213 Articles

Editorial 213

Comment from the editor
Life's Too Short

Life’s Too Short for long books says Barrington Stoke MD Mairi Kidd
Ten of the Best:books about other places

Daniel Hahn selects books to take you ‘elsewhere’ this summer.
AN INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS SACHAR

Graham Marks to the bestselling author about his new book Fuzzy Mud.
Windows into Illustration: William Grill

The Kate Greenaway Medal Winner says illustration is all about communication
Brenda, Books and Full-Frontal Publishing

Queen of Teen Brenda Gardner of Piccadilly Press looks back over 30 years of publishing for children
Drawing with words, writing with pictures: children who make comics

Get children hooked on drawing through cartoons says Hannah Sackett
Authorgraph 213 Elen Caldecott

Elen Caldecott interviewed by Amanda Mitchison

Happy Birthday, Little Island!

Ireland’s first Children’s Laureate Siobhan Parkinson on creating her children’s list Little Island
CLiPPA Poetry Award 2015

The 2015 CLPE Poetry Award by Roger McGough
I wish I’d written: Guy Bass

Guy Bass chooses
Good Reads 213

Good Reads chosen by pupils at Manor High School, Oadby, Leicester
Book Events for Children – This Summer’s Highlights

This summer’s best events for children chosen by Clare Burkhill-Howarth of Book Events for Children
Two Children Tell: The Wiz-a-Woz and Nicholas

The real and the pretend in stories.
INFECTING TEACHERS WITH THE READING BUG!

Joy Court praises the UKLA (United Kingdom Literacy Association) Book Awards
Classics in Short No. 112

The Old Woman who found ... what?
STYLE AND SUBSTANCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH CARINA AXELSSON

An interview with the author of the Model Under Cover series.
LAUREN CHILD RETROSPECTIVE: MOTTISFONT HOUSE

Clive Barnes visits the first retrospective exhibition of Lauren Child's illustrative work.
AN INTERVIEW WITH CLiPPA WINNER JOSEPH COELHO

Ferelith Hordon speaks to poet Joseph Coelho.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH C.J. DAUGHERTY, ABOUT THE SECRET FIRE

The best-selling author of the Night School series talks about her new series and collaborating with another author

Editor's Choice

This is Not a Love Story
Keren David
(Atom)
5

What is it about Amsterdam that inspires authors? First we had Postcards from No Man's Land; now Keren David visits that city in her latest novel...

read more

New Talent

The Baby
Lisa Drakeford
(Chicken House Ltd)
4

The party is a great success in Olivia's opinion- too many people (not all invited), too loud music, too much alcohol, - even Jonty, her boyfriend, is in a good mood. Then she finds her best friend, Nicola, in the bathroom - and she is giving...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 213

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

Under 5s

  • Black Cat, White Cat
    Silvia Borando
    5

  • Heather Has Two Mummies
    Leslea Newman
    5

  • There’s a Bear on My Chair
    Ross Collins
    5

  • Help! The Wolf is Coming!
    Cedric Ramadier
    5

  • Soon
    Timothy Knapman
    4

  • The Cloudspotter
    Tom McLaughlin
    4

  • Betty goes Bananas in her Pyjamas
    Steve Antony
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Footpath Flowers
    JonArno Lawson
    5

  • It's a Groovy World, Alfredo
    Sean Taylor
    5

  • What the Jackdaw Saw
    Julia Donaldson
    5

  • A Tower of Giraffes - Animal Bunches
    Anna Wright
    5

  • Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion
    Alex T Smith
    5

  • The Most Wonderful Thing in the World
    Vivian French
    5

  • Katie and the Starry Night
    James Mayhew
    4

  • Don’t Forget Tiggs!
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Eddie’s Tent and How to Go Camping
    Sarah Garland
    4

  • Sardines of Love
    Zuriñe Aguirre
    4

  • The Paradise Bird
    Marcus Pfister
    4

  • The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present
    Libby Gleeson
    3

  • Sixteen String Jack and the Garden of Adventure: Where Peter Pan Began
    Tom Pow
    3

  • Millie’s Chickens
    Brenda Williams
    3

  • Have You Seen My Monster?
    Steve Light
    3

  • That Naughty Meerkat
    Ian Whybrow
    3

  • Dinosaur Police
    Sarah McIntyre
    3

Ages 8-10

  • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
    E L Konigsburg
    5

  • A Tower of Giraffes - Animal Bunches
    Anna Wright
    5

  • Mad About Monkeys
    Owen Davey
    5

  • Catching Falling Stars
    Karen McCombie
    5

  • The Bolds
    Julian Clary
    5

  • My Brother Is a Superhero
    David Solomons
    4

  • The Hero's Tomb
    Conrad Mason
    4

  • Stop Those Monsters
    Steve Cole
    4

  • Car-jacked
    Ali Sparkes
    4

  • Uncle Gobb and The Dread Shed
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Dara Palmer’s Major Drama
    Emma Shevah
    4

  • Pucker Power: The Super-powered Superpug
    Kevin Stevens
    4

Ages 10-14

  • Binny in Secret cover

    Binny in Secret
    Hilary McKay
    5

  • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
    E L Konigsburg
    5

  • Too Close to Home
    Aoife Walsh
    5

  • Whistling in the Dark
    Shirley Hughes
    5

  • Minus Me
    Ingelin Rossland
    5

  • The Year It All Ended
    Kirsty Murray
    4

  • Sun Thief
    Jamie Buxton
    4

  • The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow
    Katherine Woodfine
    4

  • In Darkling Wood
    Emma Carroll
    4

  • Dead End Kids: Heroes of the Blitz
    Bernard Ashley
    4

  • 50 Things You Should Know About the Second World War
    Simon Adams
    4

  • Song For A Scarlet Runner
    Julie Hunt
    4

  • The Potion Diaries
    Amy Alward
    3

  • To Hold the Bridge
    Garth Nix
    3

Ages 14+

  • Blood & Ink
    Stephen Davies
    5

  • This is Not a Love Story
    Keren David
    5

  • Nest
    Esther Ehrlich
    5

  • A Small Madness
    Dianne Touchell
    4

  • The Year It All Ended
    Kirsty Murray
    4

  • The Baby
    Lisa Drakeford
    4

  • Concentr8
    William Sutcliffe
    4

  • All My Secrets
    Sophie McKenzie
    4

  • House of Windows
    Alexia Casale
    2

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

read more...
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